Citizen Watches Men's BM8475-26E Eco-Drive Strap Watch

This is my first Citizen Eco-Drive and I am very pleased with the watch. . The watch face is a replica from a famous Bell&Ross watches. The watch has no fancy bells, whistles or alarms but the elegance of a simple easy to read face and not having to worry about battery dying, replacements, etc is a wonderful thing. The watch hands and numbers have a gentle luminosity that is easy to read but is not overly bright as many others do. Contrary to the description, my watch has genuine leather (at least on the back side). This is the perfect weekend watch! Adding some pictures with different straps / bands. Update 5-17-15 For those Spanish speaking; the watch also features the day of the week in Spanish and English. Sunday is red with DOM. =) Update 7-02-16 Uploading some new pictures and conducted LUM Test. Many claim that this piece does not have a LUM. Well, the hands, the numbers and the hours markers do have a LUM. However, within less than 2 hours you could barely see them on a dark room; so they don't hold the charge for a long time. However if you are coming from the outside to a dark room, you can easily see all 3; the hands being the brightest. Added a picture with a different leather strap. The watch comes alive with a better strap. I am enjoying the watch a lot more with a lighter distressed brown leather strap. I've had this time piece for over a year now with frequent domestic wear and I cannot find anything wrong with what this piece from Citizen offers. Looks really good as a casual watch, I've change the leather band once just to give it a bit different look; it also looks really handsome with a Nato/Zulu Strap. (sorry for the pictures sideways it is an Amazon thing, pictures display correctly on my PC). 2nd year update: 08/17/2017 After 2 years from original purchase, this watch continues to look as good as it did when I bought it new. The Black Ionized finish is intact and scratch free. The dial is also scratch free. The watch keeps great time with the only minor hiccup that if I charge it directly on sunlight, it usually speeds up a bit before settling down to a gain of about .02 secs per day. This piece is part of my regular rotation specially for weekend wear. I replaced the leather strap with a strap from Clockwork Synergy. The OEM strap was not bad but totally recommend upgrading the leather; it raises the feel and comfort of the watch 100%. The price of this watch is a bargain, no batteries to be replaced.

This watch reminds me of a Bell & Ross Vintage Heritage BR 123 watch I rrreaalllyy want but can't afford at this moment. http://www.amazon.com/Bell-Ross-BR123-HERITAGE-Vintage-Black/dp/B005N8AGLC/ref=sr_1_1?s=watches&ie=UTF8&qid=1348893781&sr=1-1&keywords=Bell+%26+Ross+Vintage+123 But when I saw this Citizen watch, I realized its similar aesthetics to the BR 123 (but without the hefty price). -Essentially, the Swiss mechanical automatic movement is replaced with a eco-drive Japanese quartz movement, -the anti reflective ultra curved super hard sapphire crystal is replaced by an off the shelf mineral crystal, -the sand colored beige leather strap and markers/hands are replaced by a general orange, -the thin case of the BR 123 is replaced by Citizen's bulkier case, -the second hand is not subsidiary (like the BR 123), but part of the hour and minute hands (like most watches). -However, the citizen adds a day indicator whilst the BR 123 does not. Now subtract about $3,069 (original price $3,200) and you get the Citizen BM8475-26E ($131). What really sold me to the Citizen was the eco-drive technology. Although it does not compare to the Swiss mechanical automatic movement of the BR 123, knowing that if you keep good care of this watch, you shouldn't ever have to replace the battery. Which makes me wonder if this watch lasts as long as light exists (forever?... I question that. I guess time will tell)... The colors are also great and unique. The orange markers and hands against the black dial make it desirable since orange and black are one of my favorite color combinations. You can't really find a classic looking watch like this in orange. The only things that concern me after I purchased it was the date adjust... You really have to be gentle and gingerly with it or I feel like it may damage the movement. Pulling the crown should also be done gingerly. It's tricky to get it to the right spot and takes practice to master. The band squeaks a bit, but goes away after a week or more of daily wear. All in all the price and design of this watch makes it very enticing to purchase and own, which I have no regrets doing. This watch doesn't make you wonder, "does this watch come with insurance?" like you do with high end time pieces. With this price, and this eco-drive technology, I feel like it's a worthy and economic (and ecological?) investment. Oh, and I just realized the luminescence of the hands and dials are not as strong as some of my other watches... but it doesn't bother me as much, because I don't find myself in a situation where I'm in super pitch darkness and then wonder... "that time is it?".

Just got it yesterday so not a lot of time has past but initial thoughts are as follows. Looks better in person than on computer. As others have said feels hefty but not weighty, well made I guess is a better description. Some have commented strap/band feels cheap, maybe not genuine leather but mine seems to be genuine and fairly well made. Sleek Italian leather you would find in an expensive Lambo? Of course not but certainly a "better" feel to the leather than most ball gloves I've had. The one thing about the band, and others have mentioned it, is that it is a little short. Perhaps a 1/4 inch or so. I have a 7.25-7.5 inch wrist and I can only get to the third hole when fastening. That may sound reasonable however that only allows for the end of the band to barely get to the second loop to secure it. That is with the 2nd loop pushed next to the first loop. Could really use a slightly longer band. When I laid it side by side to another unworking watch it was around a quarter inch or so shorter than the mens band I have on the other one. So, my only complaint, if you will, is that the band could be longer. I remind that I have had it for less than 24 hours so if thing things change I will update. So far so good, glad I bought it. 5 stars for now.

It's a Citizen Eco-Drive and it does everything it's supposed to. I've had a couple in the past and they have been reliable, reasonably accurate and are still so after many years of use. Have not had to replace the lithium rechargeable battery yet in any and my oldest is probably over 20 years. The large, easy to read orange markings look great against the satin black on this model. The case is not exactly slim however, if that's important to you. The description says otherwise, but the strap on the copy I received is "genuine leather", which of course is inferior to full grain, but it appears to be thick and durable and is to be expected at this price point. Advice to those new to this kind of watch: if the second hand jumps at two second intervals that is the indicator that it is not fully charged. It will almost certainly need to be charged when you receive it or after storing it in a dark place. Leave it in the light for the full period of time recommended by Citizen and it will return to normal one second intervals and provide maximum run time if it is properly functioning. This one has English and Spanish days of the week. If it's not the language you want simply change it with the crown adjustment. A manual for this watch which has the Citizen E101 caliber movement (and for instructions for all other Citizen movements), is available online, like most products nowadays.

I fell in love with the way this watch looks--super cool. I had another Citizen Eco-Drive watch in stainless steel with a metal stainless band. That watch served me well for over 7 years and still kept time perfectly. But it was feeling very heavy on my wrist. So I decided on this one but wasn't really happy with the brown leather band that came with it, so I bought a nice black band with orange stitching. It goes so well that it looks like it came with the watch! The watch looks big on my wrist but I like the bold look and black with orange colors. The product description claims luminous hands and numbers but there is no luminosity on this watch face, not a deal breaker for me. I really appreciate the lighter weight of having a watch with a leather strap instead of a metal band. And I appreciate the accuracy of Citizen's Eco-Drive and never needing batteries.

I bought this watch in March of 2015 (off of Amazon) and I'm writing this review on July 2022. I just wanted to say that the watch is a good watch and that it has never stopped working. Best of all - no batteries to replace! I did go through a number of watch bands though - I'm on my second replacement watch band - but, this is over a 7 year period. As many have reported the glass scratches and my watch is no different. My watch has a lot of scratches. I have a tendency to orient the watch on my inner wrist which causes the face of the watch to come in contact with tables. For example as I type on a computer keyboard the watch is facing toward the table and touching the table. So, I've probably added more scratches because of this. The scratches just don't bother me though. I've snapped a few pictures (and hopefully I can upload to this review). In the last photo I pointed to watch to reflect the ceiling light - to make the scratches more visible. I'm old and need reading glasses so, for me, it's difficult to see the date without my glasses. Overall, and all things considered, I'd buy this watch again.

Not very Illuminating at night. Last a few minutes seems not to be very bright even if left out in the sunlight all day. Otherwise, very nice watch, nice workmanship and showing off excellent and simple design. What I buy again?Yes citizen's a nice watch

I own five Citizen Eco Drive watches. Ten months after receiving this watch, it lost 5+ hours. I sent it in to Citizen Watch's repair center - they replaced the movement. Seven months later, it failed again. Citizen ten replaced the dial and hands. Seven weeks later, it failed yet again. After sending it in for the third time, Citizen Watch repair (Torrance CA) called me after less than one week and informed me that the watch worked perfectly. I protested, stating that they needed to keep the watch longer The representative told me " . . . you're not getting a new watch." After returning this watch that "worked perfectly," it took only twelve days for this watch to fail once again. I contacted Amazon and advised them of the sad history of this purchase. A representative of Amazon's jewelry division got involved by contacting Citizen; he then contacted me and asked me to send it in again. I sent it to the repair center for the fourth time; this time Citizen kept the watch for just over ten days, then contacted me and once again told me that the watch functioned perfectly and that it would be returned with no further work done. I protested, suggesting that the watch did NOT perform perfectly and that they needed to keep it longer. The representative ("Angela") then accused me of deliberately re-setting the watch just to have this watch replaced with a new watch. (I was speechless). Amazon then contacted me and VERY GRACIOUSLY offered to replace the watch. I accepted. My other four Citizen Eco Drive watches (three are mine, one is my wife's) function perfectly. I WILL NEVER PURCHASE ANOTHER CITIZEN ECO DRIVE WATCH!