Citizen Watch: Celebrate #100 with the Save the Planet write-off
Written: Sep 16 '05 (Updated Sep 23 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Rugged and good looking
Cons: Mechanical Calendar is stuck in the 50s
The Bottom Line: Citizen Watches are excellent good-looking. solar-powered, eco-friendly wristwatches. I highly recommend them, but not this particular model.
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| WulfsDen's Full Review: Men's Citizen Watches Corso Eco-Drive Stainless St... |
In order to help me celebrate my 100th review with a due pomp and ceremony, I cordially invite you to join in the Save the Planet Write-off.
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Hi there one and all,
In order to help me celebrate my 100th review with a due pomp and ceremony, I cordially invite you to join in the Save the Planet Write-off.
The rules of the write-off are simple. All you have to do is review any product that reduces waste, saves energy, cuts down on pollution, or in some other way contributes to saving our planet. For example a book on building energy efficient homes, a review of a hybrid car, or even a toilet brush with biodegradable heads would all be appropriate. Review drip irrigation systems that save water, energy star appliances, fluorescent lights, solar panels or (shudder) self-composting toilets. Review a clothes-line, the original solar drying device, or a bicycle, the ultimate in gas saving transportation. Come on, this is easy.
Alternately, write a review of some other product that harms the planet, and slam it for its evil ways. It is not necessary to give the product an overall bad rating, just as long as you spank it for being eco-unfriendly. A review of a gas guzzling SUV, a non-biodegradable disposable product, or any other product that produces excessive pollution, toxic byproducts, wastes energy, or squanders valuable resources. (Hint: This is a very broad category and includes almost everything we review. For example, I read a review of a Power Painter the other day that needed many gallons of water to clean it out after use.)
A special virtual no-prize will be awarded to all Epinionators that post a review in both categories. Just leave a comment here and within hours a team of specially trained homing turtles will rush deliver it. Keep an eye on your mailbox for the next few months. When you get nothing you will know it arrived. I know some write-offs offer almost nothing, but here we go the whole hog and send completely nothing. Crazy, I know, but no expense was spared.
So take a few moments to look at the bigger picture but above all, be creative and have fun. Oh, and most important of all, write something. Don't make this the suppose-Ed-ran-a-write-off-and-no-one-came write-off. Just pop a link back to this review somewhere in your review, post it, and leave me a message in the comments with the URL.
Come on. Join in. Tell a friend. Lets all help make the world a better place,
Ed
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Here are some other Save the Planet reviews:
Michelle, a.k.a. chelledun thinks that walking more will help.
Stefanie, a.k.a. dramastef explains that re-usable grocery bags will save the day.
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And now for something completely different...
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Men's Citizen Watches Corso Eco-Drive Stainless Steel Blue Dial Watch CI-BM808059M
My goodness. What a mouthful. You would think there would be a better way to organize myriad small items that to give each its own section. Still, I suppose that comment's not relevant here. Just in case the unbelievably long name confused you, this review is about a wristwatch. Actually, it's about a very nice and to my mind quite expensive wristwatch. Then again, since my last watch cost me $1 at Cost Cutters, I might be being a little unrealistic.
Almost two years ago, I got this watch as a birthday present from my wife. She took me to the store and I picked out the one I liked. Since then it has been on my wrist, day and night. Those that have read my many reviews of power tools will have some idea what being on MY wrist entails. Let's just say that is has been subject to extreme wear and tear. Through it all, it has kept very accurate time and worked perfectly.
Now I did have a reason for choosing this brand of watch, but we will get to that later.
The reason I picked this model was its looks. It has a nice round stainless-steel face and watchband. It is rugged, heavy, a very manly size, and extremely good looking, rather like me. The face of the watch is a very attractive dark blue, although it looks almost black in fluorescent light. It has little metallic bars to mark the hours instead of numerals, and the 12-oclock bar is double thick. The hour and minute hands are quite broad and coated in some luminescent substance. This watch is very easy to read in the dark. The second hand is slender and sweeps smoothly around the face.
At 3-oclock is the day and date indicator. A mechanical calendar shows a three digit day abbreviation, and the day of the month, for example today is WED14. The day of week can also be displayed in French. On the outside of the watch, also at 3-oclock is the setting button. Pull the button out slightly to set the calendar. Turning it clockwise sets the day, while turning anticlockwise sets the date. Pull the button out a little further to set the time, by twisting the button in the normal way, clockwise to advance the time, etc.
The stainless-steel strap is very hefty but flexible and very attractive. The clasp has a double fold, and a locking device. You have to squeeze the sides to unlock it, so little chance of it coming loose by accident. It has a very solid feel, and fits my wrist comfortably.
Of course, there is a reason that this watch is being reviewed as part of the Save the Planet write-off. You knew that didn't you? Well, amazingly enough, this watch is solar powered. That’s right, it never needs a battery. It will charge itself automatically, on sunlight, incandescent light, fluorescent light and so on. It does not need much light to charge. Once charged, it will continue to run in complete darkness for about six months. Ah. It really gladdens my heart to think of all those aspirin sized batteries that I am keeping out of the landfill.
Now I am a big fan of the eco-drive, and would recommend it to anyone. I also think this is an extremely attractive watch. Any man would be proud to wear it. However, if I was back in the store, I would not pick this model again.
The problem is the calendar. The first quibble is its position at 3-oclock. At 14-16 minutes past each and every hour, you can not read the calendar because it is blocked by the minute hand. From 2:50 to 3:10 twice a day, the calendar is blocked by the hour hand. This is just silly. If the calendar were down at 6-oclock, the passage of the hands would only be a minor annoyance.
Secondly, the dial on the calendar is set back, beneath the watch face a little too far, maybe 1/16" or so. This means that the window casts a considerable shadow on the dial. The lettering is also quite slender, particularly on the double digit numbers. While I did not notice in the brightly lit mall when I bought it, I find it extremely hard to read in anything other than bright light. There is also no way to read it at night.
Setting the calendar is also a pain in the tail. Since setting it is infrequent, you forget which way to twist the button. If you twist the wrong way, you move the day when you wanted the date, or visa versa. Since you can only spin in one direction, you have to circumnavigate the dial to get it back to where you were.
Even when you get it set right, it may be set wrong. There is no way to see which part of WED14 is set up, it might flip at midnight, but it could just as easily flip at midday. Until it actually does so, there is no way to tell. And even when everything is working perfectly, it takes from 12:00 AM to 2:AM to spin the dials, during which time they are, you guessed it, unreadable. You also cannot set the day during this period.
Well, at least you only have to set it once, right? No, well once a year then? No?
Did I mention that it’s a mechanical calendar: no microchips?
Thirty days has September, April, June and dull December...
You do remember that rhyme don't you? Well if you own this watch you had better remember it. It has a unique, energy saving way of staying in synch. You do it by hand. Not its hands, your hands. Get it? Good!.
But apart form the fact that the calendar is unreadable half the time, and frequently set to the wrong date, often for months on end, this is a fine watch. It's extremely handsome, durable, accurate, and it never needs winding. Just put a $1 digital on the other wrist, so you can remember what day it is. But look on the bright side. The stupid government-mandated change in daylight savings time is not going to drive my watch crazy.
The eco-drive system is unique to Citizen and they have hundreds of different models. Although watch batteries are tiny, they do have all kinds of nasty toxic materials in them, so this is a good Earth-friendly product. I heartily recommend it, but pick a model that has a better laid out, more readable calendar than this one, and make sure it has a microchip to track months and leap year.
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Please take this opportunity to visit some of my other planet-saving reviews:
An energy efficient LCD Monitor from Dell
Save money with Rayovac rechargeable batteries and charger
How to choose an energy efficient refrigerator
Clean up with a front loading Washing Machine that saves water and energy
Find a super-efficient air-conditioner that goes to 11
Make wiser choices with easy to read buyers guides:
How to choose a CD writer
How to choose a digital camera
How to choose a desktop computer
How to improve your WOT
Protect yourself with my safety reviews:
How to keep your child safe from strangers
Everything you should know about fire safety
How to protect yourself from a heart attack
And my top-five rated review with over 50,000 reads so far:
How to choose an energy efficient air-conditioner
Don't you just love those long hot summers? :))
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Recommended:
Yes
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