Citizen Automatic Men's Watch

Eco-Drive or automatic: two ways to forget the battery

Both avoid battery changes, but in different ways. An Eco-Drive remains a quartz watch: it converts light into energy, stores it in a rechargeable cell and keeps the accuracy of quartz. A Citizen automatic men's watch works without electronics: a spring, wound by the oscillating weight, drives the gear train. It stops after a certain time if you do not wear it, the exact duration depending on the movement, and its accuracy is that of a mechanical watch, less steady than quartz.

A men's automatic Citizen watch is therefore chosen for mechanical pleasure more than for precision. In return, the seconds hand moves with a smoother sweep, and you wear a fully mechanical object, which is repaired and serviced rather than replaced. If you are torn between the two families, our guide automatic or quartz details the advantages of each. The Eco-Drive models remain visible on our Citizen men's watch page.

What sets a Citizen automatic men's watch apart, measured across our catalogue

We compared the automatics with all of our Citizen men's watches. The clearest difference concerns water: almost all are water-resistant to 10 ATM, compared with just over one in three for the brand as a whole. Leather is roughly twice as common, on about one automatic in five, and silicone also appears more often. The median diameter reaches 43 mm, compared with 40 mm for our Citizen men's watches: these automatics have a sporty build, with a strong presence on the wrist.

In terms of dials, blue leads, ahead of green and black, with a few touches of orange, grey and white. The case is most often silver-tone steel, sometimes two-tone. Almost all display the date, round indexes predominate, and all protect the dial with a mineral crystal.

A Citizen automatic men's watch for everyday wear

At 10 ATM, a Citizen automatic men's watch from our selection can handle the swimming pool, the sea and light snorkelling, with the crown pushed in or screwed down depending on the model. Simply avoid saunas, hammams and hot water jets. The steel bracelet, the most common, closes with a deployant clasp; leather and silicone straps close with a pin buckle.

Worn every day, an automatic asks for nothing. If it has stopped after a few days at rest, a few wrist movements or, depending on the movement, a few turns of the crown will restart it; then simply set it to the correct time. Avoid setting the date late in the evening, when the date-change mechanism is engaged: this is a precaution valid for most mechanical watches. To compare with other brands, see our men's automatic watch selection.