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 Citizen Eco-Drive Men's Calibre 8700 Watch #BL8000-03A By: Citizen Average Rating: 4.5 Total Reviews: 18 More Information This is a very good watch!  On: 2008-05-12I ordered the 8700 a month ago and have been wearing it since. It really works as expected and it looks quite nice. It feels sturdy and I dont mind the "shiny look" some other people have complained about. The only thing that I dont quite like is the way it works when you switch from time to alarm or local time - the miniute hand (instead of moving in tandem with the hour hand) moves all the way from the current time to the alarm time/local time which is quite time-consuming. Overall this is a great watch. They're not kidding!  On: 2008-03-23Many have stated that pictures of this watch do not do it justice. They are right! Though the pictures look nice, this watch is gorgeous on the wrist. Light hits the accents (throughout the dial) and the look is impressive...to say the least. And its a Citizen so, of course, its functionality is superb. If youre interested in one, get one. I dont think that you will be disappointed. Everday classic On: 2008-02-19I was looking for a watch to wear everyday to work and decided on buying a Citizen. After looking online, I had narrowed it down to a couple of models. I had looked at this model early, but wasnt sure about the face. Lucky for me I stopped at a local jewelry store to look at watches in person. Needless to say, the watch looks much better than pictured and I picked it over the other Citizens I was looking at as well as some Seikos. The contrast of the numerals and the face is very striking, while maintaining a very classic look. I have never owned a watch with this type of clasp on a leather band before, and it is unlikely I will ever go back. The speed and ease of putting it on is something that I have come to really appreciate. I found setting the time and date to be pretty straightforward. Changing the funcition to get the month can be best described as a minor annoyance, if you find the need to check the month frequently. The date is very readable and nicely placed, so that more than makes up for it. Overall, a great every day watch that I would definitely recommend. I ended buying it on the spot, even though the "sale" price was about $20 more than the Amazon price because I wanted to take it home that day. Flash for not much cash! On: 2008-01-28I just got this watch, and its hard to take my eyes off it. I looked at the Calibre 8700 with the blue dial and stainless strap (which a Citizen rep told me is one of their most popular models) but really found the white dial and silver accents, very striking in this model. And I like how the band sets off the face. I really looked at every Citizen watch on their website, and kept coming back to this one!! The watch is very nice in person, the dial has some detail to it, so it catches the light especially with the silver accents. As mentioned in other reviews, there are four basic modes that you can switch to: 1. Time 2. Calendar 3. Local Time (i.e. time zone #2) 4. Alarm since its not a digital watch (and we dont want it to be since it looks great as an analog!) the hands have to show you all the stuff. So if the Time is set to 3p and you are traveling and are in Singapore where its 3a, then when you switch the modes, its going to spin the hands around for 12 hours to show you. This is not good if you want to check and see what time it is back home but is great if you travel, and dont want to keep resetting your watch. When you get back home, just change the dial back to Time and youre back in business. There are three dials on the watch, in addition to the main hour/min hands, one is a 24 hour dial, with an hour hand that points to the corresponding time in 24 hour mode. Basically this will help you distinguish AM and PM times on the dial, and is important when using the local time (i.e. time zone #2) and alarm modes to keep AM and PM straight. Next there is the mode dial that points to TME, CAL, LTM, or ALM to let you know what mode you are in (time, calendar, local time, alarm). And lastly there is a dial that points to the day of the week, can let you know if the alarm is set or not, and can also let you know if this is a leap year, or how many years its been since a leap year ;) The watch also has a day of the month indicator at the 4 oclock position, and this is a perpetual calendar, so regardless of 30, 31, or 29 days in the month, it will always be right! As mentioned earlier, the watch has an energy saving feature which, when in the dark for about 30 minutes and not getting enough light to charge the watch, will stop the second hand at 0(12) to save energy. When light hits the dial, it will move the second hand rapidly to where it should be :) I will add that yes, this is a cool watch with lots of cool features, and you might have to do a bit of reading to figure them all out if you want to use them, but basically Citizen tries to make that as easy as possible. They give a detailed instruction book, they give interactive lessons on a free CD that comes with the watch, and you can go on their website and they will visually demonstrate the features to you too! What more can you ask for? Excellent Product, Fast Shipping On: 2008-01-07I purchased this watch as a gift for Christmas. It was received in perfect condition and just in time for the holidays. Thank you! wonderful purchase On: 2008-01-02I purchased this watch as a Christmas gift for my husband and he loved it! Of all the websites we searched, this was the best price we could get for the watch and we couldnt be happier. The shipping was quick...I believe it took less than a week to arrive at my home :) The watch is much better in person than we could have imagined. The only problem we had with the watch is that there were no instructions on how to adjust the wristband. My husband took it to a jewelry store and they showed him how it worked... its not hard at all. Overall we are very pleased and would recommend this watch to anyone! Beautiful, functional watch On: 2007-12-27I bought this watch to have a bit dressier one in my line-up. I think it looks great. I have very skinny (6.25") wrists, and I had to have extra holes punched in the strap to make it fit. The deployant clasp is a bit bulky, and I could see some finding it uncomfortable, but I dont. It does make the watch bulky enough to be tight fitting under some shirt cuffs for me. This is a somewhat complicated watch (that is part of what, in my opinion, makes it beautiful), but I found taking some time to read the manual and work through the different functions, its pretty easy to use. There a consistency across functions thats not too hard to learn. I dont use the alarm, so I cant comment on that. I like the second time zone and find it a useful feature. I would absolutely buy this watch (or another citizen watch) again without hesitation. Citizen Calibre 8700 On: 2007-08-30Very good watch for the money. Cool to look at and good quality for the price. Minor gripes are the second time zone is not that useful as you have to pull out the crown and it then goes to the second zone so you cant see the two time zones simultaneously. Kinda defeats the purpse when traveling and wanting to see your home zone at a glance. As other say alarm is low volume. Sometimes hard to see the small details with older eyes. overall, however, a good watch for $250. pretty but complicated  On: 2007-07-08i just found this watch more watch than i needed !! dont need alarms two time zones---- the booklet is like a phone book of instructions-- everyone else seems to love it-- it is pretty to look at-- but way too much watch for me-- and who could read that booklet of instructions ??? not me----i was intimidated by this thing !!!!!!! Citizen Men's Calibre 8700 Watch On: 2007-07-08Generally, a well made and great looking watch. However, Ive got 2 minor gripes. One, the day is difficult to read, letters are too small and etched on a shiny surface. Basically, cramping too many stuff on a small watch face. Two, the strap is loose even when set at the last hole for those with small wrist. This strap has 7 holes for adjustment compare to the usual 9-10 holes for most other leather straps. It's great.. On: 2007-07-03This watch is really good. Looks great, is pretty accurate (Ive only had it for a month now). The only issue is that if you have to set or check the alarm, it could take a couple of minutes to do so depending on the current time and when the alarm is set. This is particularly not useful for quick setting. Also, if you want to set your "other" time zone, can only be done in 1 hour inc/decreements. So forget about 30 min differences. But these are trivial issues, the hour/minute have very good visibility even in low light conditions: reflected light from these hands make it easier to read. Great watch On: 2007-05-17It is a great product. Everything in the watch makes sense. I looks good than what you see in the picture. The only draw back is the alarm which would not wake you up but you could use it as a reminder. Great product and I fall in love with the watch more I see it. Great watch On: 2007-05-16It is a great product. Everything in the watch makes sense. I looks good than what you see in the picture. The only draw back is the alarm which would not wake you up but you could use it as a reminder. Great product and I fall in love with the watch more I see it. Great watch On: 2007-03-20I bought this watch as a gift for my husband who was very particular about what type of watch he wanted. He never wore a watch before, and he loves this one! Very impressed On: 2006-07-06I have owned this watch for nearly two years. The features are ample and their respective mini-dials are beautifully arranged on the face. The two-button layout adds class without sacraficing too much ease of use. The solar panel rarely sees daylight from underneath my shirt sleeves, yet the battery has never depleated. The leather wristband is comfortable and shows very little wear. After years of use, my only complaint is that the metal easily picks up hairline scratches. Fortunately, the crystal/glass has remained flawless. I have had many people, (even some I didnt know), comment on the beauty of this watch. I will only buy citizen after owning this enjoyable timepiece. Amazing functionality but with some ease of use issues On: 2006-04-14A very very precise perpetual solar powered timepiece capable of tracking the time in two zones (you toggle between locations using the crown), pretty thin, at a great street price. The hands have nice night time illumination. The leather strap and deployant buckle are pretty plush. Some of the functionality is hard to use and there is a cheap look to the metal bezel (which marks easily; the glass seems tough enough). This thing is really a time computer instead of a watch; when you change modes, the hands change function in such a way that to get back to the time you must be accessing a computer memory. Also, it has the cute (really) habit of napping when it has been in the dark for some long time. Then when you look at it, it senses light, wakes up and the second hand moves madly to catch up. The crown: It is way too easy to pull the crown out two stops into the setting mode, which could cost you the correct time, instead of one stop into the position where you can change modes. The alarm: To see what at time the alarm is set, you change to the alarm mode and it may take (really) a minute or more while the hands move to show that time (the minute hand actually goes round and round as the hour hand advances ... its a 24 hour alarm which is very nice, theres a separate indicator keeping track of 24 hour time). Then the same thing in the other direction when you need the time again. The alarm is very very dim, I would not trust it to wake me up. When the watch is in the calendar mode where the second hand shows the month there is no way to see whether the alarm is on (that hand can only be used to show the number of years to the next leap year ... likewise when it shows whether the alarm is on, it cant access that leap-year function). The second time zone: Quite easy to use, its synched to the main time in hour increments. Just dont go to Teheran or any other place where time isnt on the hour, that isnt possible without resetting the main watch time. Theres a 2ndary dial which tells you whether the 12 hour hands are pointed to am or pm in either time zone. And it may take a long time to move to the 2nd time, if you need to check that, see the comments on checking the alarm time. bottom line: the gaffes probably stand out more just because the good parts are so good. Its almost a perpetual motion machine! Amazing functionality but with some ease of use issues On: 2006-04-13A very very precise perpetual solar powered timepiece capable of tracking the time in two zones (you toggle between locations using the crown), pretty thin, at a great street price. The hands have nice night time illumination. The leather strap and deployant buckle are pretty plush. Some of the functionality is hard to use and there is a cheap look to the metal bezel (which marks easily; the glass seems tough enough). This thing is really a time computer instead of a watch; when you change modes, the hands change function in such a way that to get back to the time you must be accessing a computer memory. Also, it has the cute (really) habit of napping when it has been in the dark for some long time. Then when you look at it, it senses light, wakes up and the second hand moves madly to catch up. The crown: It is way too easy to pull the crown out two stops into the setting mode, which could cost you the correct time, instead of one stop into the position where you can change modes. The alarm: To see what at time the alarm is set, you change to the alarm mode and it may take (really) a minute or more while the hands move to show that time (the minute hand actually goes round and round as the hour hand advances ... its a 24 hour alarm which is very nice, theres a separate indicator keeping track of 24 hour time). Then the same thing in the other direction when you need the time again. The alarm is very very dim, I would not trust it to wake me up. When the watch is in the calendar mode where the second hand shows the month there is no way to see whether the alarm is on (that hand can only be used to show the number of years to the next leap year ... likewise when it shows whether the alarm is on, it cant access that leap-year function). The second time zone: Quite easy to use, its synched to the main time in hour increments. Just dont go to Teheran or any other place where time isnt on the hour, that isnt possible without resetting the main watch time. Theres a 2ndary dial which tells you whether the 12 hour hands are pointed to am or pm in either time zone. And it may take a long time to move to the 2nd time, if you need to check that, see the comments on checking the alarm time. bottom line: the gaffes probably stand out more just because the good parts are so good. Its almost a perpetual motion machine! good watch On: 2006-03-07Its a gift for my bf. It looks better than in the pic from the website. well done Kenmar Watches On: 2006-02-01Very nice looking and solid watch only down side alarm is too quite.Ive received my watch in perfect condition at 5th day after ordering, which is very good for sydney/Australia adress. What a great watch!! On: 2005-10-22What a fantastic piece of craftmanship. I have had mine for a few months now. Could not be happier. It is powered by any light with a power reserve of more than a year. No more batteries ever. It has all the appeal of an analog watch, with a beatiful classic design without the annoying need to correct the date for odd/even months. It will even correct itself for leap years. Besides date/day of week, it has alarm (soft, not the best if you are a deep sleeper, but useful nonetheless), calendar (showing the month) and dual time zone. All that plus the Citizen tradition of quality backed by a 5 yr warranty. What else would you want? |