A year ago, I was looking for a new watch. My Seiko 5 automatic was a great watch, but I'd decided that automatic watches were impractical. After weekends sans watches, I'd have a wound down, unreliable watch on Monday mornings and the day/date feature was always wrong on the 1st. I knew that I wanted to replace it with another classy watch that had perpertual calendar and that did not run on a self-winding mechanism ("automatic"). Moreover, I had dropped the Seiko and a replacement crystal was going to cost $50. I figured that I could find a replacement for a little bit more and be more pleased with the replacement. After, I had 3 good years of use from the Seiko given to me in college.

I began scouring the internet looking at very expensive watches like Rolex, Piaget, Cartier, Montblanc, Omega, Oris, Hamilton, as well as some low end watches like Timex. I pursued the high end watch market mostly hoping to admire the design. In general, I found most of the high end watches unattractice and few met my criteria. An automatic watch with a perpetual calendar would cost the same price as a new car and I was in way ready to make the plunge More than that, it's interesting to note that although pricier, automatic watches are less accurate than quartz (battery-operated) watches such as Timex and especially digital watches like Casio.

I had resolved (without much thought or strong conviction) to only wear a Timex, Citizen or Seiko watch mostly because my parents wore these brands. I was soon on my way to looking at the Citizen Eco Drive line and, in particular, the 8700, part of their Calibre line. Just a notch below their 9000 line which are handmade in a sterile environments like Swiss watches (or computer components), it has a handsome face, a leather band with a butterfly clasp and perpetual calendar with day and date. In addition, it's powered by solar power--natural and artificial light keep the watch charged, so their is not need to wear it daily or keep it on a winder. It also features a travel time zone and an alarm (which I set to chime at noon).

A year later, I can still say this is the best watch I have ever owned. The quality is very high and it continues to wear well and keep good time. It's a powerful watch that looks great with a suit or jeans and thanks to eBay, it was only $100--much less than the retail! I do miss the thermometer/worldtime Casio I had in 3rd grade, but this Citizen reminds me that time is precious, that I am now and adult and it reminds me of my father.