Solar watches with style

I was browsing online for a new watch the other day (a mega-time-waster if ever there was one) when I came across a collection of solar-powered watches that don't give the slightest indication that something eco-friendly is going on. The Eco-Drive series from Citizen looks like any other collection of relatively classy mid-range quartz watches, but they embrace some pretty cool technologies that free you from worrying about your battery ever running out.

There's a super-thin disk of silicon under the dial that converts light into electricity through the regular photovoltaic process, and the energy stored in a specially designed cell which doesn't contain the usual battery chemicals and therefore doesn't suffer from the usual charge/discharge cycles that eventually wear out typical rechargeable batteries. In other words, it should last forever.

So how do you know if the watch needs a recharge? The second hand starts to move in two-second intervals. When that happens, a direct light source is needed for as long as the owner's manual indicates. If you're too late, and the watch stops, then you will have to set it again.

It's always good to see solar technology deployed in new ways, both big and small. As for me and my browsing, here's the $295 model I like. (http://www.citizenwatch.com)

Don Willmott's blog posts are provided by LifeWire, a part of The New York Times Company.