Light and Very Functional Watch
Written: Sep 05 '03 (Updated Sep 06 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Light, three time zones displayed at once, very functional
Cons: A tad difficult at first to use, band that does not lay flat
The Bottom Line: A light watch that can tell you three time zones at once and has more functionality than you will ever find a need for.
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| mookiekong's Full Review: Citizen Citizen® Men's Skyhawk Watch 051-3475... |
Citizen Skyhawk Titanium
I picked up my Titanium Skyhawk last summer because I wanted a fancier watch. But, since I was traveling so much, I had one big requirement for a new watch: Multiple time zones and being able to see two time zones at once.
When I visited the watch shop at the local mall, the stainless steel version of the Skyhawk immediately caught my eye. This watch is a beautiful watch; the face layout is clean with its three small analog subdials and two LCD subdials. But, when I got the stainless steel version in my hand, the watch immediately turned me off. Why? Because it weighed so much. It was truly a big chunk of metal and it felt like it. When I expressed this, the sales lady quickly picked up the titanium version from a different section of the sales counter and handed it to me. I was sold at that exact moment. The Titanium version of the watch may cost more, but it is completely worth the money in the difference of weight.
The left subdial on the face of the watch tells the hour in 24 increments so that I’ll know if it is night or day. The second subdial tells the time in UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), which is a good reference point to quickly calculate another time zone in my head. The left LCD display shows the time zone that the right LCD is displaying and also the charge of the battery. The right LCD displays different things depending on what the bottom subdial is set for. The bottom subdial is set using the crown and it can change to display: time, date, alarms (three total), chronograph, timer, and time set.
The watch time is actually set via the digital LCD and then when you want to change the main dial to display a time zone, just push both side buttons at once. It is a tad weird at first trying to set the time and get everything just correct, but once it is setup, the watch runs great. Switching between time zones on the watch is as simple as picking the time zone via the up or down buttons on the side, and then pushing the two buttons together. This will set the main dial to that time zone. Then the right LCD can be set to display another time zone. This is very handy for travelers.
The Skyhawk is an Eco-Drive watch meaning that the whole dial is a solar cell that charges an internal Lithium Ion battery. This watch will not have to have its battery changed as much as a regular quartz watch will because the battery is always being charged up when the watch is exposed to any source of light – even indoor lighting. The one drawback to a solar watch (this is my second solar watch, my first is a G-Shock solar watch) is that the crystal has to be made to be very domed to focus light onto the dial. By making the crystal to be a very pronounced dome shape it distorts the face of the watch, making it difficult to read the watch at some angles. To make things worse is that the crystal has no anti-reflective coating on it and the dome shape makes for a lot of glare. The crystal is a synthetic sapphire and is scratch resistant, though I have a tiny scratch on mine.
The clasp on the watch is a very good design. It has to release button things that release the double clasp, making the watch easy to take off. The double clasp itself makes the watch very secure on the wrist without letting it fall off accidentally. The one thing that bothers me is the bracelet on the watch; it is so rigid that it does not lay flat. My watch ends up laying on its side, which is not bad, but I wish that the band would lay flat instead of keeping an oval shape. The one thing that I learned quick about titanium is that it scratches pretty easily. It might be the strongest metal around, but it sure is not scratch resistant. The clasp and back side of my watch has changed colors (from dark titanium grey to a shinier titanium grey) because of the scratches. It all adds to the character of the watch though.
The bezel is a slide rule for pilots to do calculations with. I am no pilot and I cannot figure out how to use the slide rule for anything else. It is not much use for me, but if you are a pilot it maybe pretty helpful to you. The watch itself is pretty large, but not on the super large side. It is large enough to be manly looking and to get peoples attention. The watch is also water resistant to 100 meters. The watch, being quartz, keeps excellent time. It has not lost or gained much time over the year plus that I had the watch. This watch is excellent in keeping time.
All in all, this watch is an excellent watch for the price and I would not hesitate to recommend it. It is a beautiful watch with many features – some that most of us would probably never use. The solar cell charging of the battery is a wonderful feature of the watch. I just received as a gift a Breitling Chrono Avenger M1 that is also a titanium watch. It is leaps and bounds larger than this Skyhawk and I wear the Avenger M1 most of the time now. I still love my first titanium watch, the Skyhawk, though. If you are looking for a light watch that can tell you three time zones at once and has more functionality than you will ever find a need for, this is your watch.
See a picture of the Skyhawk’s face (and also my Breitling) here:
http://www.ultramookie.com/gallery/010watches
Recommended:
Yes
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mookiekong
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Location: San Jose, CA, USA
Reviews written: 68
Trusted by: 25 members
About Me:
Current Mookie Obsession: Apple iPhone 8GB and Fedora 8.
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