Citizen Eco-Drive vs Seiko Kinetic

A

allenC

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Jun 18, 2000
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Does anyone have any experiences, good or bad, with either the Citizen Eco-Drives or the Seiko Kinetics?

Especially the Citizen Calibre series and the Seiko Sportura and Arctura series.

Thanks,
Allen.
 
My wife and I have both worn Citizen Eco-Drive watches for several years now. (Hers is a Silhouette and mine is Skyhawk.) Both are excellent watches: reliable and accurate. We're very happy with them.

--Bob Q
 
For a no-battery-change watch I like the Citizen, I like Seiko for mechanical automatics.

I have two Citizen Eco Drives, when not in use I leave them close to a window and they stay charged, the Seiko Kinetic needs movement to recharge which I think is not as practical.

Also I've heard that the capacitor that stores energy in the Seiko will not last as long as the rechargeable battery in the Citizen.

My Citizen Eco Drives are some of the least expensive models yet I find them quite nice.

My Seiko is a Seiko 5 automatic also inexpensive and nice.

Luis
 
I'd agree with don luis. The capacitor in my kinetic watch was junk and stopped working within a year of getting it. I was turned off to Seikos after that until I got my Seiko 5 auto. I like Seiko autos- especially the 007, but in terms of price and accuracy I think you'd be better off with an Eco-Drive. It offers a lot more in the way of gadget factor and performance. I like the proprietary nature of the 7s26 and I don't need quartz accuracy. If I did, though, I'd get the Eco-drive. This is especially true given that you can find some REAL deals on eco-drives. You can find a basic field watch with eco-drive that has a classic military look for less than $90. Just an example

Sincerely,
Anthony
 
Specifically, this model from Princeton Watches. It was a little less than $300.00, delivered. It comes with a 3 year warranty:
www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=339817

I like the styling. The Kinetic part of the watch is a little loud, but the accuracy has been fine, for a week. We will see in a year. If it was not for the styling, I would have gotten a Seiko 007, but an eco-drive is not a big option for me, because I keep my watches in a closed box, and they don't see daylight for weeks at a time. Very interested in hearing more opinions.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
I wear a Citizen Skyhawk Eco-Drive. Accurate, sturdy, and it looks good. I have never had a problem with it in the 2 years I have had it.
 
I'll take a Citizen Eco-Drive over a Seiko Kinetic ANY DAY. My daily-wear watch is a Citizen Eco-Drive 300m SS "Ecozilla", and it hasn't missed a beat in the 3 months I've owned it, and it keeps amazingly accurate time.
 
Thanks for all the replies.
It sounds like the Citizen Eco-Drive is just what the doctor ordered.

I'm still looking around (both on the net and in real stores) but I'm very seriously considering the Calibre 5700.
IMHO, the watch is beautiful and much more upscale than it's price would indicate.

Besides, I already have a yellow dial Swiss Army Divemaster 300 (quartz) for my everyday knock-around watch.

Thanks again,
Allen.
 
My experience with the Citizen ECO Drive is very good; excellent re-charge capabilities and very accurate. Highly recommend. Pulsar put out a solar diver which also re-charges very well and is accurate.

SEIKO has been a mixed bag! The early one (many still around so beware) had a very short capacitor life. This has been fixed on the newer models and work very well.

Would never buy a used SEIKO Kinetic watch!

The SEIKO, CITIZEN FORUM has a lot of material available on these watches and are a source for very good prices. $300.00 is way more than I have ever paid except the SEIKO Scubmaster with the stingray on the back just my experience and what I read on that FORUM (a very friendly, informative place).

Good luck
 
I had a Seiko Kinetic that I kicked the crap out of for three years. Couldn't scratch that sapphire crystal with a 20 pound sledge hammer. The Achillies heel to the watch proved to be the over-exposed (and totally unprotected) crown. Once I managed to bend that, the show was over quickly. Moisture entered and it was all over but the crying. Seiko offered to replace the crown and re-seal the watch for, you guessed it, more than a new one cost.

I bought a Casio G (wave ceptor/tough solar) and the only complaint is the ridiculous thickness. Looks like you're trying to wear a '68 Volkswagon Beetle on your wrist. The Eco-Drive deserves a look for it's thin-ness if nothing else.

Cheers.
 
Harry Callahan said:
...I bought a Casio G (wave ceptor/tough solar) and the only complaint is the ridiculous thickness. Looks like you're trying to wear a '68 Volkswagon Beetle on your wrist. The Eco-Drive deserves a look for it's thin-ness if nothing else.

Cheers.
Click to expand...
Your Casio is as thin as a dime, compared to the Citizen "Ecozilla" that I wear! If your Casio is as thick as a '68 VW Beatle, then my Ecozilla is as thick, (as large, and as heavy) as a Kenworth Log Truck!.:D.
 
and just spent an hour on the Seiko/Citizen Forums.

I looked at all the Citizens commonly available, the Calibre 5700's are really nice. I am WAYYY A/R, and offset things drive me nuts. The Calibre has an offset date window, some of the other Citizens have the date magnifier, which I don't like, but will have to learn to live with on a Rollie Sub.

A lot of the Seikos have an offset crown, which makes sense, but I still don't care for it.

It boils down to what you like, and what features you want. The S/C forum participants generally indicated that the "new" capacitor was much better than the previous model, and many on that forum were buying these watches.

My watch model # is the SMY001. It is referred to as a Seiko Submariner, it is a good medium sized watch, as opposed to the Black Monster or the 007 which are LARGE, measuring 40 mm across. The features that I was looking for were sapphire crystal (I have had to replace my Luminox crystal 2x due to serious scratches), solid watertightness (200m water resist), classic styling, and dependability(3 year warranty). The closest model that I saw available on the S/C forums was only watertight to 100m, and they had one watch left in stock, it was $270 delivered.

There are two areas that bother me slightly, but I must say, initial reaction in favorable. The Kinetic movement is somewhat noisy, in that when you rock your wrist back and forth, there is a sound like a standard watch winding, with every movement. I only hear it when I hold the watch up to my ear, but it is still a little unsettling. The other thing is that the second hand does not index precisely on every second marker, but I have this problem with most of the watches I own.

Preference wise, I would have liked an Oyster bracelet instead of a Jubilee.

Anyways, the reason that I mention these things is that sometimes, knowing someone else's criteria for likes/dislikes helps to define your own.

Good luck on your watch purchase, and let us know how you like it, what works and what does not.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
glockman99 said:
Your Casio is as thin as a dime, compared to the Citizen "Ecozilla" that I wear! If your Casio is as thick as a '68 VW Beatle, then my Ecozilla is as thick, (as large, and as heavy) as a Kenworth Log Truck!.:D.
Click to expand...
Had a '68 Beetle, new....good as any car I've ever owned!
Got a Casio Tough Solar/Waveceptor now....actually the second one, first one crapped out just short of a year...got my money back from BJ's Wholesale (they didn't have one like it in stock at the time) and bought the same model (MTG900DA-8V) from J.C. Penney with an optional 2 or 3 year (?) warranty for less money.....jury's still out after about 8 mos. No problems though.
 
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