Light powered watches with added benefits

When Eco-Drive timepieces were first introduced to the market place they were only available as a simple analogue watch. As Citizen have greatly improved their technology Eco-Drive are now available with multi features; 24 hour chronograph, analogue/digital display, world timer, 99 minute countdown, race chronograph, dual alarms, radio controlled, world time for 43 Cities, atomic time keeping, power reserve indicator, auto diving mode, depth alarm, temperature sensor, perpetual calendar, water-resistant to 200 meters. The list is endless. Pushing the boundaries even further Citizen has recently introduced the thinnest light powered watches in the world named Stiletto.

Traditionally the original Eco-Drive watches had very modest transparent dials. This was a necessity, as light could not be absorbed through a solid dial. Not wanting to sacrifice the look of their timepieces, Citizen strove to advance their technology and developed superior, attractive dials that could absorb light. Citizen Watches latest range includes solid colour and mother of pearl dials within their range.

Citizen is that confident of the quality of their products that they have introduced a five year guarantee! No other watch manufacturer has been able to challenge this yet. The superior protection provides real value for money and peace of mind to everyone that purchases a Citizen Eco-Drive Watch.

Now for the science..

Eco-Drive is a way of Converting light into power. This very clever invention abolishes the need to use conventional batteries thus alleviating the need of frequent battery changes throughout the life span of your watch. So how does it work? An Eco-Drive watch converts any form of light source, be it natural day light or artificial light and turns it into energy! A microns thin disc of amorphous silicon sits under the watch dial and converts light energy into electrical energy through the photovoltaic process.

An Eco-Drive watch will run indefinitely in normal light conditions and can be stored in total darkness from anywhere between 40 days to 6 months (dependant on the model of the watch) and still keep perfect time. If an Eco-Drive timepiece does run out of its power reserve, it will only take 3.5 hours in direct sunlight to fully recharge the battery cell. A few minutes of natural sunlight, is adequate enough to power the watch for one day.

Low power indicators have been built into an eco-drive to signal to the wearer that the power reserve is running low.  The watch’s second hand jumps at 2 second intervals to alert the wearer that their watch is in need of some form of light source to recharge the battery cell. Eco – Drive movements are now used in multi function watches such as chronographs.

To own a truly environmentally friendly watch citizen have produced an Eco-Drive timepiece with a titanium case and strap. Titanium is a light weight, recyclable, hypoallergenic metal. The Eco-Drive’s energy cell does not contain any chemicals unlike the more traditional batteries.

Citizen Eco-Drive is the most technically advanced power generating and storage system in the watch manufacturing industry to date.