Citizen Casual Watch BM8180-03E

I bought one of these almost 12 years ago, and it's been my only watch ever since, wearing it every day. In all that time I've never had to worry about changing batteries (or even putting it in the sun to charge: it seems to get enough power just by wearing it normally, even in the winter, when it's generally covered by my sleeve).I've gone through about 4/5 straps - any 18mm strap will do the job (I've always used leather replacements after the original wore out, as I prefer the look of them). The face is pretty scratched now (though that doesn't affect my ability to read the watch) as I have a pretty physical job which would have destroyed most other watches long ago. The date/day indicator is now a little faulty, but that doesn't bother me at all as the watch still tells perfect time.With a very readable face and classic good looks, this is by far and away the best watch I've ever had, and I will be looking for another exactly the same whenever this one finally decides to give up on me.

I bought this watch well over 5 years ago and it's still running and looking as good as new. In all that time the eco-drive has never stopped. The seconds hand indicates it's running low by moving in 2 second jumps rather than 1. From memory this has only ever happened once (strangely not long after it was bought) and apart from this occasion I've never left it in the sun to charge on purpose. It's the most accurate watch I've ever owned only ever losing a few seconds a year. Even the glow in the dark paint on the numbers seems to glow longer than most other watches.

Owned this watch for coming up to 3 years. I too got it from a well known high street catalogue retail outlet for about £60 but wanted to post a review here. Bought on purely the style of the face, numbers, font, black background. My only minor quibble was I would prefer a "12" than a triangle but I could not find anything that satisfied so many of my other aesthetics.I knew from the start I would replace the strap. I'm a fan of stainless expandable bracelets which are hard to come by these days on the high street and I know I can adjust myself. Used them for years and so now it would be hard for me with either Velcro, buckles or fold-ups. I found an expandable on Amazon and it looks brilliant with this watch. tried to find it again but now available B001GQ36FIAs for the watch I love it. The second hand is a 1 second jump type of motion not a smooth sweep.I have never had the two-second-tick warning that battery is low indicating it needs light but do get a noticeable slow down of several minutes from the correct time after a while. This only happens if I have not exposed it to much light for a few months. It either lives overnight in the dark or on my wrist buried under sleeves. A couple of hours on a sunny shelf if I remember seems to rectify it for quite a while. Under a microscope you can see the black face is sectioned into solar panels but this is invisible to naked eye. Maybe post an image later.I can never remember quite right the multilevel click of the winder to adjust time or the day number basically because you do it so infrequently. The same level of pull-out serves to adjust minute hand AND day number you just have to remember turn one way for day and the opposite for minute. I think. Not sure.Great watch.

My wife and daughter both have eco drive watches so when the battery failed on my watch I thought I would give it a try. So far it has been very reliable and accurate. The accuracy on this type of watch is slightly academic as with the day date function unless you reset the date on months where there are less than 31 days the date will be wrong so if you are changing the date you might as well correct the time. Having said that I have not had to reset the time in 6 months.The appearance seems much better than in the photographs with the numbers being very sharply defined.Although my watch is the same model as the one shown here it has different strap and it is not velcro fastened but has a canvas strap (leather backed) which has metal ringed holes which fasten much like a leather strap. Initially the strap was very stiff but it soon became more flexible. I have a small wrist and perhaps the strap will not be large enough for someone with a large wrist. Max usable strap length including width of watch which is about 38mm is 190mm and this then only allows the end of strap to go through one of the two retaining loops.

This is my Military Style Gents watch - there are many like it but this one is mine.This watch absolutely will not stop - ever - until you are dead - due to it's eco-drive, which means the battery is continuously recharged by a discreet solar panel in the face. Mine has been going for over 10 years and I have never had to replace a battery or reset the time due to slowness or fastness - it has no idea about Daylight Saving Time though - or how many days there are in a month, so you will have to change that, but if you eat green berets for breakfast, you won't mind.So what is this watches major malfunction? It has a fabric strap - and after a while it absorbs your precious bodily fluids and smells horrible, so no, you won't love the smell of your watch in the morning - but you can get a lovely leather strap on Amazon for about £7.It's also light, reasonably low profile and the timeless (no pun intended - or, well... ok - pun intended) military design means it will always look really good.So caam aaannn! What are you waiting fuuer? Buy meeee!

Excellent watch, daylight powered, keeps good time. I check mine every so often and it's never more than 20 seconds adrift. Strap good fit for me but I do have slim wrists, and is comfy. Had mine about 3 years and strap is getting tatty, a new Citizen strap is 25 Quid so am looking for a decent match; let me know if you spot one. Thanks. Ditto the above review re price at Argos !