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The Aqualand Chronograph has a 60-day power reserve, with a two day advanced lowcharge indicator and is accurate within +/- 15 seconds per month. Watch charges in both sunlight and indoors. The watch can tell you the correct depth to 125', has a maximum depth memory that is handy for logging your dives, and a one directional rotating elapsed-time bezel for safety. The Eco-Drive is equipped with a 50-minute chronograph, 12-24 hour time formats with date. A time reset advisory function, water resistant to 660' (200 Meters), a screw-back case and screw-down crown with rubber wrist band and it never needs a battery. All makingthe Aqualand one sought after timepiece. Watch purchase includes the five year US warranty.
The Aqualand Eco-Drive is an analog solar powered diver's timepiece which has anelectronic depth meter and chronograph function built in. The solar power generation function transforms solar energy into electrical energy to run the watch. Since solar energy is used as the power source of this watch, it has no need of regular replacement of the battery unlike the general diver's watches using the mercury cell, etc. The built-in depth meter function automatically measures the depth in diving with the watch worn on the wrist. The maximum depthin diving is automatically memorized. The chronograph function measures the time in units of one second for 50 minutes.
Fully charging the watch with an overhead office light is usually insufficient, to achieve a full charge from a completely depleted power reserve, however, office light is sufficient for keeping the watch continually charged. It is recommended to use natural outdoor light, or recharge indoors with an incandescent (3,000 Lux) bulb 20" away from the watch in 18 hours, outdoors, cloudy (10,000 Lux) 5 hours and outdoors, sunny (100,000 Lux) in 2.5 hours.
Customers most agreed on the following attributes:
from Near Manhattan on 3/15/2011
Comments about Citizen Citizen BJ2004-08E Eco-Drive Aqualand Chronograph Stainless Steel with Gold Diving Watch:
I have owned this watch for over 4 years now, and it continues to work well.
These days, it's compelling to use a digital watch that lets you capture your dive log information electronically. But, these watches are very expensive. And really in the end, for the casual diver its not really needed. This Citizen Aqualand watch shows you your current and maximum dives. It's a great backup to your BCD computer (most everyone dives with one). On all of the dives I've been on, this watch depth indicator matches the BCD computer.
The watch casing is made from solid stainless steel, so it's quite hefty. But I'd say that's part of the appeal; it's a substantial feeling dive watch. The underside of the casing is polished, while the top is brushed. The polished resists rust a little better, while the brushed finish minimizes reflective glare.
This watch is pretty accurate. Mine has gained between 5-10 seconds per month. The great thing is that the movement is hackable. Pull out the crown when the second hand reaches 60, and it stops. So, you can very easily set the watch to the exact time. However, the seconds are on a sub dial, which is easily obscured by both minute and hour hands.
Dive watches should always be serviced by an authorized watch center that services dive watches. They have the know-how to ensure your watch remains water resistant to specifications. Consequently, a battery driven watch will need to be serviced every 2-3 years. The secondary battery in this Citizen is generally rated to last 20+ years. This means quite a savings, plus you're doing the green thing by minimizing battery disposal.
The only real drawback to this watch is that the reserve battery is significantly taxed by the depth indicator mechanism. If you go for 3 long dives on a given day, the watch won't have sufficient charge for a 4th dive that day. It is best to take it off and let it charge on a window sill facing the sun for the remaining sunlight of the day and in the next morning, before the next dive. Casual swimming will also trigger the depth indicator, so be aware of this if swimming in a pool after a day of diving. It would be great if Citizen provided a means of turning off the depth indicator to conserve power when not needed.
Lastly, when you're not diving, this is an attractive watch to sport on your wrist (unlike a big clunky digital watch). I've been happy owning mine and look forward to diving with it for many years to come.
from Near Manhattan on 3/9/2011
Comments about Citizen Citizen BJ2004-08E Eco-Drive Aqualand Chronograph Stainless Steel with Gold Diving Watch:
I got this watch 5 years ago from Leisure Pro and put it to use mostly for diving trips (about a dozen since I bought the watch). The hands are very prominent, so it's easy to tell the time at a glance. Although the depth indicator is analog, it is quite accurate as measured against the BCD computers used on my dives. The depth function does require a lot of energy to function, so be sure the watch is fully charged when you first go diving on a given day. If you plan on doing casual swimming after your dives, I suggest taking it off and letting it charge in the sun. On one diving trip, I made three long shallow dives and by the end of the day the watch showed insufficient power for another dive. This is fine for the casual diver. The trade off is that you do not have to replace the battery every 2 years, which can be costly since such changes should be done by authorized watch centers to ensure the watch retains its depth endurance. A frequent diver should probably go with a non-solar timepiece. With this watch, I'm told you can go for 20 years before the secondary cell needs a replacement.
The one-way bezel is very nice and tight, so you don't have to worry about it being moved accidentally. The band is made of a high quality rubber than feels very nice against the skin.
For the seconds display, I would have preferred another sweeping hand instead of a sub dial. The sub dial for seconds gets obscured by the large hands when entering the "5-7" position area.
Note that if your watch ever runs out of power because of insufficient light, you may need to do a reset to get it to function again. This reset is described in the manual, so don't lose it. I captured that information in a text file on my computer, just in case.
Lastly, Citizen customer service is EXCELLENT. I didn't require any servicing for this watch, but I've had others serviced and had very pleasing results. This gave me confidence to buy this Citizen watch, as service is inevitable for diving watches and important to consider for your diving watch choice. Especially if the watch has any kind of depth indicator.
Overall, it's a great looking watch. I've gotten a lot of nice comments on it. There are many hundreds of diving watch designs, but this one captures a great classic look while sporting the modern technology of solar cell recharging.
from NJ on 1/28/2011
Comments about Citizen Citizen BJ2004-08E Eco-Drive Aqualand Chronograph Stainless Steel with Gold Diving Watch:
Great watch...Not only does it function well as a dive watch but its classy too. I get complements all the time :)
from Atlanta on 5/28/2009
Comments about Citizen Citizen BJ2004-08E Eco-Drive Aqualand Chronograph Stainless Steel with Gold Diving Watch:
Great Watch
[0 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from Kansas City on 8/21/2008
Comments about Citizen Citizen BJ2004-08E Eco-Drive Aqualand Chronograph Stainless Steel with Gold Diving Watch:
This is the third dive watch I've owned (in additon to Sieko and Freestyle) and the one I'm most happy with. The only draw back is the solar cell power...it even warns that if you wear long sleeve shirts or jackets which cover the face of the watch, it won't charge. That having been said, I haven't had an out of power situation. Last week I did 4 dives in one day in the FL Keys and it did fine.
[1 of 2 customers found this review helpful]
from DESTIN, FL on 1/23/2008
Comments about Citizen Citizen BJ2004-08E Eco-Drive Aqualand Chronograph Stainless Steel with Gold Diving Watch:
This thing is awesome !
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from San Antonio, TX on 9/25/2007
Comments about Citizen Citizen BJ2004-08E Eco-Drive Aqualand Chronograph Stainless Steel with Gold Diving Watch:
I have owned 2 seperate Aqualand watches since they were introduced. They all had to have batteries and when the 5 years was up I had to get them changed and have the watch serviced. It was always a pain! Not with this watch. I never have to have batteries. I love the "Aqualand" watches. Very durable and look great also. Another little draw back on all the watches was the band. I am hard on watches with my work so that could be the reason for the band always breaking. I definitely recommend this watch.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from PHILA,PA on 9/25/2007
Comments about Citizen Citizen BJ2004-08E Eco-Drive Aqualand Chronograph Stainless Steel with Gold Diving Watch:
GREAT LOOKING WATCH