Watch Review: Citizen Eagle 7

While Seiko has the "5", Citizen has the "7". Also called the Eagle 7, this must be Citizen's answer to the popular Seiko 5 line. Though, I'm uncertain if the Eagle 7 lineup is as extensive as the Seiko 5's, the watches I have seen are quite good looking. And like the Seiko 5's, it has a myriad of different flavors and styles.

I got this one from the used market earlier this year (2018). It was an accidental purchase because I was not counting on it being gold. The posted photos looked silver to me and there was no mention of it being gold. I was uncomfortably surprised when I saw the watch in person and by then it was too late to cancel the deal. Here it is, my Citizen Eagle 7.

It came with a metal bracelet, but it was missing the end link. I scrapped the bracelet and got a black leather strap for this. It has a black dial with stripes, a day & date complication. It has that iconic eagle badge with a red shield. In the middle of the shield is a "7". Pretty obvious why this is called Eagle 7.

Citizen Eagle 7 Dimensions

Dimensions are typical of a dress watch. It's not too thick and it slides perfectly under the cuff of long sleeves.

Fits nicely on my 6 1/2 inch wrist

The watch crystal is mineral. Not sure if it has the same hardness as Seiko's Hardlex, but I would say it's pretty much the same.

One thing I like about this watch is the display case back. In the photo below, the movement of the watch can be seen. What is nice is that even the movement is gold plated. It matches the whole aesthetics of the watch.

The watch has the Miyota 8200 movement. A workhorse of a movement that is robust, reliable and I don't have to worry about it for the next 7 to 10 years. Although it doesn't hack (second hand stops when crown is pulled), it does hand wind. To me that is step up compared to the Seiko 5's. It means I can hand wind the watch and keep it running without the hassle of having to wear it for X number of hours to fully wind the watch. Good job on this one Citizen!

Accuracy wise, it's not so bad. It loses a bit of time, but the drift is not as bad as my Special Citizen Center Second. Actually, I think it's fairly accurate.

Here its is up close. The glossy, black dial has diagonal pin stripes. It plays nicely with the light. The hands are lumed and each hour marker has a lume dot; 12 o'clock has 2 lume dots. Hours are marked with those large, rectangular, applied gold markers. Day & date has black text on white background located at the 3 o'clock and it is nicely framed in gold. Personally, I think it would have been better if the text was white or gold and the background was black. Day is dual language - English and Japanese.

The Citizen badge and Eagle badge are also applied. The "AUTOMATIC" and "21 JEWELS" as well as the minute markers are printed.

The bezel is smooth and polished. The case itself has a brushed finish. The sides are polished, but I was not able to get photos. Crown is also gold plated and is located at the 4 o'clock. It is not signed.

I had this watch serviced recently and so far it's been preforming admirably. I have grown to like this watch despite it being gold. Personally, I'm not a fan of gold watches. I think it's too loud for my taste. I prefer silver colored watches; bare stainless steel if you will.

I wear this watch at least once a week and rotate it with my Seiko 5's. Most of the time though, it's just in my watch case.

One thing I noticed about this watch is that it has no serial number. At first I thought it was a clever fake, but a friend told me that these types with display case backs deliberately have no serial number. He also assured me that this is authentic. Only problem for me is, I have no idea what year this was made. By my guess, maybe 2008 and below...maybe!

Enjoy!