Ladies Eco-Drive Riva - Click here for more Eco-Drive Watches

Citizen make high quality watches, reknowed for both their reliability and their style, which is the reason that they are the ‘Official Timekeeper and the Official Watch of the U.S. Open’. Citizen’s role as an elite sponsor of the event is to ensure that every match is perfectly timed and that every score is quickly shown on large screens after every ball is played. The tennis players at the U.S. Open will all be striving to finish their season on a high as this event is the final Grand Slam of the year. Over the last five years there have been more T.V. Viewers of this competition than of any other tennis tournament in the world. With so many viewers and the top tennis players in the world to please the organisers have to insist that exceptional equipment is used throughout the tournament to create an streamlined experience for everyone involved and to bring out the best in the world class players. Citizen are well equipped to achieve this.

Citizen are the worlds largest watch maker, a position that they have held since 1986. They have made many key technological advances in the world of watches. Citizen made the first dive watch with an electronic depth sensor, proving that they have the necessary know how to combine time keeping and electronic functionality. Their eco-friendly Eco-Drive technology has revolutionised the way that watches are powered. Citizen Eco-Drive watches are powered by light and never need a battery change. They frequently produce cutting edge watches such as the Citizen Gents Perpetual Calendar Watch that needs adjusting only four times in every 400 years and it is powered by light, truly impressive technology!

Watch out for more amazing tennis this year at the U.S. Open which is taking place between August 31^st and September the 13^th.

You can buy many watches from the esteemed Citizen Eco-drive range here.

Click here for the whole range of Titanium Watches

The 40^th anniversary of the moon landing has been and gone, so it seemed appropriate to write a short tribute to titanium as it is known as the ’space age metal’. Named after the legendary Titans of Greek mythology titanium has been instrumental in the progress of space travel and is consistently used in aircraft and many other industries from dentistry to weaponry and of course it is also used watches. Titanium has become an essential part of modern engineering thanks to having loads of useful qualities. The best feature of titanium is that it has the highest strength to weight ratio of all metals. Plus it’s low density makes it exceptionally light weight but it is still as strong as some steels.

This means that titanium has loads of practical applications including being used as a building material for watches. It is certainly suited to use in watches because it is lightweight and strong but it is also corrosion and dent resistant. Anything worn on the wrist is destined to take a lot of hits in its life so titanium which is unlikely to be damaged by daily wear and tear is perfect for protecting the delicate workings of watches.

Titanium has a metallic white colour which is suited to contemporary watch design. It is also quite ductile when in an oxygen free environment which means that it can be easily shaped to create watch cases and bracelets. Watches like this ladies titanium Seiko, pictured above, are made from titanium and are modern, stylish and practical because of it.

One more reason why titanium is used for watches is that is is generally found to be biocompatible. This means that it is unlikely to cause an allergic reaction when in contact with skin, which is why it is often used in body jewellery and for surgical implements and implants.

Altogether titanium is a really practical metal to make a watch out of. However it does have one drawback. In the earth’s crust it is the ninth most abundant element yet it is never found in high concentrations, it is scattered around all over the place. This combined with the high number of uses there are for it means that the price of titanium remains high. Often watch makers consider it prohibitively expensive to use in watches. Although Sekonda make this titanium ladies watch and this titanium gents watch available which are both a really great price and best sellers on Find Watches. Alternatively there are many high end watches made from titanium that normally have a host of other features for those that demand a lot from their watch. This Citizen eco-drive titanium chronograph is one example of this it is an elite watch designed with 200m water resistance and made to be exceptionally practical and durable. 

 You can view the whole range of titanium watches available here.

Water Resistance

The issue of water resistance is a particularly important one when considering which watch to buy. Watches always have their water resistance rating on the case, on Find Watches we always put this information in the product specifications.

Some watches have only minimal water resistance, for example the Seksy range by Sekonda. These watches are designed with fashion in mind. They should be fine if accidentally splashed but they are not intended to be more than beautiful accessories. So no washing up or showering whilst wearing them!

The next common rating of water resistance is 50m or 5 atmosphere. This is where it gets a little more complicated because the depth ‘50m’ does not refer to the depth that the watch can go down to but is representative of how much pressure the watch can withstand. Therefore 50m watches are suitable for swimming, but not for diving as the pressure at the moment of impact with the water would exceed 5 atmosphere. Many of the watches in the Kahuna range are of this rating; perfect for the beach but not designed for water sports.

If you want to do more than just swim you need a 100m or 10 atmosphere rating. These watches, such as the majority of the Caterpillar range stocked on Find Watches, are perfect for water sports including snorkeling.

Divers watches vary in their capabilities. Some watches marked as having 200m water resistance are not suitable for diving, such as the Casio Blue G-Shock. This is a durable watch, but is not specifically designed for diving. Unlike the Citizen Gents divers watch, which is made for divers and as such complies with international standards for divers watches. It is imperative to always check the specific details before using a watch for diving.

Watches with higher ratings than 200m are generally suitable for diving and generally their durability increases as the pressure rating goes up, such as the Citizen Aqualand Titanium Professional Divers Watch which has a 300m water resistance rating.

As always there are exceptions to the rules; Rotary have created a range of ‘Dolphin Standard’ watches. Due to a unique way of screwing in the button these dress watches can be used for swimming, water sports and even in saunas.

Eco-Drive : Unstoppable

“It’s unstoppable. Just like the people who wear it”

 

We’ve had a lot of enquiries regarding the technology on Citizen’s Eco-Drive watches, because it seems just too good to be true! So here are the facts: Citizen’s innovative Eco-Drive watches contain a more advanced version of the solar batteries we are all familiar with from calculators. Citizen describes the battery as “a microns thin disc of amorphous Silicon under the dial to convert light energy into electrical energy through the photovoltaic process.” What this means is special energy storage cells in Eco-Drive watches save the energy converted from any kind of light to power the watch.

Eco-Drive watches keep running for an average of 6 months when fully charged even if left in the dark. Some models can run for up to three years after only a few hours charging time. There is little need to worry about your watch getting enough exposure to light because even limited exposure to indoor light will keep it charged. Citizen have even built in a low-power alert; on most models the second hand jumps two seconds at a time whilst still showing an accurate time to warn you that it needs some light.

Powered solely by light the watch batteries should last a lifetime and the lengthy five-year guarantee Citizen offer as standard is proof of their faith in this amazing technology.

Eco-Drive watches are not only hassle free but come with the added benefit of being ecologically friendly; the batteries contain none of the harmful chemicals found in regular batteries.

And best of all, this ingenious power source is compact and reliable enough to be contained in all kinds of watches, from the ultra-slim stiletto range to high-performance Citizen divers watches. So you don’t have to compromise on style to take advantage of Citizen’s Eco-Drive technology.