CitizenMen's Eco-Drive Weekender Brycen Chronograph Watch Stainless Steel Case

This "Brycen" chronograph by Citizen was a steal when on closeout sale. I have had a gift Citizen for 35 years now - but got tired of short battery life. (Gold tone Diver's with quartz movement powered by button cell) No complaints even with that antique, but battery changes and yearly service got tiresome. This Eco-Drive movement is completely self sustaining in even mere ambient light to keep it's hybrid Titanium lithium Ion battery up and running. This is an excellent movement in a very stylish stainless steel motif with polished highlights. It blends in with all of my wardrobe, dressy, to casual, it's a stunner.Now the good bits:All as mentioned above - battery is powered by a hidden solar cell under the face of the watch. It needs only 9 minutes of direct sunlight/day for all the energy it needs for up to 24 hours of running.When fully charged, it can keep moving up to about 6 months in the dark. But don't store *any* Eco-drive model away like this. Take it out and wear it for a day or two and let it charge up. A full charge from dead flat usually takes a day and a half of sunlight to bounce back to full charge.The lume on the face is powerful and a brilliant aqua-blue. Alas, it doesn't last quite as long as you'd want it to in complete darkness. Most of the glow is gone at the end of 10 minutes.The face Is clearly marked with sharp looking ticks, the hands hit on those ticks perfectly. (in mine anyway)Beautiful tachymeter ring in navy blue w/sharp, legible numbering. The aluminum ring is of a high polish that compliments the looks of this chronometer.Decent bracelet of alternating contrasts of brushed and polished steel is attractive to just look at. Once adjusted, it's secure and slip free.This is a bare basics chronometer, with subset dials to indicate Minutes, GMT 24-hr clock and running time seconds dial with all 60 ticks there. The large, orange sweep hand moves only when using the chronometer function and is accurate to 1/5th of a second.+-15 seconds accuracy in one month is pretty sharp for a quartz movement of this design and price point.Drawbacks: This is a short list -Inset day for the calendar is deep set into the watch face. So you do have to angle it about to see what the numerical day/date is.The bracelet strap has *NO* micro-adjustment w/spring clips. You have to drive links out of the bracelet to remove either a full link, or one of 4 "half" links to get it right. It took me three tries in the images attached to find "my fit". I have skinny arms, so this was vexing until I got it done. The pins drive out and in through a specific direction, the pins are split - so they have to be oriented and driven in the right directions so that they expand and click in deep, locking the links back together. You may need a jewelry store or a watchmaker's to get it right if this frustrates you.There is no lume on the watch dial or the ticks, only on the hour and minute hands. This makes full readability in the dark challenging. If it was a true "Dive" watch as Citizen sells then there would be full face and dial lume. This is a sports watch. Water resistant - not watertight. Snorkeling and swimming is a-OK. Don't press your luck with a case rated to 100meter/10 Bar.As it is a sports watch, (not a diver) the Tachymeter ring is FIXED. It's not ratcheting at all so therefore useless as a dive timer.Mild criticism: This watch would benefit from a hardened Sapphire crystal dome glass. You only get Mineral glass domes in this price range and style of watch. Jumping up to the Super Titanium Brycen, you get 200meter/20Bar water resistance and the sapphire crystal. Please bring Sapphires to the entire Brycen line.For the money I spent though, and as a first, self-purchased Citizen - I am very satisfied. The unit I received was factory new, in box, sealed - all anti-scuff plastics in place! No refurb or resold unit here. I hope it gives me the same reliability and timekeeping of my older Citizen. The Eco-Drive movement is allegedly good for 10 years of use, but Citizen reports service life upwards of 20 years under ideal conditions. A third party evaluator has reported that through simulated environments, charge/discharge cycles - an estimated 30+ years of service *could be achieved*. Citizen does recommend that the watch go in for service every 3 years, at least to replace the case seals and clean/lube as required. Electronically register your watch on Citizen's web page to start your 5 year warranty. If you use their app, they'll extend the warranty out to 6 years, gratis.I'd definitely pick up this watch as an economical entry into the Eco-Drive family with Citizen. This watch proves you neither have to break the bank or sell a kidney for fantastic looks, style, reliability and spot-on precision that's more than adequate for every day at work, or leisure-cruising around on the weekends.

This watch was another great buy. The watch face is clear and easy to read. The band complements the main watch nicely. I can wear the watch for any occasion. It holds time well as long as you keep it charged. It is easy to use and doesn't weigh too heavily on my wrist. I like Citizen watches, and this one did not disappoint.

Great watch for the money, it is my second Citizen, I bought this to wear while my Blue Angels one is a being repaired.

It's a very handsome timepiece. Chronograph works perfectly and as expected. The leather band is of good quality. Quite comfortable.BUT, the date is nearly unreadable in any light condition. It's like the dial is casting a shadow on the date. For a $340 watch, I wouldn't expect that.

Very nice watch, make sure you have the tools to remove links from the band as it is large, even on my wrist which is pretty big.

Looks so handsome on my man. 10/10 would recommend. Great quality.

Love this watch The classic style i've always wanted without a high price. No battery needed ever. The band is comfortable and looks great with casual or formal attire.

As a daily-wear watch, this is fine. After 12 hours of charging (was dead out of the box), it's holding time and handling well. However, the bracelet and chronograph buttons have a "plinkiness" to them that misses out on the heft of something like a similarly-priced Seiko. This translates into binding on the wrist-hand interface from link/pin slack (I tried several link/sizing combinations) and an unrewarding feel when the chronometer is used.I'm not going to return it, but I'm also not going to buy any more in the line.