BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
The Citizen Eco-Drive, it’s hard to believe it’s been around for 50 years now, isn’t it? These watches are powered by light, it could be the sun, it could be the lights in your house, or something else entirely – they’re famous for this. But to mark 50 years of the Citizen Eco-Drive, they’ve launched a new model called the Photon, which looks rather different from the kinds of Citizen watches we’re used to seeing.
We’ll get to the looks in a minute, but the real focus on this new watch is the calibre E035, a brand-new movement from Citizen that builds on the Eco-Drive family. Citizen says this new calibre can run continuously in complete darkness for roughly 1 year with an accuracy of +/- 15 seconds per month. My solar-powered Casio G-Shock GST-B500D-1A can run for about 7 months in complete darkness (without power-saving mode), so 1 year in darkness from the new Photon is very impressive.
To achieve this impressive performance, Citizen has completely overhauled the Eco-Drive movement. The blue colouration seen in the background of the dial is the structural colour film. Above that film are two overlapping metal dials that come together in a unique pattern. Citizen says they’re to evoke the “double slit experiment”. In physics, the “double slit experiment” shows that particles like photons can behave as waves and form an interference pattern. It also shows that particles sent one at a time can still form an interference pattern over time, even when we wouldn’t expect them to. The other key principle it demonstrates is that observation (by way of sensors or other means) of the particles as they go through the double slits stops the interference and makes them behave like particles again. I could explain to you why this all works, but I don’t think humanity is ready for that just yet. Instead, let me point you to this video, which shows British professor Jim Al-Khalili describe the “double slit experiment” in relatively straightforward terms.
I’ve read that the dial of the new Photon is quite remarkable in person, and I hope to be able to see it in person soon too. The case is also looking promising, as it measures 36.9mm x 9.9mm, although, for some reason, they’ve only given it 50m of water resistance. The case and bracelet are made from Citizen’s Super Titanium with a Duratect coating, making it five times harder than stainless steel. Two versions are on offer, one with a titanium carbide finish and the other featuring titanium with a two-tone DLC finish. The bracelet looks good and overall, the watch looks both classy and interesting.
If you’re looking for something light, smart, and a bit more affordable than the mechanical luxury watches we usually talk about on WristReview, Citizen’s new Eco-Drive Photon could be the watch for you. The price for the titanium carbide version is set at $995, and in two-tone, the price lands at $1,195. Both watches are limited to 5,000 examples each, and they’ll be available to purchase in Autumn/Winter.
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