Eco-Drive

This innovation was enabled by marked improvements in thin film amorphous silicon solar cells, which by the early 1990s had become significantly more efficient.

This battery type became available in the early 1990s, enabling an Eco-Drive 7878 movement to run 180 days on secondary power before requiring recharging via light exposure – a marked improvement in energy storage over previous light-powered watches.

In the early 2000s, while wristwatch sales declined with the advent of cell phones and their timekeeping capability, demand for Citizen watches in North America remained robust.

[13][14] In 2018 Citizen announced it developed the Caliber 0100 Eco-Drive prototype autonomous high-accuracy quartz watch movement which is claimed to be accurate to ± 1 second per year.

[16] Besides that AT-cut variations allow for greater temperature tolerances, specifically in the range of −40 to 125 °C (−40 to 257 °F), they exhibit reduced deviations caused by gravitational orientation changes.

[18] In March 2019 three limited edition wrist watch models with the Caliber 0100 movement were announced to become available for sale with deliveries expected around the 2019 fall.

[21] Most Eco-Drive type watches are equipped with a special titanium lithium ion secondary battery charged by an amorphous silicon photocell located behind the dial.

When subsequently exposed to sufficient light, the hands move automatically (without human intervention) to the proper positions and resume regular timekeeping.

[22] Citizen Eco-Drive Thermo watches were introduced in 1999 and use the temperature difference between the wearer's arm and the surrounding environment as a power source.

The Eco-Duo Drive technology failed to attract consumer interest and Citizen has since stopped making use of the unique movement.

[27] Citizen states that when their lubricants for Long-Lasting Precision Equipment are used in watches, timepiece movements remain smooth for a long time as the oil does not harden even after 20 years.