Citizen Automatic Watch - Power Reserve / Service ?

[KTMsm]

I sold my old Citizen Pro Master on ebay - cheap because it was heavily scratched from years of use

I never had an issue with it

The buyer is complaining because he doesn't wear it at night and apparently it stops

I wouldn't know as I wear my watch 24/7

Is this a reasonable complaint on a sub £100 watch ?

Would a service fix it ?

[bazza.]

I service would sort it but would cost you more than the price of the watch
I'm a watchmaker based in the midlands

[McMoose]

The price and cosmetic condition are not relevant in my opinion. An automatic should have more than a nights worth of power reserve. I think you need to accept a return and refund them.

Edit. I thought Promasters were all eco drive? Depending on the age the cell might now only be holding limited charge. Did they leave it in direct sunlight after taking it out of the parcel? If they can find any sunlight that is.

Edited by McMoose on Monday 16th December 20:20

[KTMsm]

No it's automatic

It never occurred to me to check how long it lasted off my wrist as it only got removed for showers

[McMoose]

I stand corrected. On the basis that the description was 'In good working order but scratches from use' I think it was misrepresented if the power reserve is sub 10 hours. An honest mistake but I suspect Ebay will side with the buyer if they put in a not as described case.

[GravelBen]

If it helps figure out what the power reserve *should * be, it is probably a Miyota movement as they are part of the Citizen family.

My Citizens are all eco-drive solar so I don't have any experience of their automatics.

[bazza.]

Normally you have to turn the crown around 40 times to get the mainspring to full power
We see it all the time as watchmakers, the customer thinks because they put it on there
first and say watches tv all day or has a desk job their watch should be at full power,
Just isn't the case i bet you its ok and its just them

[KTMsm]

I didn't know automatic watches could be wound from the crown !

Mine have always just worked - which is why I've been wearing Seiko and Citizen divers for 40+ years

I'll suggest it - thanks

[blue_haddock]

If he is basically saying the watch has less than 12 hoiurs power reserve then yes there is an issue with it.

Even a basic seiko NH35 or miyota8 series movement should have a minimum of about 38 hours reserve once fully charged, which daily wearing for 8 hours should be good enoug.

A service may sort it but obviously depends on is it worth servicing due to the cost/value equation.

[BrokenSkunk]

KTMsm said:

I didn't know automatic watches could be wound from the crown !

Mine have always just worked - which is why I've been wearing Seiko and Citizen divers for 40+ years

I'll suggest it - thanks

Worth also reminding the buyer that they bought second hand goods. You did not misrepresent them and you did not offer a warranty. Caveat emptor.

[blue_haddock]

BrokenSkunk said:

KTMsm said:

I didn't know automatic watches could be wound from the crown !

Mine have always just worked - which is why I've been wearing Seiko and Citizen divers for 40+ years

I'll suggest it - thanks

Worth also reminding the buyer that they bought second hand goods. You did not misrepresent them and you did not offer a warranty. Caveat emptor.

Even when buying second hand you would expect an automatic watch to have a reasonable power reserve unless it was bought as a vintage or antique watch, just as you'd expect it to have reasonable time keeping but if it was losing 5 minutes every hour then i would say its not performing as expected even for a second hand watch.

[JimbobVFR]

KTMsm said:

I didn't know automatic watches could be wound from the crown !

Mine have always just worked - which is why I've been wearing Seiko and Citizen divers for 40+ years

I'll suggest it - thanks

A lot can but that's not universal for some older automatics. For example an original Seiko SKX007 wasn't able to be hand wound (or have something called hacking which is where the second hand stops when you pull the crown out)

Seiko enthusiasts even coined the phrase "Seiko Shuffle" which is the way you can wind a stopped Seiko by waving it about.

[KTMsm]

bazza. said:

Normally you have to turn the crown around 40 times to get the mainspring to full power

We see it all the time as watchmakers, the customer thinks because they put it on there
first and say watches tv all day or has a desk job their watch should be at full power,

Just isn't the case i bet you its ok and its just them

I passed your suggestion on and needless to say it was ignored

Despite no evidence and him not answering my question about whether he had wound it up, eBay sided with them and I've had to pay for the postage to get it back

It's now arrived - I wound it up - 18 hours later it's still going