The Citizen Eco 8700 is a watch with fantastic features that will benefit any wearer! Recently I was looking to buy my hubby a new watch and stumbled upon this particular brand. The more information I gathered the more I liked what it offered.

Not only is the Citizen Eco 8700 functional in terms of features, but it's also very practical. Of course, it is a bit on the pricey side, but how often do you buy a really good watch? My partner had been out of a watch for more than a year and I thought it was time to brand his wrist with a new one.

Come to think of it, the last time he bought a watch was more than ten years ago. That's more than worth the price of a good watch these days! Anyways, here are the features that I dug up on the Citizen Eco 8700.

The features of the Citizen Eco 8700 vary from model to model. In order to make this review more effective, I will break them down by available model. An in debt review of all features can be found at the end of this article.

This model has the following features:

• 36 embedded Bezel Diamonds
• Retrograde Perpetual Calendar
• Built In Alarm
• Dual Time
• Non-Reflective Crystal
• Month-Day-Date
• 12/24 Hour Time
• All Stainless Steel With Leather Strap 
• Water Resistant to 333 ft. (100m)
• Deployment Clasp with Push Button
• Never Needs a Battery

Click Here For Full Technical Information and Instructions On The Calibre 8700 Model BL8040-09E

This Model Has The Following Features:

• 36 embedded Bezel Diamonds
• Retrograde Perpetual Calendar
• Alarm
• Dual Time
• Non-Reflective Crystal
• Month-Day-Date
• 12/24 Hour Time
• All Stainless Steel
• Water Resistant to 333 ft. (100m)
• Foldover Clasp with Hidden Double Push Button
• Never Needs a Battery

Click Here For Full Technical Information and Instructions On The Calibre 8700 Model BL8040-50E

This Model Has The Added Gold Tone Plus:

• 36 embedded Bezel Diamonds
• Retrograde Perpetual Calendar
• Alarm
• Dual Time
• Non-Reflective Crystal
• Month-Day-Date
• 12/24 Hour Time
• All Stainless Steel Gold-Tone
• Water Resistant to 333 ft. (100m)
• Foldover Clasp with Hidden Double Push Button
• Never Needs a Battery

Click Here For Full Technical Information and Instructions On The Calibre 8700 Model BL8042-54E

This model has the following features:

• 36 embedded Bezel Diamonds
• Retrograde Perpetual Calendar
• Alarm
• Dual Time
• Non-Reflective Crystal
• Month-Day-Date
• All Stainless Steel Two-Tone
• Water Resistant to 333 ft. (100m)
• Foldover Clasp with Hidden Double Push Button
• Never Needs a Battery

Click Here For Full Technical Information and Instructions On The Calibre 8700 Model BL8044-59E

This model has the following features:

• Retrograde Perpetual Calendar
• Alarm
• Dual Time
• Month-Day-Date
• Water Resistant to 333 ft. (100m)
• Non-Reflective Crystal
• Deployment Clasp with Push Button
• Never Needs a Battery

Click Here For Full Technical Information and Instructions On The Calibre 8700 Model BL8000-03A

This model has the following features:

• Retrograde Perpetual Calendar
• Alarm
• Dual Time
• Month-Day-Date
• Water Resistant to 333 ft. (100m)
• Non-Reflective Crystal
• Never Needs a Battery

Click Here For Full Technical Information and Instructions On The Calibre 8700 Model BL8000-54A

This model has the following feature:

• Retrograde Perpetual Calendar
• Alarm
• Dual Time
• Month-Day-Date
• Water Resistant to 333 ft. (100m)
• Non-Reflective Crystal
• Never Needs a Battery

Full Technical Information and Instructions On The Calibre 8700 Model BL8000-54AL

This model has the following features:

• Retrograde Perpetual Calendar
• Alarm
• Dual Time
• Month-Day-Date
• Water Resistant to 333 ft. (100m)
• Non-Reflective Crystal
• Never Needs a Battery

Click Here For Full Technical Information and Instructions On The Calibre 8700 Model BL8002-59A

This model has the following features:

• Retrograde Perpetual Calendar
• Alarm
• Dual Time
• Month-Day-Date
• Water Resistant to 333 ft. (100m)
• Non-Reflective Crystal
• Never Needs a Battery

Click Here For Full Technical Information and Instructions On The Calibre 8700 Model BL8002-53E

This model has the following features:

• Retrograde Perpetual Calendar
• Alarm
• Dual Time
• Non-Reflective Crystal
• Month-Day-Date
• 12/24 Hour Time
• Screw-Back Case
• All Stainless Steel
• Water Resistant to 333 ft. (100m)
• Foldover Clasp with Hidden Double Push Button
• Never Needs a Battery

Click Here For Full Technical Information and Instructions On The Calibre 8700 Model BL8060-52E

This model has the following features:

• Retrograde Perpetual Calendar
• Alarm
• Dual Time
• Non-Reflective Crystal
• Month-Day-Date
• 12/24 Hour Time
• Screw-Back Case
• All Stainless Steel Black Ion Plating
• Water Resistant to 333 ft. (100m)
• Foldover Clasp with Hidden Double Push Button
• Never Needs a Battery

Click Here For Full Technical Information and Instructions On The Calibre 8700 Model BL8065-59E

Eco-Drive

The Eco-Drive component is the main feature of this watch which is configured based on simple yet advanced technology. These watches are powered by solar panels and energy cells. No need to replace batteries because the eco-drive creates it's own source of energy with any light source.

The exact mechanism of this particular technology is very hard to describe in lament terms, however, I can say that is very efficent and lends itself to more attractive dials. These watches also have built in visual alarms to warn you of low charge. Just expose it to bright light and you are good to go!

Power Save Feature

Some Eco Drive watches have a built in "power save function" to help preserve power when the watch is not exposed to light long enough to become fully charged. This features helps extend the energy.

Power Save features also automatically activates when the watch has plenty of power stored for regular operation but is not getting sufficient light for charging. Another great feature is although some of the functions may shut down, the correct time is sustained internally.

Water Resistance

The water resistance feature is a great benefit, however, all watches are subject to certain conditions. Such as swimming (motion) and how you deep you are swimming. Individual specs are available through the links provided at the end of each model. It should be noted that normal wear and tear does affect the water resistance aspect of the watch with time.

Quick Start Feature

The quick start is a built in feature that activates the moment your watch runs out of power. As soon as you expose it to a light source, it enters into time reset advisory mode.

Retrograde Perpetual Calendar

A perpetual calender feature is when a watch automatically adjusts itself for odd and even months and leap years which runs through 2100.

As you can see, the selection of Citizen Eco 8700 watches are plenty, choosing one is probably going to be the hard part. I can say though that my husband really loves his new "toy" as I am sure you will too. If you need any info, I highly recommend going straight to the source, Citizen.com but to save a bundle, you should think about buying through Ebay like I did!