You can often find the word attached to every new Citizen Watch that comes on the market but by now it is just expected that consumers know the meaning of this buzzword. It’s quite simple really, it is the title of Citizen’s latest technology. This article explains Eco-Drive as simply as we can.

These watches are a new high-tech range of solar powered timepieces.

Obviously, one of the most important advantages of this technology is that these watches should never need a replacement battery (unless there is a fault), allowing you get on with your everyday tasks without your watch starting to loose time.

“Unstoppable, just like the people who wear it” - This is Citizen’s tag line for the technology. Pretty snazzy hey?

These watches are of usual size and do not have any strange additions. Citizen have simply put a solar charging panel behind the dial, so any natural or artificial light puts a charge into a lithium-ion battery. This battery then keeps the watch running at all times - even when there is no source of light.

In the unlikely even that the watch becomes low on charge, the watch will compensate by keeping time in 2 second increments instead of 1 second increments. Normal function can be resumed by putting the watch in a source of light for a slightly extended period of time. In our tests, it took several hours for one of these watches to reach the 2 second increments. The watch would have to be unworn and kept in a very dark place for it to lose charge.

In other news Citizen now offer a full 5 year guarantee on all their watches, more reason than ever to snap one up quickly.