Onyx_black
January 6th, 2009, 09:06
Foreword
My dad bought me this watch at an authorized Citizen dealer (Malaysia) on December 29th, 2008; the reason being my dad’s fault, he took my G-Shock DW6900 for a company trip and not knowing that the gasket responsible for the watch’s water resistant capabilities is already worn out due to ageing. So he hit the beach and swam in the seawater; to keep long story short, the sea water seeped into the resin case of the G-Shock and ‘killed’ it on the spot. Since G-Shock is the only watch I had, my dad promised to get me a new one.
At first I settle for the BL5265-21E, but this model wasn't available for the Malaysian market; buying it online from Singapore is not feasible, the watch will be subjected by all sorts of customs clearance fee, duty and customs tax. So we went to this authorized dealer and the Promaster BL5280 caught my eye; the caliber is basically the same as BL5265 but the exterior is different. For instance, the BL5265 has leather strap, the BL5280 has stainless steel bracelet. Only 3 years limited warranty (applicable in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei) for this watch, unlike the 5 year limited warranty from the States. So far, I’m happy that I picked up this watch.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/4332/dsc0343uc4.jpg
Note: This is my first review and I sincerely apologies if I didn't do a good enough job, quality of my English language not up to mark, grammar or spelling mistakes.
Brand
CITIZEN Promaster
Model number
BL5280-61E
Official or unofficial Nickname (if any exists)
No nickname.
Overview & specifications
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/2408/dsc0404dx5.jpg
The Citizen Promaster BL5280-61E has everything I need and more; it’s constructed mainly of Stainless Steel which contributes to its heavy feel; the Citizen is a Quartz based movement, accuracy shouldn’t be an issue here; it’s a solar powered watch, changing the batteries should be a thing of the past; perpetual calendar ensures no monthly adjustment of the date wheel till the year 2100 and host of other cool features and functions for geeks like me (no, you don’t have to be a geek to fall for this watch :-d ). Last but not least, the bells and whistles of the BL5280-61E are as follows:
12 & 24 Hour time display
Daily alarm
Chronograph/stopwatch
Date display with perpetual calendar
Eco-DrivePower save feature
Time setting warning feature
Insufficient charging warning feature
Overcharging prevention featureChronograph (60 minute measurement, 1/20th second units)
Dual time (time difference correction: 1 hour units)
Alarm (24 hour clock, alarm monitor, alarm ON/OFF)
Water resistant 200 meters
Movement information/review
The BL5280-61E is an analog solar-powered watch. The internal workings of this watch comprise of a Quartz movement, caliber number E812 mechanism that ensures accurate time keeping ability, the Quartz standard. As for its accuracy, the watch runs slower by 0.1 to 0.5 seconds, 96 hours after calibration.
During the 0-position correction, I noticed the second and minute hands are not aligned to the markers, slightly off from its correct value. Other hands like function hand, 24-hour hand and hour hand are okay.
I can hear faint “ticking” noise when the second hand operates, you have to place the watch very close to one of your ears in order to hear it; otherwise the ticking noise is not very pronounce. When the calendar winds itself at the stroke of midnight you can hear “whirring” noise when the function hand makes 4 revolutions to wind the date wheel, again you have to put the watch near to your ear to hear the noise. So if you’re one of those people that will pull your hair out at the sound of ticking second hand (I know my math teacher will), you won’t have to with this watch.
Speaking of the date wheel, adjusting the date is a little annoying for me; the date wheel is uni-directional, meaning you can only turn the crown anti-clockwise to advance 1 day on the calendar. Turning the crown clockwise will not return the date to a day earlier. For instance if you’re starting from the 1st, the date today is the 31st; you have to turn the crown anti-clockwise multiple times to reach 31st instead of turning the crown clockwise to change the date on the date wheel from 1st to 31st straightaway. Interesting enough, the Citizen manual mentions that if I turn the crown multiple “clicks” at a short duration (anti-clockwise), the date wheel should be able to wind itself continuously until I stop it manually or the date reaches 31st (and the date wheel will stop winding itself automatically); I couldn’t make that happen on my Citizen.
Case review
Brushed and polished stainless steel case. Polished parts include the outer rim of the diving bezel, push buttons and the side of the watch case, but only 75% of it is polished, remaining 25% is brushed (the part that’s jutting out is brushed). At approximately 115 grams, the watch feels solid and heavy.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/2342/dsc03622em4.jpg
Right side of the watch: 2 push buttons and a crown.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/7605/dsc03722we7.jpg
Left side of the watch: The jutted area (the same location where the crown is on the right side) is brushed, while the remaining areas are polished stainless steel.
On the round circular black dial, there are:12 luminous orange color hour markers,
Silver tone luminous hour and minute hands and
A luminous bright orange color second hand. There are three sub-dials:24-hour sub-dial with a tiny white color 24-hour hand [10 o'clock position],
Chronograph minute sub-dial with a tiny white color function hand [2 o'clock position] and
Mode sub-dial with a tiny luminous white color mode hand [6 o'clock position]. http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/5836/dsc03592tr3.jpg
If you look closer, directly underneath the sub-dials is the solar panel. There’s a date window at the 4 o’clock position.
In between the diving bezel and the hour markers, they are a few warning indicators such as the alarm ON/OFF monitor, time setting warning indicator, insufficient charge warning indicator and stopped state indicator. Besides that, there’s a compass cardinal dial/marking too.
This watch has a screw back case. Among the stuff engraved on the back of this watch: CITIZEN ECO-DRIVE, CITIZEN WATCH CO., W.R.20BAR, ST.STEEL, Case number, Manufacturer’s number etc.
Case size or diameter is 45mm including the crown, 42mm without the crown; thickness is 12-13mm.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/8849/dsc0384go3.jpg
Both push buttons don’t feel sluggish or flimsy, they have a firm feeling to it every time I press them; the crown has an Eco-Drive logo imprinted. The crown presents a problem for some Citizen BL52xx series owners; they claimed the crown can be easily rotated unintentionally, causing the watch to change modes without the owner’s knowledge. So far I didn’t encounter the problem described; the watch stays in Timekeeping mode all the time unless I turn the crown manually. Maybe some models didn't have the crown protector, hence the accidental mode change.
Crystal review
If I’m not mistaken, this watch has a scratch resistant mineral crystal, with no anti-reflective coating. I’m not particularly clear about the crystal used in this watch; Citizen Hong Kong’s website didn’t mention anything about the crystal, while some online watch merchant claimed it is sapphire crystal. I wouldn’t use a stainless steel knife blade to test the crystal; I’ll just assume that it’s mineral crystal, I doubt it’s sapphire crystal.
Since the shape of the crystal is flat, I noticed the viewing angles are generally better than dome shape crystals and less reflection from light sources. It’s just my preliminary observation, I could be wrong here.
Bracelet/strap review (including clasp)
The bracelet is made of brushed and polished stainless steel; I prefer brushed touch ups for the whole of the bracelet, polished parts is a little too bling-ish for my taste.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/6244/dsc0379uf2.jpg
Furthermore it features a double safety lock three-fold clasp or some may call it the fold-over push-button deployment clasp. It’s very solid and won’t open itself accidently.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/1918/dsc0381rj8.jpg
I believe the lug width lies in the range of 12-14mm, as I don’t have a proper lug width measuring tool, I’ll have to rely on my plastic ruler and some crude estimation.
Bad news for modding enthusiast, the stainless steel bracelet is integrated into the watch case so substituting it to rubber strap, ZULU or NATO style straps proved impossible. Unless you want to trim the rubber strap to fit it to the watch case, I never tried it myself so I’m not sure whether it’ll work.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/402/dsc03772iy2.jpg
Top side view of the watch/12 o'clock position.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/4954/dsc03762uy4.jpg
Bottom side view of the watch/6 o'clock position.
Bezel review (if it has a rotating bezel)
Unidirectional diving bezel, rotates anti-clockwise only; there’s a luminous dot at the 0 minute or 12o'clock position.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/6629/dsc0375go1.jpg
Markings from the 0th minute to the 15th minute are noticeably closer. It has a slight “tactile feedback” and clicking noise as you turn the bezel anti-clockwise; the bezel markings aligns with the hour minute or second markers.
No problems with the bezel so far, though I wish it had a Tachymeter scale instead of a diving scale.
Review of any special features or additional complications (such as power reserve indicators, chronograph functions, moon phase, etc.)
Solar powered Eco-Drive
The watch has a power reserve about 9 months up to a year depending on conditions. Just expose the watch to light source be it outdoors in the Sun or at home daily, the watch should be happy for a good few months.
The power saving feature will kick in once the surrounding gets dark, the second hand will park itself at the 12 o’clock position. When there’s a light source that the watch can detect, the second hand will resume back to its timekeeping duty. When the watch is insufficient charged, the low charge indicator will come into play. That’s the time you need to expose the watch to any bright light source to charge it up.
If the watch reaches a critical stage of charge depletion, all watch functions will cease to operate and the second hand parks at the “Stop” indicator; the next time the watch is exposed to light and obtained sufficient charge it will remind you to set the correct time (basically the time set advisory function) because the watch couldn’t keep the correct time when there’s not enough charge/power in the first place.
Chronograph
The stopwatch function allows a maximum of 60 minutes recording time and offers 1/20th second units in measurement. There’s no split time function though and the stopwatch function is a single button operation; one push button to start and stop the stopwatch and that very same button to reset the stopwatch as well. 60 minutes is a little short, still better than nothing.
Daily alarm
The alarm chimes in a daily basis once you set the time; there’s an alarm on/off indicator near the 6:30pm to 7:30pm position so you can monitor whether you’ve switched on the alarm or not.
I find the alarm sound a tad too soft for my liking, what’s even stranger is that the first 2 beeps are the loudest, the consecutive ones are much softer than the first two. To be precise, the alarm sound in 2 rapid beeps, followed by a second pause and another unit will sound immediately after the 1 second pause, that one unit still consist of 2 rapid beeps but much softer. Maybe the watch isn’t fully charged and tries to save some power by reducing the volume of the alarm. There’s no snooze function for this watch if I’m not mistaken.
Dual time
This will come in handy for people who travel quite a bit (world time function will suit you better if you’re a frequent traveler), two separately adjustable timekeeping modes will give you the time in two different time zones by switching the mode dial; as for daylight saving time, you have to adjust it manually.
By the same account you can adjust the time difference between 2 time zones in hourly increments only. I wish there’s a one-touch button operation that enables me to switch the “local time” to current “timekeeping” mode, in other words, upon arrival at say Australia I wish I could ‘transfer’ the Australian time from the “local time” mode to current “timekeeping” mode (which previously keep tracks of Malaysian time) and transfer the home country time to the “local time” mode, all at a touch of a button; but that’s not going to happen on the Citizen Promaster.
Perpetual calendar
Ensures accurate and adjustment free operation of the calendar, all the way to the year 2100. You can adjust the alignment of the date wheel if the date doesn’t show up properly at the date window.
24 hour hand
Let’s you keep track of both 12 hour and 24 hour time format.
200m/20BAR water resistant
I haven’t test the water resistant capability of this watch yet, but I believe it’s good for day-to-day exposure to water but not like deep sea diving with an oxygen tank strapped to your back.
Lume capabilities
I find the lume of the Citizen very good, not quite Seiko diver’s watch standard but I’m content with it. The hour and minute hands glows brightly and able to last for a very long time; the hour markers are the weakest, only a strong light source (e.g. Sun light) can put these hour markers to work in the dark. The hour, minute, second and mode hands all have a blue lume color, while the hour markers are green in lume color.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/4540/dsc0412ib3.jpg
To test how long the lume can last, I charged the lume before bedtime under a fluorescent light (I had to lift my watch up very near to the fluorescent light for maximum absorption of light; the fluorescent light is affixed to the ceiling.) for approximately 4 to 5 minutes, the starting time was 12:10am. I woke up the next day at 7:30am to find the lume on the hour and minute hands are still glowing albeit faintly. My bedroom is not pitch black at that moment, my curtains are closed, the Sun’s up only a little, the watch remains inside the closet and I’m standing in front of the closet looking at the watch.
There are a couple of lume shots I’ve posted in another thread, you can have a look at them here (http://forums.watchuseek.com/showpost.php?p=1553611&postcount=9) & here (http://forums.watchuseek.com/showpost.php?p=1558795&postcount=12). Like all watches with luminous paint, the lume starts off strong but fades off quickly. For day-to-day in the dark use, light source don’t always presents itself readily; the lume paint on the Citizen can handle short duration charge reasonably well, just expose it to a light source with a reasonable brightness (even torchlights) for a while and the lume will present itself in the dark for you to read the time, but don’t expect it to last for extended periods of time. The general rule of thumb: the brighter the light source, the longer the lume will last.
Ergonomics/ease of use
The Citizen BL5280-61E can be tricky for first time users, in fact all watches with E81* caliber are slightly complicated when it comes to setting the time and date, 0 position adjustment etc. A manual is a definite must for newbies or you can go to Citizen’s website to view an online tutorial video or simply download a PDF manual file and view it on your computer. With these tools in hand, you’re good to go.
Closing opinions and recommendations
The Citizen BL5280-61E didn’t disappoint me, but there is still some room for improvement. I’m no watch collector or watch enthusiast so I can’t compare the Citizen with other higher end timepiece or anything that comes close with Citizen’s standards. But I know I want this watch because it has got all the functions I need in a watch sans the Tachymeter; there’s a model that best described as “the perfect watch” by my standards, that is the Citizen BL5251-51L. It has everything the BL5280-61E has except the BL5251 is made out of titanium for lighter overall weight and a Tachymeter scale instead of a compass cardinal dial on the BL5280. Even then (for the BL5251) dark blue dial with black and white two-tone colors are a little dull.
My dad complained about the weight of the watch, if you’re like him (who wears a Luminox and a Seiko titanium watch) then this watch will need some getting used to or forgo this watch altogether. For lume freaks, you can consider the sibling of this watch, the BL5280-61W. Again, it has all the features and function from the BL5280-61E except for the fact that BL5280-61W has a full face lume; to be precise, a green luminous dial. That should keep most lume fans happy.
All in all, if you interested in a solar watch with solid features set such as the chronograph, daily alarm, perpetual calendar, dual time and reasonable lume, you can’t go wrong with Citizen’s BL52xx series. Other models that might interest you: BL5250, BL5251, BL5260, BL5265 & BL5300.
Thanks for reading! :thanks
Bonus shots & unboxing photos
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/8043/dsc0339oq1.jpg
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/6302/dsc0341nk7.jpg
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/6973/dsc0345sv5.jpg
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/2003/dsc0348xt1.jpg
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/9796/dsc0352er0.jpg
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/8291/dsc0394vg7.jpg
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/2681/dsc0405cm3.jpg
My dad bought me this watch at an authorized Citizen dealer (Malaysia) on December 29th, 2008; the reason being my dad’s fault, he took my G-Shock DW6900 for a company trip and not knowing that the gasket responsible for the watch’s water resistant capabilities is already worn out due to ageing. So he hit the beach and swam in the seawater; to keep long story short, the sea water seeped into the resin case of the G-Shock and ‘killed’ it on the spot. Since G-Shock is the only watch I had, my dad promised to get me a new one.
At first I settle for the BL5265-21E, but this model wasn't available for the Malaysian market; buying it online from Singapore is not feasible, the watch will be subjected by all sorts of customs clearance fee, duty and customs tax. So we went to this authorized dealer and the Promaster BL5280 caught my eye; the caliber is basically the same as BL5265 but the exterior is different. For instance, the BL5265 has leather strap, the BL5280 has stainless steel bracelet. Only 3 years limited warranty (applicable in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei) for this watch, unlike the 5 year limited warranty from the States. So far, I’m happy that I picked up this watch.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/4332/dsc0343uc4.jpg
Note: This is my first review and I sincerely apologies if I didn't do a good enough job, quality of my English language not up to mark, grammar or spelling mistakes.
Brand
CITIZEN Promaster
Model number
BL5280-61E
Official or unofficial Nickname (if any exists)
No nickname.
Overview & specifications
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/2408/dsc0404dx5.jpg
The Citizen Promaster BL5280-61E has everything I need and more; it’s constructed mainly of Stainless Steel which contributes to its heavy feel; the Citizen is a Quartz based movement, accuracy shouldn’t be an issue here; it’s a solar powered watch, changing the batteries should be a thing of the past; perpetual calendar ensures no monthly adjustment of the date wheel till the year 2100 and host of other cool features and functions for geeks like me (no, you don’t have to be a geek to fall for this watch :-d ). Last but not least, the bells and whistles of the BL5280-61E are as follows:
12 & 24 Hour time display
Daily alarm
Chronograph/stopwatch
Date display with perpetual calendar
Eco-DrivePower save feature
Time setting warning feature
Insufficient charging warning feature
Overcharging prevention featureChronograph (60 minute measurement, 1/20th second units)
Dual time (time difference correction: 1 hour units)
Alarm (24 hour clock, alarm monitor, alarm ON/OFF)
Water resistant 200 meters
Movement information/review
The BL5280-61E is an analog solar-powered watch. The internal workings of this watch comprise of a Quartz movement, caliber number E812 mechanism that ensures accurate time keeping ability, the Quartz standard. As for its accuracy, the watch runs slower by 0.1 to 0.5 seconds, 96 hours after calibration.
During the 0-position correction, I noticed the second and minute hands are not aligned to the markers, slightly off from its correct value. Other hands like function hand, 24-hour hand and hour hand are okay.
I can hear faint “ticking” noise when the second hand operates, you have to place the watch very close to one of your ears in order to hear it; otherwise the ticking noise is not very pronounce. When the calendar winds itself at the stroke of midnight you can hear “whirring” noise when the function hand makes 4 revolutions to wind the date wheel, again you have to put the watch near to your ear to hear the noise. So if you’re one of those people that will pull your hair out at the sound of ticking second hand (I know my math teacher will), you won’t have to with this watch.
Speaking of the date wheel, adjusting the date is a little annoying for me; the date wheel is uni-directional, meaning you can only turn the crown anti-clockwise to advance 1 day on the calendar. Turning the crown clockwise will not return the date to a day earlier. For instance if you’re starting from the 1st, the date today is the 31st; you have to turn the crown anti-clockwise multiple times to reach 31st instead of turning the crown clockwise to change the date on the date wheel from 1st to 31st straightaway. Interesting enough, the Citizen manual mentions that if I turn the crown multiple “clicks” at a short duration (anti-clockwise), the date wheel should be able to wind itself continuously until I stop it manually or the date reaches 31st (and the date wheel will stop winding itself automatically); I couldn’t make that happen on my Citizen.
Case review
Brushed and polished stainless steel case. Polished parts include the outer rim of the diving bezel, push buttons and the side of the watch case, but only 75% of it is polished, remaining 25% is brushed (the part that’s jutting out is brushed). At approximately 115 grams, the watch feels solid and heavy.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/2342/dsc03622em4.jpg
Right side of the watch: 2 push buttons and a crown.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/7605/dsc03722we7.jpg
Left side of the watch: The jutted area (the same location where the crown is on the right side) is brushed, while the remaining areas are polished stainless steel.
On the round circular black dial, there are:12 luminous orange color hour markers,
Silver tone luminous hour and minute hands and
A luminous bright orange color second hand. There are three sub-dials:24-hour sub-dial with a tiny white color 24-hour hand [10 o'clock position],
Chronograph minute sub-dial with a tiny white color function hand [2 o'clock position] and
Mode sub-dial with a tiny luminous white color mode hand [6 o'clock position]. http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/5836/dsc03592tr3.jpg
If you look closer, directly underneath the sub-dials is the solar panel. There’s a date window at the 4 o’clock position.
In between the diving bezel and the hour markers, they are a few warning indicators such as the alarm ON/OFF monitor, time setting warning indicator, insufficient charge warning indicator and stopped state indicator. Besides that, there’s a compass cardinal dial/marking too.
This watch has a screw back case. Among the stuff engraved on the back of this watch: CITIZEN ECO-DRIVE, CITIZEN WATCH CO., W.R.20BAR, ST.STEEL, Case number, Manufacturer’s number etc.
Case size or diameter is 45mm including the crown, 42mm without the crown; thickness is 12-13mm.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/8849/dsc0384go3.jpg
Both push buttons don’t feel sluggish or flimsy, they have a firm feeling to it every time I press them; the crown has an Eco-Drive logo imprinted. The crown presents a problem for some Citizen BL52xx series owners; they claimed the crown can be easily rotated unintentionally, causing the watch to change modes without the owner’s knowledge. So far I didn’t encounter the problem described; the watch stays in Timekeeping mode all the time unless I turn the crown manually. Maybe some models didn't have the crown protector, hence the accidental mode change.
Crystal review
If I’m not mistaken, this watch has a scratch resistant mineral crystal, with no anti-reflective coating. I’m not particularly clear about the crystal used in this watch; Citizen Hong Kong’s website didn’t mention anything about the crystal, while some online watch merchant claimed it is sapphire crystal. I wouldn’t use a stainless steel knife blade to test the crystal; I’ll just assume that it’s mineral crystal, I doubt it’s sapphire crystal.
Since the shape of the crystal is flat, I noticed the viewing angles are generally better than dome shape crystals and less reflection from light sources. It’s just my preliminary observation, I could be wrong here.
Bracelet/strap review (including clasp)
The bracelet is made of brushed and polished stainless steel; I prefer brushed touch ups for the whole of the bracelet, polished parts is a little too bling-ish for my taste.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/6244/dsc0379uf2.jpg
Furthermore it features a double safety lock three-fold clasp or some may call it the fold-over push-button deployment clasp. It’s very solid and won’t open itself accidently.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/1918/dsc0381rj8.jpg
I believe the lug width lies in the range of 12-14mm, as I don’t have a proper lug width measuring tool, I’ll have to rely on my plastic ruler and some crude estimation.
Bad news for modding enthusiast, the stainless steel bracelet is integrated into the watch case so substituting it to rubber strap, ZULU or NATO style straps proved impossible. Unless you want to trim the rubber strap to fit it to the watch case, I never tried it myself so I’m not sure whether it’ll work.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/402/dsc03772iy2.jpg
Top side view of the watch/12 o'clock position.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/4954/dsc03762uy4.jpg
Bottom side view of the watch/6 o'clock position.
Bezel review (if it has a rotating bezel)
Unidirectional diving bezel, rotates anti-clockwise only; there’s a luminous dot at the 0 minute or 12o'clock position.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/6629/dsc0375go1.jpg
Markings from the 0th minute to the 15th minute are noticeably closer. It has a slight “tactile feedback” and clicking noise as you turn the bezel anti-clockwise; the bezel markings aligns with the hour minute or second markers.
No problems with the bezel so far, though I wish it had a Tachymeter scale instead of a diving scale.
Review of any special features or additional complications (such as power reserve indicators, chronograph functions, moon phase, etc.)
Solar powered Eco-Drive
The watch has a power reserve about 9 months up to a year depending on conditions. Just expose the watch to light source be it outdoors in the Sun or at home daily, the watch should be happy for a good few months.
The power saving feature will kick in once the surrounding gets dark, the second hand will park itself at the 12 o’clock position. When there’s a light source that the watch can detect, the second hand will resume back to its timekeeping duty. When the watch is insufficient charged, the low charge indicator will come into play. That’s the time you need to expose the watch to any bright light source to charge it up.
If the watch reaches a critical stage of charge depletion, all watch functions will cease to operate and the second hand parks at the “Stop” indicator; the next time the watch is exposed to light and obtained sufficient charge it will remind you to set the correct time (basically the time set advisory function) because the watch couldn’t keep the correct time when there’s not enough charge/power in the first place.
Chronograph
The stopwatch function allows a maximum of 60 minutes recording time and offers 1/20th second units in measurement. There’s no split time function though and the stopwatch function is a single button operation; one push button to start and stop the stopwatch and that very same button to reset the stopwatch as well. 60 minutes is a little short, still better than nothing.
Daily alarm
The alarm chimes in a daily basis once you set the time; there’s an alarm on/off indicator near the 6:30pm to 7:30pm position so you can monitor whether you’ve switched on the alarm or not.
I find the alarm sound a tad too soft for my liking, what’s even stranger is that the first 2 beeps are the loudest, the consecutive ones are much softer than the first two. To be precise, the alarm sound in 2 rapid beeps, followed by a second pause and another unit will sound immediately after the 1 second pause, that one unit still consist of 2 rapid beeps but much softer. Maybe the watch isn’t fully charged and tries to save some power by reducing the volume of the alarm. There’s no snooze function for this watch if I’m not mistaken.
Dual time
This will come in handy for people who travel quite a bit (world time function will suit you better if you’re a frequent traveler), two separately adjustable timekeeping modes will give you the time in two different time zones by switching the mode dial; as for daylight saving time, you have to adjust it manually.
By the same account you can adjust the time difference between 2 time zones in hourly increments only. I wish there’s a one-touch button operation that enables me to switch the “local time” to current “timekeeping” mode, in other words, upon arrival at say Australia I wish I could ‘transfer’ the Australian time from the “local time” mode to current “timekeeping” mode (which previously keep tracks of Malaysian time) and transfer the home country time to the “local time” mode, all at a touch of a button; but that’s not going to happen on the Citizen Promaster.
Perpetual calendar
Ensures accurate and adjustment free operation of the calendar, all the way to the year 2100. You can adjust the alignment of the date wheel if the date doesn’t show up properly at the date window.
24 hour hand
Let’s you keep track of both 12 hour and 24 hour time format.
200m/20BAR water resistant
I haven’t test the water resistant capability of this watch yet, but I believe it’s good for day-to-day exposure to water but not like deep sea diving with an oxygen tank strapped to your back.
Lume capabilities
I find the lume of the Citizen very good, not quite Seiko diver’s watch standard but I’m content with it. The hour and minute hands glows brightly and able to last for a very long time; the hour markers are the weakest, only a strong light source (e.g. Sun light) can put these hour markers to work in the dark. The hour, minute, second and mode hands all have a blue lume color, while the hour markers are green in lume color.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/4540/dsc0412ib3.jpg
To test how long the lume can last, I charged the lume before bedtime under a fluorescent light (I had to lift my watch up very near to the fluorescent light for maximum absorption of light; the fluorescent light is affixed to the ceiling.) for approximately 4 to 5 minutes, the starting time was 12:10am. I woke up the next day at 7:30am to find the lume on the hour and minute hands are still glowing albeit faintly. My bedroom is not pitch black at that moment, my curtains are closed, the Sun’s up only a little, the watch remains inside the closet and I’m standing in front of the closet looking at the watch.
There are a couple of lume shots I’ve posted in another thread, you can have a look at them here (http://forums.watchuseek.com/showpost.php?p=1553611&postcount=9) & here (http://forums.watchuseek.com/showpost.php?p=1558795&postcount=12). Like all watches with luminous paint, the lume starts off strong but fades off quickly. For day-to-day in the dark use, light source don’t always presents itself readily; the lume paint on the Citizen can handle short duration charge reasonably well, just expose it to a light source with a reasonable brightness (even torchlights) for a while and the lume will present itself in the dark for you to read the time, but don’t expect it to last for extended periods of time. The general rule of thumb: the brighter the light source, the longer the lume will last.
Ergonomics/ease of use
The Citizen BL5280-61E can be tricky for first time users, in fact all watches with E81* caliber are slightly complicated when it comes to setting the time and date, 0 position adjustment etc. A manual is a definite must for newbies or you can go to Citizen’s website to view an online tutorial video or simply download a PDF manual file and view it on your computer. With these tools in hand, you’re good to go.
Closing opinions and recommendations
The Citizen BL5280-61E didn’t disappoint me, but there is still some room for improvement. I’m no watch collector or watch enthusiast so I can’t compare the Citizen with other higher end timepiece or anything that comes close with Citizen’s standards. But I know I want this watch because it has got all the functions I need in a watch sans the Tachymeter; there’s a model that best described as “the perfect watch” by my standards, that is the Citizen BL5251-51L. It has everything the BL5280-61E has except the BL5251 is made out of titanium for lighter overall weight and a Tachymeter scale instead of a compass cardinal dial on the BL5280. Even then (for the BL5251) dark blue dial with black and white two-tone colors are a little dull.
My dad complained about the weight of the watch, if you’re like him (who wears a Luminox and a Seiko titanium watch) then this watch will need some getting used to or forgo this watch altogether. For lume freaks, you can consider the sibling of this watch, the BL5280-61W. Again, it has all the features and function from the BL5280-61E except for the fact that BL5280-61W has a full face lume; to be precise, a green luminous dial. That should keep most lume fans happy.
All in all, if you interested in a solar watch with solid features set such as the chronograph, daily alarm, perpetual calendar, dual time and reasonable lume, you can’t go wrong with Citizen’s BL52xx series. Other models that might interest you: BL5250, BL5251, BL5260, BL5265 & BL5300.
Thanks for reading! :thanks
Bonus shots & unboxing photos
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/8043/dsc0339oq1.jpg
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/6302/dsc0341nk7.jpg
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/6973/dsc0345sv5.jpg
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/2003/dsc0348xt1.jpg
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/9796/dsc0352er0.jpg
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/8291/dsc0394vg7.jpg
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/2681/dsc0405cm3.jpg