Comparison Citizen BI5070-06A vs Jacques Lemans 1-2002B

The country of origin of the brand under which this watch brand is produced. Usually, the headquarters of the manufacturer is located in the same country. But production facilities may be located in another country, or even in several countries. Most of the brands under which modern watches are produced come from the following countries (in alphabetical order): Austria, England, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Korea, Russia, USA, France, Switzerland, Japan.

Note that in the modern world, the quality of a product is very weakly related to its country of origin (both claimed and actual). Much more it depends on how carefully one or another manufacturer controls the quality in their production. So when choosing, it makes sense to focus not so much on “nationality” as on the overall reputation of a particular brand.

How to illuminate the clock face.

— Luminescent coating. A variant used in pointer dials: the hands, and sometimes the scale, are coated with a “phosphorus” coating that glows in the dark. This method of backlighting is inexpensive and can be used even in low-cost models; in addition, it does not require batteries and is suitable even for mechanical watches. On the other hand, coverage is often not as effective as it should be. The fact is that for work it must be “charged” from the sun or another bright light source, and this “charge” is enough for an average of 5-6 hours, and already in the first couple of hours the brightness of the glow drops noticeably.

— Electronic. Illumination based on LEDs or other miniature light sources. Usually, it does not work constantly, but turns on and off by pressing a special button; the exception is LED dials (see "Dial Type"). The main advantage of electronic backlighting is efficiency: it is guaranteed to be enough to view the image on the dial. In addition, such systems do not depend on external illumination, in contrast to the luminescent coatings described above. On the other hand, the lighting requires a battery to operate; therefore, this type of illumination is found exclusively in quartz watches (see “Mechanism type”).

— Luminescent coating / electronic. Systems that combine both types of illumination described above. This optio...n is found mainly among models with combined dials: the hands are coated with a luminous coating, and the electronic backlight is intended mainly for displays and additional scales (and also as a backup option for the hands). The combined backlight is very convenient, however, such watches are somewhat more expensive.

— Tritium illumination. Illumination option found on premium pointer dials. Miniature flasks filled with tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen, are responsible for the illumination in such models; from the inside, the surface of such flasks is covered with a phosphor, which glows under the influence of tritium radiation. Separately, we note that this radiation does not pose a danger to humans: it does not go beyond the bulb, and even inside its intensity is extremely low. Tritium illumination is expensive, but it is extremely convenient from a practical point of view: "flashlights" work constantly, without batteries and regardless of external lighting, and shine significantly brighter than a conventional luminescent coating. However due to the decay of tritium, they gradually lose their brightness, but this happens very slowly: it takes 12 years to reduce by half, and at least 20 years for the backlight to become useless.

As the name suggests, this parameter determines the degree of resistance of the watch to moisture. It is traditionally stated as the maximum depth under water at which the watch is able to remain watertight; however, it must be borne in mind that this number is very arbitrary. The fact is that when calculating the maximum immersion depth, only the static pressure of water is taken into account, that is, the pressure at complete immobility; at the same time, any movement creates dynamic pressure, which significantly increases the load on the body. In practice, this means that a mark of, for example, 50 m does not mean that you can dive to a depth of 50 m with a watch.

Modern water protection markings correspond to the following practical possibilities:

— 30 m(same as “Water Resistant” without any numbers). Entry level, drops of water are allowed, but not strong splashes. For example, such a watch can be left on in the rain or when washing, but when showering or washing a car, it should be left in a safe place. Of course, there is no talk of immersion in water.

- 50 m. Minimum water resistance, allowing the watch to be immersed in water. These watches can usually be used for swimming, and in some cases even jumping into the water (but not from towers), but they are not suitable for more serious tasks like surfing, snorkeling or scuba diving. As a rule, buttons are not allowed...to be used underwater.

- 100 m. This degree of water protection allows not only swimming, but also diving to shallow depths, however, it is still considered insufficient for surfing, jumping from towers and scuba diving.

- 200 m. Watches with such water protection are classified as “divers”; models and can withstand scuba diving to depths of up to 20 m.

- 300 m or more. Professional diving models suitable for diving to significant depths.

Please note that the characteristics described are approximate. Specific indicators of water resistance and the possibility of using the watch with water should be clarified according to the official data of the manufacturer.

The nominal size of a watch case in diameter (for round cases) or width (for other options, see "Case Shape"). In the most miniature modern models, this size is 21 – 25 mm or even less, among the largest there are cases of 46 – 50 mm and even larger.

Larger watches are more convenient in the sense that the dial readings are better visible on them, and it is easier to provide various additional functions in the design. On the other hand, small watches look neater and create less discomfort directly when worn. In addition, female models (see "Gender") are traditionally made more miniature than male ones. So the choice for this indicator depends mainly on the intended specifics of the application: for example, large cases are best suited for outdoor activities and tourism, about 41 – 45 mm in size, for household wear (regardless of gender) — about 31 – 35 mm, and as an accessory to an evening dress, a small watch of 30 mm or less would be more appropriate.

Also note that the size of a compatible strap/bracelet is associated with this indicator — see "Strap Width" for details.

The thickness of the watch case. A fairly obvious parameter; we only note that nowadays it is customary to attribute watches with a thickness of less than 7 mm to ultra-thin models. This design has both aesthetic and quite practical meaning — a thin watch will be useful for those who wear narrow sleeves with tight-fitting cuffs.