Citizen Men's Eco-Drive Weekender Garrison Field Watch in Stainless Steel with Olive Nylon Strap, Black Dial (Model: BM8180-03E)

I completely do NOT understand the nay-sayers and their nagging critiques of this Citizen Eco-Drive."The band is too tight (or too short.)""The sweep second hand doesn't hit the marks within an atom's width.""The flat crystal is too easily scratched.""The luminosity isn't a neon sign like Indiglo!""It's too ugly to wear in the Boardroom.""Why can't I set the day/date anytime I want?""The dial face is so small it makes me look gay."I own a Hamilton Moon Watch, a Tudor Chronograph, and a Rolex Explorer II GMT. I bought the Rolex as a reward for myself in 1992 when I made Chief in the seagoing service and was still taking position star sights with a sextant. It has been my "daily driver" every day since ... except every three-to-four years when accuracy becomes erratic and I have to send it away to Rolex Dallas for a month for $750 service oiling, upkeep, and rehab maintenance. Now in the drawer waiting until I have funny funds for yet another service.Once I received this Eco-Drive with two-day Amazon+ free delivery I put it on my wrist in direct sunlight for a few hours, set the time, and away we went. Set the day and date within seconds once I was outside the 9PM - 4AM window specified by the manual. Never take it off now. For a watch in this price range you can't engineer a set of switching gears for day/date change that can also handle an owner messing around with the settings by pulling out the crown at the same time. So wait until morning to do it. What's the big deal?The luminous hands glow brightest just after you turn out the lights, which is perfect because at that time your eyes are still burnt out from staring at the LCD screen all night surfing Amazon reviews. When I wake up at 3:23:19 AM and my eyes have dark adapted again I can still see the hands including the sweep second hand. The Citizen canvas band is stiff until you wear it enough to break it in to the shape of your very own wrist, and then it sits very well when you wear it in Real Life® rolling your ulna and radius reaching for another beer. Just try to find the right-size jeweler's screwdriver to remove links from the Rolex diver's band to fit your wrist! (Even the damn band is multi-hundred$)I am not NFL lineman big, but 6'1" @ 200 lbs. and nobody has made whimpering noises at me for wearing this watch. This is the kind of tough, no-nonsense, utilitarian looking time utensil that Abercrombie & Fitch made back in the day when Hemingway was finding leopards on Kilimanjaro or pulling in bluefin off the Finca before they sold out and began outfitting punkers and 1%ers on Wall Street. The Explorer II crystal hangs out enough MMs from the stainless case that it had a noticeable chip out of it before a year was out and I learned how it catches every steel rail or rock outcrop in sight. The 24-hour bezel paint flakes off EVERY YEAR wearing it in salt water or just your shower. The Citizen fits close, feels light, and catches nothing.I am not sure of the press-fit crown and WR 100 meter rating, this is not an Oyster case and screw-down crown, but this is also not a $5,000 timepiece. I have not been swimming or diving with the Citizen. The quality of the rest of the watch is enough to give me confidence it will perform as advertised, and if it should not, I can buy another <$100.This budget watch is thousands of miles and light years and many dollars ahead of any of its' true competition. I don't want a rubberbound button-filled busy ultramarathon Ironman digital display gizmo. I want a tough good-looking analogue watch that keeps excellent time, and I believe the promise that the Eco-Drive will keep it going, and going, and going ... while the rest of the stable appreciate in value on their way to or back from service.I want a watch to tell me precise time, and maybe the day and date while it is at it. Not jewelry. Seriously, buy this watch.

Why did you pick this product vs others?:I bought this watch in 2019 and have used it every day since then. I worked in the roadway construction inspection field and have exposed the watch to dusty and wet conditions (pulling samples from a stock tank). Even after full ion emersion, the watch has continued to work flawlessly. I had to replace the band a couple of years back due to it wearing out.It is a great watch for the money! Since it is solar powered, I never have to worry about a new battery or winding it up.

Gift value:I’ve had mine for 5 years. Pro’s-extremely comfortable to wear on a parachute band. Keeps excellent time. I forget I’m wearing it, other than to check the time of course. Cons-it reflects the sunlight a lot when outdoors and driving and sometimes I often loose the minute hand over the day/date window at 15 minutes past the hour making at a glance time checks harder. Durability- I wear it in industrial settings, hiking, camping and it looks great. I do wear long sleeve shirts and that gives it some protection. I’ve been swimming with once after falling overboard and swimming to shore the watch has no issues.

I spent quite a while looking at military style watches under $200. I was looking for a watch that had a simple but stylish look and didn't look cheap. So far I am satisfied with this watch and in this review I will address some of the common themes in the other reviews.Size: This is not a large watch. I am not a person who believes a watch has to be large for it to look good. This watch is just about as small as I would go. In fact, the first few days I was filled with buyers remorse because my previous watch was much larger and I wasn't used to the drop in size. I felt like I had bought a women's watch. After asking many friends, and after a few days of it being on my wrist, it occurred to me that I was overreacting. I like the size very much actually, because when I'm dressed formally its size is classier looking than those expensive over-sized multi-function gizmos that an eight year old with cash would pick out. However, for my wrist size and my height, I would not go smaller than this. Make sure to consider your body and wrist size when buying a watch. There are guides for this online.The Canvas Strap: That being said, there are many complaints about the size, look, and feel of the watchband. Since its a smaller watch, its a smaller band and at first I did think it looked tiny. It's canvas on the outside and leather on the inner side and it is well made. The eyelets give it a good look, but the complaints are true and I can imagine that for some wrists the eyelets would cause the band to be too loose or too tight. Aside from that its a quality band and most importantly the watchband can be easily replaced with one that suits you more. I have a variety of watchbands and I recommend that people shop for one that they think looks best. I use the canvas strap usually, but I have a Maratac Zulu Bond 18mm strap for dress occasions (looks great with this watch! Don't settle for the cheaper versions they sell on Amazon). The great thing about military-style watches is their character.Eco-Drive: I find that the watch keeps spot on time. Whenever I get a watch I double check its accuracy every day for the first two weeks and then once a month. The watch hasn't been acting irregularly and I would say I'm outside as much as any average person. I fully charged it when I received it. After that, I left it face down on a desk for a weekend and it still kept time. One review was upset that the second (as in seconds in a minute) jumped two second markers instead of one. This is not an error in manufacturing! According to the manual, the second hand jumps this way when the battery is low on charge. I cannot verify as this has not happened to me. I very much like that I will never have to replace the battery.Second Hand: The second hand does not line up exactly with the second lines. This is one reason I gave it four stars. It isn't too obvious. I think the red color of the hand is a good look for the watch.Luminous numbers and hands: Seems to be evenly applied and bright enough for my liking.Calendar: I like the calendar. This is my second reason for giving the watch four stars however. PLEASE NOTE! that if you try to set the calendar between 9PM and 4AM this will probably permanently break the date feature on the watch! This did not happen to me because I read the description on this page and several reviews included it. The date works fine for me and it won't be hard to remember that. I just feel like no one should be able to break a good watch that easily and that makes it a flawed design. I would have preferred no fay of the week showing to being able to break my watch. Follow the instructions exactly!Metal-Stamp: Another reason for a forth star. Rather than the product info being stamped on the watch back, there is a sticker. Is this preferred? No not really...however see my last point.Price: This is a good watch for 80 bucks. I haven't had it for too long but a friend of mine has the same model and its lasted him many years. I would recommend this one over the Citizen AT0200-05E Eco-Drive Chronograph because the Chronograph on that watch is not very good, it lacks the beautifully simple look of this watch, and you pay much more for it. The actual watch looks better than the Amazon photo in my opinion.

I’ve had this watch since 2018 and have used it almost the whole time. Even after a few years of switching to an Apple Watch and leaving this one in a desk drawer, the moment I started using it again it worked perfectly. I’ve literally never had an issue with this watch and it’s been working perfectly since I got it. Definitely the best watch I’ve ever owned. The photo is after 7 years of use. Original watch band as well.

The watch speaks for itself. Amazon service is amazing. They actually found one for me (discontinued) . Amazon logistics is as far possible a masterpiece .