Monthly Archives: October 2014

Since being founded in 1881, where it began trading from a watch and jewellery shop in Tokyo, Japan; Seiko has produced some of the most innovative products of its kind. The successful business allowed production of Seiko clocks under the name of Seikosha, with the meaning of “House of Exquisite Workmanship”. Seiko has built up a reputation for precision, reliability and excellence in technology advancement. In 1969 Seiko introduced the world’s first production quartz watch.

Since the production of the first quartz watch, Seiko have developed a range of power sources to power their watches. Battery operated quartz watches are a core to their collection, however a large range of their products now include being kinetic and solar powered.  They also offer automatic watches under the very popular Seiko 5 range.

Their current Seiko collection includes watches which are simple in nature and ideal for everyday wear but also feature models at the higher price point including complicated precision timepieces including the Premium and Sportura collections. Materials include stainless steel, titanium and also leather straps. The starting price point is £79.00 - £399.00.

Sometimes we take for granted the technology we use on a daily basis and often never ask the question of how it actually works. An example of this is the revolutionary Citizen Eco-Drive watches.

The Citizen Eco-Drive technology was launched in Europe in 1995. The watches which run on this technology have been branded as being environmentally friendly as they eliminate the need and cost of a battery replacement.

The technical details: 

The first cohort of solar powered watches which were produced had solar cells mounted on the dial, however Citizen produced the first light powered movement with the solar cells mounted underneath the dial.

It harnesses the power of light from any natural or artificial light source which is converted into energy and stored into a rechargeable lithium cell.  It is not necessary that sunlight is required as Eco-drive watches are able to take advantage of any type of light.

Frequently asked questions

Will my Eco-Drive watch stop working if I do not wear the watch? - Once fully charged most Eco-Drive watches have a power reserve of approximately 6 months without the need for any further light.

Will my watch work in the dark? - Yes the watch will still function.

The Citizen Eco-Drive range has come a long way since they were first launched. They now have a extensive range with a variety of complications including r