What's new

Seiko Vs Citizen

I see a lot more love on this forum as well as other watch forums favoring the Seiko. I have never owned either, but have been debating which one if any I should buy. They are in the same price category, they both have their versions of solar technology(eco vs kinetic)...Seiko has more mechanical. What are your thoughts?
 
I have a few of each and like them nearly equally, with some small favor going to my Seikos. It seems Citizens stylings swings in two extremes, either very dressy or very complex with not much in the middle.

I think one reason Seiko is much more popular with watch enthusiasts right now is because they have many more dive style watches available. As you stated, they also have many more mechanical watches available, especially in the US market. The Seiko 5 line of mechanical watches offers a lot of value. Most use the tried-and-true 7S26 movement and there are dozens, if not hundreds, of styles available. The SKX line offers a step up in lume and water resistance and more traditional diver styling. Citizen is mainly pushing ECO-DRIVE in the US with few, if any, mechanical offerings.

Wile ECO-DRIVE is a solar technology, Kinetic is not. Kinetic is a hybrid electro-mechanical system where a pendulum swings, in the same manner as an auto mechanical watch, but the movement charges a battery/capacitor instead of a spring.
 
I started off with a Seiko, switched to a citizen eco-drive, much nicer IMO. Both good brands, i just prefer citizen's "flashy" style more.
 
I'd have an Eco-Drive right now if there were any styles available in Suzhou, which suited me. Almost all Citizen and Seiko models around here leave me cold. There are a couple of nice mechanical models, but I'm done with mechanicals at 2 automatics- I'm not really taken in by the romance and find them a little annoying. For my money, Kinetic is a dead end, though they are well-built and perfectly serviceable. Now they've ditched the capacitor and are using the lithium batteries you should get 7 years or more with one battery, but it does need a lot of wrist time and its not "a quartz which never needs any attention/servicing"
I say go with what you like- they're both good companies, though to be honest, I prefer Casio. I know they're not a cool brand, but I believe their products and q.c. to be as good as or better than anything from Seiko or Citizen and I believe they offer more for your money. Unless you're spending more than $1,500, there is an equivalent Casio which can hold its own.....if you like their styling.
 
Having several of both, my personal preference is the solar-powered Eco-Drive by Citizen. The Seiko kinetics require too much dynamic motion to keep them charged, although Seiko now has solar powered versions of several styles. I have a watch winder for my mechanical watches but it will not provide enough winding action to keep my Seiko kinetics charged. The Casio-made Oceanus chrono is my current favorite, it is solar powered with automatic Atomic time setting being a very nice plus. I am planning to look at the Citizen Atomic Eco-Drive, which could be the best of all worlds like the Oceanus but with more style options. I do own several Rolex and Omega watches but the solar powered atomic watches keep far better time without the need for a $600.00 rebuild every decade or so.
 
Last edited:

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
Kind of a "Honda vs. Toyota" question.

IIRC, one place where Citizen has an advantage is in the 'radio controlled' area ... their RC watches have the best reception of all the brands (from what I am told on the internets, and the internets is never wrong ... )

Which Seiko's feature an exhibition "see through" back?

Lots of them. :thumbup1:
 
Seiko is the much bigger outfit and Citizen pretty much abandoned mechanical watches long ago except for the one basic mvmt with variations they make which was recently upgraded. Seiko has continued to improve their many mechanicals. As far as the quartz versions go I think it's just a matter of which you like better.
 
I love my Citizen Eco-Drive watch. Keeps great time and stays charged just by not being placed completely in the dark for long periods of time. It also looks great (mine is a Nighthawk).

Nothing against Seiko. I have had Seiko watches in the past. I just prefer the looks/performance of the Citizen.
 
I owned a couple Seiko Automatic watches previously. They were terrible at keeping time and had to be constantly adjusted. I now own a Citizen Eco-Drive and I love it. I have had it since last fall and I have not had to adjust the time once.
 
I've had both and like them equally. Seiko appears to have more styles out there and hence a higher chance of something catching your fancy. Both make excellent watches and have never had a problem from either. For a good economical buy, the Seiko 5's are hard to beat!
 
Seiko vs Citizen, Rolex vs Omega, Williams vs all othe shave soaps-for many these are fightin words! Both make great watches at various price points. Both make automatics but Seiko has really strengthened their auto line up in recent years with some very high qual but affordable watches. Both do quartz equally well. Seiko has favored the kinetic approach to battery free quartz while Citizen has its light powered Eco Drive. While I am a hard core auto man, the Eco Drive may be the best answer for a wriist watch-just leave in the light and it goes forever (an up to 6+mos in the dark when charged).
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
Seiko vs Citizen, Rolex vs Omega, Williams vs all othe shave soaps-for many these are fightin words!

The 'fightin' comes in when you tell someone with a dog in one of the other fights that his dog is "the Williams of this contest".

He responds with "you smell like The Veg", and ...

"Hey Apollo"
"Yeah?"
"Ding ding"
 
Seiko has a classier name, Citizen just sounds pedestrian. I have an Eco Drive for every day, I like it because it is the only yachting watch in my price point and is better than many/most well above my price point.
 
Top Bottom