The Citizen Eco-Drive Photon BJ6560-53W is a men’s limited-edition titanium watch made to mark 50 years of Eco-Drive. Citizen launched the world’s first analogue light-powered watch in 1976. The case is 39.6mm of Super Titanium™ with a silver-tone Duratect titanium carbide hardening coating, so it is light on the wrist and resists everyday scuffs much better than standard steel.
It runs into a matching Super Titanium bracelet with a push-button fold-over clasp. On top sits an anti-reflective, dual-curved sapphire crystal. The dial is the reason to buy it. Two slotted metal plates are layered over a structural-colour film, so blue light shifts and glows through the slits as the watch moves. A yellow seconds hand cuts across it as the one bright accent.
Inside is Citizen’s new Calibre E036 Eco-Drive movement. It charges from any natural or artificial light, so you never replace a battery. It includes an insufficient-charge warning, overcharge prevention and a quick-start function.
The Photon name comes from the smallest unit of light, and the dial design is inspired by the famous double-slit experiment in physics, a fitting tribute to Japanese engineering built on light. Water resistance is 50 metres, which suits a swim, a sudden downpour or a weekend on the water. It is a solar-powered titanium watch that moves easily from the office to the weekend. Production is limited to 5,000 unnumbered pieces worldwide, and it comes with Citizen’s 5-year warranty through Citizen Watches Australia.
What we love about this watch: The Photon BJ6560-53W is the rare anniversary piece that actually says something about the anniversary. The dial is the Eco-Drive story, literally light passing through slits, rather than a logo printed on a caseback. Add a featherweight titanium case under 40mm and a sapphire crystal, and you have a collector’s watch you’ll genuinely wear every day.