Some bugs, but still a great watch

Citizen Skyhawk Titanium
JR 3060-59F
Display model purchased
over the net for $200.
Typical web price $270

Occupation: Commercial Pilot

I just placed the titanium Skyhawk on my wrist today. It is to replace my beloved Navihawk, which was stolen on its way to be serviced (figures). After reading the reviews here, I decided to go with the titanium, because of the weight aspect. I also preferred the raw metal bezel, as the Navihawk's painted bezel did not handle scuffs and scrapes very well.

General: Titanium is a very bland metal, with which I have no problem, but others who like their watches to serve as "jewelry" might be disappointed. If you're one of those, go check it out in a store first. But, beyond the bland - this thing really is light. The eco-drive makes the watch portion thicker than the Navihawk, but it is substantially lighter.

Band: The new button release band clasp is well designed and a big improvement - this thing will never fly off unexpectedly. The band does snag the hair on my wrist a bit. Not too badly, and it may improve as the metal wears in over time. The band is much stiffer than the Navihawk, but it still fits my boney wrist just fine, and the stiffness causes it to retain a nice shape. One thing though - get the band sized at a jewelry store. DO NOT TRY TO DO THIS YOURSELF. This was the most difficult band I've ever worked with, and I've worn metal bands 35 years. If you do try this, be careful. First: you'll be using enough force removing the pins to mangle the watch if you slip, and Second: be careful separating the links - there's a tiny metal spring bushing in there that holds the pin in place. It will fall out once the links are separated. If you lose this piece, there won't be anything to hold the pin in place after reassembly.

Watch: Well, the Navihawk was without a doubt the finest timepiece I've ever owned. I would set it to world time a couple of times a year, and it was never off by as much as 5 seconds. I'm looking forward to the Skyhawk being at least as precise. Some reviewers commented on the improved functionality of the "crown" feature (the Navihawk was all buttons). I'm undecided on functionality at this time. Resetting the watch to "zero," before programming time and date, required very close reading of the manual, and quite a bit of trial and error. Hopefully, we'll only have to this once, but if I have to do it again "on the fly", I may be in trouble. The Navihawk's procedure, though cumbersome, was a bit more intuitive I thought (at least once you figured out how to push three buttons simultaneously). Also with respect to functionality: the crown is impossible to work with while wearing the watch. I can't even come close to pulling it out, so I must remove the watch to make adjustments (unnecessary on the Navihawk).

Two features of the "crown" worth praising: when making adjustments, if you "spin it" a couple of times, the correction continues on its own until you move the crown again. I have to admit, once I figured this out, it was nice. Also the crown feature makes selecting and de-selecting cities, and setting DST a snap - a BIG improvement here. A really nice touch is the ability to "write over" the included cities and replace them with ones of your choosing. You use a three symbol code of your choosing and must know your standard (not DST) time deviation from GMT. Not much of a problem. For my aviation "nut-cake" friends out there, who live in small towns, you can even place numbers in the identifier. So you can actually use the aviation identifier code for your local air field. You guys "know" who are. LOL.

Some reviewers have lamented over night time use. True, the digital features are un-illuminated, and un-useable in the dark, but Citizen has added more luminescence to the face. The Navihawk only had glowing hands. The Skyhawk has hands, a large marker at 12, all the odd numbers, and glowing "ticks" at 2, 6 and 10. Much easier to tell time with in the dark, which is usually the only thing I want my watch to do at 3am.

The slide rule bezel is easier to read and should be more durable than the Navihawk, but it is stiffer. I'm hoping this too will "wear" in.

Overall - I loved my Navihawk, but I like this watch a lot after only a few hours. It's still the ultimate pilot's watch.

If you don't care about glitz, travel a lot, appreciate accuracy, and don't want to carry the weight of the world on your wrist, then THIS is THE watch for you. If you don't care about weight and prefer a little more "splash", then save a few bucks and get the stainless, or one of the other models.