Reddit reviews Citizen Men's BL8000-54L Eco-Drive Calibre 8700 Stainless Steel Bracelet Watch

Citizen Perpetual Calendar. I'm sure you could find it for under $300.

39mm, perpetual calendar, solar powered, decently dressy (business casual for sure). I've had mine for almost 12 years. Great watch.

Citizen Eco-Drive Calibre 8700 This was my first big watch purchase and I love it. It was worth saving up a bit longer for. I was also interested in a less "busy" watch like the first one in your link, however my father suggested I get a busier watch since I am younger. I followed his advice and am in love with my watch if you couldn't already tell. The weight is solid and feels nice. I love the blue face....yeah, I recommend this watch haha. I bought mine on sale at Macy's.

I love perpetual calendar Eco-drives.

The time is always right! It knows how many days are in this month, doesn't forget leap years, and runs so long as its near my bedroom lamp when I'm not wearing it. While it doesn't do daylight savings time, its no big deal since supposedly next year we Californians aren't doing that anymore.

Last week I got a camelcamelcamel sale alert on this Eco-Drive (main photo), so I made an impulse buy at $110 [BL5470-06A]. It has some interesting design choices: a silver/black panda-like face, funky cut-off numbers, a razor thin seconds hand, and a non-rotating bezel. And while it's a bit big for my 6" wrist (44mm dia when i prefer 38-40)... overall, I dig it! It's amazing these three mirrored black dials are also solar panels that can keep the watch charged for so long. The stopwatch function and the decent strap & lume are icing on top.

This is my 2nd citizen. I bought my 1st to celebrate my first job after college [BL8000-54L]. After nearly a decade of expanding my watch collection (including a Seiko Cocktail, Vostok Amphibia, Deepblue T100 Daynight, Timex Easyreader, and my new Citizen), it's still one of my favorites. I always find myself wanting to wear the Citizens because I know I won't have to set it. I especially hate thinking it's the 31st when it's already next month.

My automatic watches are fun and beautiful, but I love the sheer usefulness and ease of wearing my Citizens. Now I have a sporty Eco Drive to go with my slightly dressier one!

OK, here's your watch 101. Watches are like anything; you can get a basic one or spend as much as 2 Million US. Here's a quick overview of "Luxury Watches":

Read this first: 'Any watch over 200 is basically jewelry. A cheap kids toy will tell accurate time.'

The get a feel for the territory by reading the Watch Brand Guide


Be honest with yourself, if your a trendy guy with a bit of money to spend in a city like Chicago you'll probably be happy with a Tag or something close to it. For myself, my criteria were:

• High reliability
  
  
• Stainless Steel
  
  
• Automatic winding
  
  
• Excellent Product Quality
  
  
• Dual time zone, Calender, & Alarm feature (I travel)
  
  
• Minimum of 50m water resistant
  
  I ended up with a Citizen Eco-Drive Calibre 8700. I'm not one for being flashy so this was a good fit for me. Love the watch dresses up and down for me and would recommend.
  
  
  EDIT: Read this first info.

I would suggest taking a look here:

http://forums.watchuseek.com/f71/

Beyond that, I'd say if you want one that uses a battery, go with a Citizen Eco Drive. (I have one of these and it has treated me well: http://www.amazon.com/Citizen-BL8000-54L-Eco-Drive-Perpetual-Calendar/dp/B00074HDAO/ref=sr_1_4?s=watches&ie=UTF8&qid=1291526117&sr=1-4) If you want an automatic I'd suggest either an Orient 'Mako' Diver (I have this one: http://www.amazon.com/Orient-Mens-CEM65002D-Automatic-Watch/dp/B001EWEQ3K/ref=sr_1_7?s=watches&ie=UTF8&qid=1291526189&sr=1-7 and it treats me well) or a Seiko 'Monster' Diver (http://www.amazon.com/Seiko-SKX781-Orange-Monster-Automatic/dp/B000EPLR2G/ref=sr_1_2?s=watches&ie=UTF8&qid=1291526221&sr=1-2) Neither of those will set you back the full $300. Heck you could get both and still have a couple bucks left over.

It's college football around here. Bama fan.

You have been so awesomely helpful. So this watch and this watch would be of about the same quality (aside from the obvious fact that one has a perp calendar and one doesn't)?

This one is slightly over your budget but is nice

http://www.amazon.com/Citizen-BL8000-54L-Eco-Drive-Perpetual-Calendar/dp/B00074HDAO

1. Seiko SRP773
   
   
2. Casio Pro Trek PRW-3000
   
   
3. Citizen BL8000-54L

Thanks =)

Here's the link for the second one. Since I'm a price robot, you'll note that I didn't pay $300 for it. Here's the price history.

I just add all the watches I like to my watchlist and then I buy when PriceZombie tells me it's hit my target price. I paid $222 for it. Actually less, because I used the 20% off amazon coupon.

Edit: the second one doesn't seem to auto detect time, so I had to set it. The first one does the radio thing to always keep itself in sync. I didn't know it lacked that feature when I bought it.

Haha yes, unfortunately I won't really know how frequently he'll wear it until after the fact. I also found a great deal on a Citizen perpetual calendar that brings it within budget. Is that one any better/worse?

What is everyone's thoughts on this one then?

http://www.amazon.com/Citizen-BL8000-54L-Eco-Drive-Perpetual-Calendar/dp/B00074HDAO/ref=zg_bs_6358539011_3

Seems to be one of the best selling watches on Amazon. Does it work well with business casual & a full suit?

amazon link

I own this Citizen since 2006. It works very well. Price can be negotiated to around 350$ at the store.

At that price point, your only option is a quartz watch, and you're still likely going to have to go over budget. Consider: Tissot T-Classic Perpetual Calendar but it's a 42mm. Alternatively something Japanese: this Citizen is a 39mm and under budget but mineral crystal