Citizen's Eco-Drive technology is the first watchmaking device in history to have found a system that manages to use the energy of the light that surrounds us to function perfectly. Its story begins in 1974, the year the first ever solar-wound prototype saw the light of day, later sold to the public in '76 under the name Crystron Solar Cell. Ten years later, the name Eco-Drive was born: a global evolution from the quartz watch that was all the rage, and which sees the Citizen watch supported by an accumulator (related, yes, to a battery, but rechargeable and more durable).
The movement was powered by an almost transparent dial, with a solar cell and an integrated circuit and motor underneath. Comprising an ecosystem that made possible, at the time, a power reserve of around one week, 15 seconds of deviation per month and perfect daily use with one and a half hours of exposure to light per day.
If this technology surprises us for the era in which we place it, the contemporary advances are also not insignificant: an Eco-Drive, today, has an autonomy of 6 months up to 10 years, up to 20 functions and 5 seconds of deviation per month, as well as a more refined aesthetic thanks to the reduced transparency required by the dial to power the underlying cell, once of the 80%, today of the 20%, making it possible to use materials such as mother-of-pearl.
It is an ever-evolving technology, now also almost fashionable in other manufacturers, which has been talking about energy saving and renewability since it still seemed a distant topic, each year with different initiatives and developments.
Like the Promaster model, which further emphasises the impact of eco-sustainability: dedicated to the preservation of the Whale Shark, from which it takes some aesthetic stylistic features (first and foremost the dial, with a texture reminiscent of the fish's mantle), it is proposed in a limited edition of 5,000 pieces and part of the proceeds from sales will be donated to Conservation International, an NGO committed to marine conservation.
Water-resistant to a depth of 200 metres, it has a 45 mm case in Super Titanium with DLC Duratect treatment in matt black, which plays with the blue tones of the dial and bezel to evoke marine atmospheres.
Price458 euro.
