I received the replacement Citizen Eco-Drive BV1085-06E watch from Amazon today. I'm happy to say that the flat black face is perfect on this one (no faint, semicircular scratch is present).
Also, the hands and date window are in virtually perfect alignment on this sample, as they were on the original sample (some Amazon reviews complain of the second hand being misaligned). It was worth getting a replacement.
I noticed that the replacement watch came with a plastic protector over the crystal, while the original watch didn't have this. I suspect the original watch may have been returned to Amazon before, possibly for the same reason that I'm returning it.
I really like the black-on-black design and the easy-to-read dial. Hopefully this watch lasts a long time (at least it doesn't need batteries).
I have the yang to this watch's yin, the off-white version BV 1080-18A. I've had it since last June and really like it. The interesting thing about it is the Grey hands. I expected them to have no lume at all, but they've got dark grey lume that is so dark that it's almost undetectable except in the darkest conditions. No problems with it so far. As my second citizen, I'm a fan.
http://www.amazon.com/Citizen-BV1080-18A-Sport-Eco-Drive-Strap/dp/B005MKGR00
Posted by: tomWc | February 21, 2013 at 06:14 AM
Tom - Yes, I saw that other version on Amazon. It's also got very good contrast between the hands/markers and the face, so it's easy to read at a glance.
The blue lume on the black version of the watch is pretty good. I can read the watch all night if the lume is given a reasonable charge before lights out. I'm sure it's not nearly as good as Jeff's better dive watches, but it works for me.
Here's what the lume looks like:
http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x449/gooodtrader06/20120813_145420.jpg
Posted by: Gary | February 21, 2013 at 11:55 AM