Citizen Eco Drive Cal. 8700

My collection of Japanese watches currently includes several Seikos. I also have several Citizens including my Japan National Railways (Koku Tetsu) watches and this technological breakthrough in solar watches - the Eco Drive. These are more recent photos I took of my Eco-Drive for documentation purposes.

The Citizen Eco Drive Cal. 8700 perpetual calendar watch

This is a complicated watch and that's part of its charm. The watch has a perpetual calendar feature and to set that up requires some effort and the help of a manual at least the first time you make the adjustments. Its a good thing that you can now download these manuals to help you understand how to operate the watch.

Side view showing the crown and buttons for adjusting the watch features

Side view

Movement and serial number in very fine print at the lower part of the dial

The bracelet

Case back stating that the watch is supposed to have 10 bar water resistance and with a Cal. 8700 movement. The charger on this movement is quite sensitive to light that it can run on low light conditions including on a single candle. On a full charge and after its stored in total darkness, it can run for a period of 6 months!

I had the watch on while working on a project recently.

The lumes are working on this piece.

The display on this watch's face reminds one of the instrument panel you'll find in most cars.

Good things come to those who wait. And I waited (and hesitated) about getting an Eco Drive for quite some time. To get this one, I was quite lucky again with an auction. Few people seem to have an appreciation for this watch perhaps because most of the other watches in the auction were Swiss vintage or Seiko divers watches, which I think are more popular.

[Note: I no longer have this watch as I decided to sell it. It was quickly sold and I hope the current owner is enjoying this complicated piece.]

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