I've been wearing a Casio F-91W for a number of years now and it really is a joy. It's always there, and it always works.
I've gone down the rabbit hole with expensive time pieces but they become a burden / obligation rather than a tool - especially as the prices of certain pieces in the secondary market have gone so high - so over time I've reverted back to much cheaper watches and find myself getting more joy out of the cheaper & much better value for money brands.
Very occasionally I'll take it off in favour of a dress watch for a special event but otherwise I just wear it all the time, knowing that if it finally fails I'm looking at $10 to replace.
I agree on all points, except I prefer my watches mechanical, rather than electronic.
So I got one of the cheapest Seiko automatic watches. Being mechanical it's obviously going to cost more and keep time much less accurately than a quartz watch. Other than that, I identify with your comment.
The cheap automatic Seiko is always there, and it always works. Don't have to worry about putting it away and then needing to replace its battery – it has no battery. I can bang it about and while I'm sure it might break at some point with the way I treat it, it won't be too painful to get another one.
It's no-frills, keeps the time as accurately as I need it to, and doesn't take a lot of space on my wrist. Couldn't be happier.
Citizen is another Japanese watchmaker and the eco-drive solar technology has been around for about 30 years.
You can get a low-end Citizen Eco-Drive for about $100, sometimes even less on sale. Solar powered, very durable, and they look great. Most are water resistant as well.
I've had one model running continuously for 11 years. I love never having to charge it or change the battery.
My roommate is a watch collector and made me almost buy an eco-drive watch so many times. I really like the idea of them, but after not wearing a watch for 20 years it just feels uncomfortable to wear one. PDAs and cellphones ruined my ability to wear watches.
I can only chime in and support this claim about Citizen. I have had one of their Eco-drive models for about 15 years now and it has had months in drawers or laying on shelves not being used, but it has never stopped working. I am so impressed with that watch!
yes, I love mine too. However, after a very dark december mine stopped (and I was very confused by it ;)). Had to put it on the window sill for a few days for it to work again.
My personal advice for anyone looking would be the following triumvirate: solar ("eco-drive"), sapphire glass (never mineral glass!), radio controlled. It just works - you don't have to do anything ever again (except maybe if you have a december like me...).
Recently, I bought another watch that fits your description + it's absolutely gorgeously looking - Casio Oceanus T200. It's a dress watch with a mesmerizing dial and a beautiful case with some superb polishing that is done in the same factory where they produce cases for Grand Seiko. As an additional gimmick you also get Bluetooth - the watch can connect with your phone every night and seemlessly adjust the time, so it's basically always spot on. They sell it in Japan for around 400$.
There was a proposal in 2018 to do so (as the argument was GPS was a better alternative), but there was enough outcry by people with radio watches/clocks as well as industrial equipment that uses the signal to delay the shutdown for the foreseeable future.
I accidentally damaged the spring on the balance wheel while adjusting my Seiko 5. I then bought a new Chinese NH36 movement for 30$, which can also be wound by hand and is hacking (movement stops when adjusting). I also had to transplant the dial/day dial and get a new crown.
I love mechanical watches and would definetely be a watchmaker if I was born before the quartz revolution.
Yes, the “auto-only” base Seiko movement is pretty annoying, if you’re not wearing it everyday. For anyone who hasn’t experienced one, imagine that when you want to wind your watch, you have to turn it dial up in your hand and rotate the whole watch for 30 seconds (the so-called seiko shake) such that you spin the rotor inside.
I ended up swapping my SKX movement out for a hacking / hand-winding movement too, much better.
That sounds terrible lol. And then you have to find some other clock to reset it after you rotate it. Is 30 seconds always enough? I'd be nervous of it running slow.
Yeah, it was just annoying enough to cause me to learn how to do surgery on my watch. It’s the only downside of [some of the] low-end Seiko’s.
30 secs was usually enough for me, but depends on how active you are afterwards—-if just typing at a desk, you’d probably have to do the shake longer than that.
I thought it would be annoying, but for me it's not been a big deal. i wiggle it a little on my way to the bathroom in the morning and then it's fine.
Also it's something I only have to do when I haven't worn it in a few days, so there's a limit to how much of it you have to do. (Worst case is if you wear the watch for one day every three days or something. Any less or more wearing and you have to wiggle it less often.)
They're nigh on indestructible, mine is still working after five years of heavy use, working with power tools (including a jackhammer for a bit, because I forgot to take it off, I was pretty sure that it was ruined but it didn't even drop in accuracy).
I had a F-91W for years, I still have it and it still works, but like you I moved to an automatic Seiko 5 (the smallest I could find as my wrist is quite thin), for two reasons I wanted something more good looking, and I didn't want to worry about batteries (although they last years)
I did the opposite. Wore a Seiko 5 for a while until I got tired of not trusting it, then switched to an F91w. The Seiko is very good for an affordable automatic, but it’s hard to beat a quartz for “it just works”.
It wasn't out of spec, I'm just referring to the general weaknesses of automatics. If I spend the weekend doing physical activity where I don't want to wear a watch, Monday morning I'll be resetting my Seiko 5. With my F91w, I can take a long vacation, and spot check a system clock to the second when I get home.
Ah, I see, that's what you mean with reliability. Ok. I wear mine pretty much all the time so that's the reason I'd never have that problem. I thought you meant accuracy. Thanks for the clarification.
On the note of cheap automatic watches, Starking is shockingly good (and good looking) for a $60 automatic watch. It has a lot of issues when put under a microscope, but it's accurate enough for daily wear.
Like many others on here have noted, there are some really nice Seikos and Casios that look great, keep fantastic time and won't break the bank.
I am not a completely reformed addict though in this regard, as I do have a handful of Seikos and Casios, and recently picked up a Serica 4512 as my dressy / special occasions watch.
One thing I've realised about this world and "collecting" in general is there is nothing wrong with trying things out and refining your collection / process as you learn more about yourself and what you get out of it all.
I've learned that the more traditional expensive time pieces are just more of a headache then I care to bare. A Rolex or Patek sitting in a safe because you're stressed about using it, scratching it or getting robbed just isn't worth it for me personally. No judgement passed on what other people do or don't do with their stuff though! If a Patek in a safe brings you joy, all power to you!
What I have found is that if you look carefully, good condition watches from the edifice series (there must be 200 models by now) occasionally show up at $35-45 per piece. I even found a few original waveceptors which will receive the US WWVB time broadcast for automatic time synchronization over long wavelength radio.
I cannot even imagine wearing a watch with more than a hundred bucks, because I'm clumsy and will inevitably hit it on some hard surface and scratch it.
Unfortunately my eyes are so bad now that when I'm nog wearing glasses I can't read the display on the Casios, so instead I got a Seiko '5', an old fashioned mechanical watch that keeps fairly accurate time and has a normal dial that I can read easily without glasses. It's an automatic, nothing to wind and no batteries to replace. I'm super happy with it, have it for about five years now and it looks as good as new in spite of wearing it every day, rain or shine (or mud, grease, sandpaper and so on).
I got an F-91W in April for those times when I am banging around and don't want to risk messing up my beloved Casio 6510BC. I set the time on the F-91W when I got it and it has only drifted off 21 seconds in that time. That is impressively accurate for a $20 CAD watch.
Quartz watches are really magic in terms of keeping time. We take it for granted, but it's insane how accurate they are.
Watch accuracy was a big deal before quartz-based watches, because it was really hard to construct watches that kept time with the accuracy required for celestial navigation etc. Sufficiently accurate watches are a whole separate category, called chronometer. There are certification institutes that put watches through internationally standardised thorough testing to check whether the watch truly conforms to the chronometer label.
Even the cheapest quartz watch will pass the chronometer tests with ample margins. It's not even a fair fight.
I buy one every year or so I go to Japan purely on impulse but in reality, there are hardly any occasions for me to use such sandwich products when the decision is between an Apple Watch as the daily driver and a Tag Heuer for a night out.
I used a Tag Heuer Carrera as a watch for many years. Accuracy isn't perfect, but you adjust it maybe once every few months, so it also isn't an issue. And I really liked the see-through kind of mechanics and the strap.
But then came the Apple Watch, and now I wear that every day. It's a bit more convenient, tracks health data I like and is around 1/10th the price of a nice watch. The latter also means I don't take it off when I go to the playground or jump in the pool. There were some scratches on my previous Apple Watch, but before that really becomes an issue you want to buy a new model anyway for the extra features and better battery life. So in practical use I like it more than a "real" watch.
I also found that being able to always reach to my wrist for the time has become a habit and when I tried an Apple watch that was scuppered by the off wrist charging so like you say, I treat that right wrist as the "data collection" wrist, which for the last few years has been home to a heart rate and HRV monitor.
I got a Casio watch from Amazon about five years ago, there was a deal on and it was about CAD$20. A budgetary driven decision, for sure!
But it's been fascinating to see, over the years, how many times I've been approached (in a coffee shop or some other public place) by serious Casio enthusiasts, keen to ask about my watch and to show theirs. There's so many variations, colours, limited-runs editions... I seem to have accidentally stumbled into a niche with lots of passionate hobbyists - I'm sort of glad I had to replace the awful strap, which snapped, so I actually have something to contribute to the conversation. I had no idea Casio watches were such a big thing, but now I'm not at all surprised there are modding projects like this.
Casio is such a staple in the watch community and because it's so affordable and there are tons of cheap mods to create, peoples creativity comes out. I remember talking to my team about how I had the Casio calculator as a kid and walked by Walmart the next day found it, bought it and next standup meeting we spent some time reminiscing about our childhood.
I got a couple of casio watches from Amazon years back. Then I brought one in a physical watch store and realized that all the watches purchased through Amazon were fakes. Especially the strap is so much better on the real thing.
I wouldn't have been surprised to find out my F-91W was counterfeit! But I just went and watched a "30 ways to tell if your Casio watch is fake" video on YouTube and it looks like my watch is legitimate. I probably wasn't careful enough with the strap, it just disintegrated at one of the connections to the face.
I found the same, though I couldn't bring myself to buy another watch just because it was cheaper. So I bought some NATO straps and have been really happy with them. Perfect watch for me now.
I got $10 skmei 1278, casio w96 copy, for two years, backlight is great, countdown, water resistant enough for swimming, +10sec a month, screen could have better viewing angles, bought replacement strap from Ali.
Wow, for me finding this thread has been a revelation, I didn't know there were other people that liked the casio watches like I do. I had them as children, then as an adult I accidentally stumbled upon a green model at the Madrid flea market, I thought how amazing, this color is epic. Forgot about it for years, then was frustrated with smart watches and the time it would take to start a stopwatch, so I went on Amazon and bought a bunch of them so that I always have at least one that I can find at any time
I recently got a $20 Casio watch as well. Unlike the Garmin watches, I never have to charge it. It tells time and that's it. I never noticed how often I checked my phone just to check the time until I got this watch. I love it.
I've noticed how often I check the time on my phone. Tapping the screen isn't a big deal but I still feel like a flick of the wrist would be more convenient, and there are times when the phone isn't right next to me.. Also, digging a big phone out of the pocket and putting it back when I'm on a walk is worse, nevermind doing that while driving a car (the clock on the radio seems to be always wrong).
So I've been thinking about buying a watch for a couple years now. I finally did it last Saturday. Coincidentally, a Casio, and thanks to this thread I'm even more excited for it than before :) It hasn't been shipped out yet.
It's fun to be a Casio fan. I rediscovered the classic 5600E (https://gshock.com/watches/digital/dw5600e-1v) a few years ago and was thrilled to be in a position to afford what I only got to admire behind the jewelry cases as a kid.
Then I discovered the community of G-Shock modders and collectors. There is something very special about Casio watches that is hard to describe. In some sense I feel they take on the platonic form of a digital timepiece. And they're cheap (although they have special ed. titanium models that resell for >$2K).
It's true that they are conversation starters among other fans.
The original G-Shock watch released in 1984 was designed with an aim at the "triple 10" concept. That is, the battery should last 10 years, be able to survive a 10-meter drop and be water resistant to 10 bars.
Also a Casio fan, having picked up a GWM5600BC Radio Controlled/Solar model in 2010. I'm wearing it to this day, having never changed the battery, taken out through all manner of wet and cold situations. I did sometimes have the problem of the battery running low in winter but switched off the wrist-flick light feature which constantly misfired under-sleeve and haven't had it since. Atomic clock updates daily are the cherry on top. Here's to the next decade!
Also a Casio fan. I have the GW1701D from 2006 as my daily driver and have not had to replaced it's battery. Some of the newer models that sport MIP displays are beautiful but is hard to compromise in not having at least a solar element and atomic timekeeping as the standard minimum of features.
Can the ROM be read and flashed back on Casio watches?
I once bought a solar G-shock but the watch UI is horrible: it does not display the battery charge anywhere on the watch. Instead, it wants you to install a Casio app that connects to the watch via BT. However, even the app doesn't show the battery charge with more than a few scrambled pixels in a small icon. So, useless.
I still don't know how much battery I had left at the time: I eventually got a low battery warning during the winter with no good sunlight to charge it and so I forgot about the watch. You would think a solar watch would want to boast with a highly visible battery level indicator on the screen, and also because it would be a very useful thing.
If the ROMs are hackable I'd be interested in looking at the assembly if for nothing else but to fix that battery level indicator.
Regarding the battery meter — Casio just updated much of the classic g-shock line with the 5xxxU versions. They have many much requested features including a battery indicator.
Nice, thank you! I might actually consider upgrading, I have no other complaints about G-shock. It is somewhat bizarre though that a watch in the 2020's lists a battery indicator as a feature...
I had an analog solar watch before. While it was beautiful it couldn't take the beating I seemed to give it time after time, and gradually the hour dots were broken loose and one of the indicator hands also got dislocated. Thus, I decided to try the digital G-shock with no moving parts and it was great. No matter where it hit, nothing broke. Got dirty? Wash it while showering. No problem. Now if it comes with the battery indicator then I must simply choose another thing whose ROM to dump and disassemble :)
I love the F-91W and wore one for years before switching to an Apple Watch. I don't see myself switching back to the Casio, but I do miss it sometimes and wanted to bring as much of it over to the Apple Watch as possible, so I put the Casio band on it [0], but I haven't been able to put together an Apple Watch face that resembles the Casio. Has anyone else tried this and had any luck?
Not quite related but I recently got into the world of Game Boy modding. Kind of amazing to see all the things like people figuring out how to reuse high resolution IPS displays with old DMG Game Boys, Bi-inverter mods to improve the original displays, 3rd party shells galore too. All for stuff 20-30 years old.
At this point, all you need is the back motherboard from a beaten up Game Boy and you can get a fully function unit for about $100. The front daughterboard, screen, power board, sound board, membranes, buttons, case, stickers, and lens can be bought second hand, and in good quality. Then you can add on USB C rechargeable batteries, sound amplifies, AV out (for GBA and above, for now)... Every few months a radical new mod comes out.
My only concern is that modders might be tempted to pull out old mods to install slightly upgraded versions. We're talking about 30+ year old devices, and yet the mods are going out of date.
There's something quite pleasing about simple watches. I think the think I liked primarily was only having to worry about changing/charging the battery every couple of years.
I've still got a beat up Casio VDB-200 which was a 90's touchscreen + databank watch. The last time I put a battery in it, it still had my school timetable programmed in. I'll throw another battery in it tonight and see if it's still working.
If I'm expecting to get stuck in a public waiting room then the CMD-40 is great. IRDA TV remote built in, so a TV-be-Gone a decade earlier. The TV-be-gone is a lot quicker and more ranged about it, but this was baffling to teachers in the 90s.
Having had to google both of them (I can't read the numbers off the back), I'm amazed at the sort of prices they're both commanding. I thought they were cool and rare as a kid; it still seems to be the case :)
I was so happy to see him being back to posting this morning, even if he noted that he doesn't plan to do it as often and considered quitting the content creation. This content always exemplifies the DIY hacker.
Not really a mod, but I use the alarms on my Casios to store data, like calories consumed, protein, hydration, distances, progress, etc. I started with the databank models because you can use text labels in the phone number display, but ended up wearing some five-alarm models around so I adapted to those. Even without the text it's kinda cool to think of what you can track.
> United States Intelligence quickly noticed the prevalence of F-91Ws on the wrists of Islamist fighters. Secret files about the Guantanamo military detention camp published by Wikileaks say Pakistani authorities discovered some 600 to 700 Casios in two workshops in Karachi, and that simply owning one could warrant an interrogation. One prisoner’s evaluation sheet confirms “about a third of inmates at JTF-GTMO [the unit in charge of Guantanamo] who were captured wearing one of these watches had a known correlation with explosives”.
Same. Out of my entire collection, the 5610 gets the most wear because for me it is the perfect watch. It is so rugged, I can keep it on while wrenching on cars and it still looks fine after several years.
I feel the same about by GW-6900. I have other watches, but I wear that one 90% of the time. No worrying about batteries, no worrying about me being a clumsy git, and it's always accurate.
I have the GW-M5610BC! Got it vs the standard 5610 for the negative display that makes it look like Darth Vader's watch. This is indeed the perfect watch. I love it.
As a burgeoning watch nerd, solar-powered atomic clock radio-sync models are currently the only thing I collect, and Casio consistently has the best implementation of the concept. There's a purity of purpose that smartwatches can only aspire to... I don't need to worry about charging it, I don't need to worry about setting it, I can just throw it on and go. It does exactly what it's supposed to do, no more, no less. Right now, I'm putting a lot of wrist time on a G-Shock GWX-5600-1JF, a Japan import G-Shock square that also features moon and tide graphs at the top of the display. Primarily meant for surfers, I gather, though my intended application is surf fishing. I also picked up a JaysAndKays NATO strap conversion kit: https://www.ebay.com/str/jaysandkays as I did manage to bend one of the stock link pins by snagging the edge of the watch case while doing yard work. A full-length NATO strap through both link pins and across the back of the case means I'm not at risk of losing the watch if something similar happens again.
In my cursory research, it seems like Citizen and Seiko solar atomic models don't automatically set daylight-savings time when using the WWVB clock signal? If that's consistently true, it's kind of a bummer... not having to worry about resetting for DST is a big advantage. When the time change comes around, I usually end up resetting all the other clocks and watches in the house off one of my Casios, right down to the second. Fun party trick. :)
I bought F-91W for my SATs in senior year of high school... I've been an acolyte ever since. It's hands-down the most comfortable and versatile watch I've ever worn.
My dream is a partnership between Apple and Casio that ads some of the smart watch features & biometric measurements to a classic F-91W design...
light fitness tracking in a forever battery w simple subtle design would win me. Something like the MQ24-7B2 mechanical with similar features would be the bees knees.
My watch collection is 50% vintage soviet, and modern Vostok pieces, and 50% high-end Swiss. Along with a single Casio F-91W.
The Vostok pieces are what I'd recommend to anybody interested in mechanical watches, they're cheap, cheerful, and come in so many varieties and designs.
I've always liked watches and some of the stuff Casio has always been incredibly appealing to me. They look so cool and functional. Wearable electronics at its peak!
But as much as I want to buy a lightly rugged unit, I just have no actual use for a watch...
unless I manage to get my hands on a unit with at least reliable compass, if not a satellite positioning solution.
That might work for me even though I go hiking to get away from humans and technology
The F-91W is a remarkable little watch, and I wear it a lot. I did replace the resin strap with the thinnest (because the lugs only allow for an extremely thin strap) and cheapest NATO strap I could find on AliExpress. Whether it is my skin or the climate, I found the stock strap very irritating. NATO straps are made of nylon and are pretty much indestructible.
I loved my W-735H! Wore it for a long time as it's great for Pomodoro. Gave it to a friend after I replaced my trusty Polar m430 for a Garmin Instinct as it has a vibrating function AND the ability to program multiple countdown timers. After a few months though, I started missing the dedicated vibrating function and bought a used GD-350 off Ebay. It has basically the same features, BUT looks way better, is a G-SHOCK and has a dedicated timer starter button. Still prefer the Instinct as I can have multiple countdown timers already programmed, but the GD-350 is still a gem of a watch.
I use to work at a place that included parking in rfid activated ramp. I always wanted to clone my badge into something sewn into the wrist of my motorcycle jacket so I didn't have to fumble for my badge while entering and leaving the ramp. In a watch would be perfect.
At the high end of NFC communication you have the basically the same chips used in smartcards (like payment cards/sim cards/etc) running with limited power, but theoretically able to run all the same apps. These can be cryptographically secure.
At the other end, a lot of rfid tags are very easy to just read and clone, including many involved in access control systems. These often just work based on the uid number that is freely readable, and most of the protocols have chips available where the user can write this "globally unique" id that would normally be written by the factory.
I have a Casio F-105W. The resin strap broke after 2 years of wearing it inconsistently.
I would not buy it again.
I also have a Casio MQ24 (analog). It has a resin strap, which so far hasn't broken. When it does I will upgrade to an analog watch without a better strap.
I prefer analog because the hands act as a visualization of them time. They make a pie chart. I am somewhat "time blind" so this helps me.
I've a few Casio F-91Ws and wear them everyday. The strap on the most recently-purchased one broke after a few weeks of infrequent use. The rest I've had for many years, never had any issues.
Anyone have a recommendation for a digital watch with high quality pushers? I prefer a digital day-to-day, but I use the pushers extensively and they always seem to go mushy/lose responsiveness very quickly.
It’s hard to go back after experiencing modern buttons on (eg) phones. Tactile, long lasting, responsive.
I'm trying to find enough room in my meager budget for a T200, as it seems they may be discontinuing the model with the light blue dial. Slightly more expensive than the most basic Apple watch.
Assuming you're in the US, have you had to deal with Casio USA for service at all? Since the Oceanus models are Japan-only, I am wondering if they would even bother offering any repairs.
No, thankfully. Only one of the watches was purchased in the US.
I did try to get the Junghans watch fixed, and that did not end particularly well (it did get fixed, but I didn't make any friends). I brought it in the US, but there are a lot of places that sell them, but don't fix them.
I have a OCW-10DA-7A (Wife's watch)[0], OCW-S100-7AJF[2], and a OCW-T410TD-3A[2]. The last two, I got in Tokyo.
G-Shocks are a big deal over there. They have G-Shocks that are a lot more expensive than these were.
There's definitely a dearth of English-language info on Casio's premium offerings, especially the older Oceanus stuff. I gather you must have purchased your wife's watch during the brief period they tried to make a go of the Oceanus sub-brand in the US?
There's all sorts of bizarre sub-variations, too. I saw a similar women's Oceanus on eBay last fall, with English-language Discovery Channel Shark Week branding, and the seller in New York was dumping it for cheap because they couldn't get the radio sync to work. Turns out it was a model that was only set up to sync with the UK and German time signals. Older Casio models also only say Multi-Band 5 as well, because, I guess, the Chinese atomic-clock broadcast hadn't been set up yet.
On an earlier page[1] the author mentions that they at one point "designed a more complex backplate which included […] a built in micro SD card reader, that you could read directly by plugging in a micro USB cable", among other things. Unfortunately, they go on to lament that this made the watch comically thick. As you say, the strap might be a good place to cram a USB interface without bulking up the watch body.
Clever, I suppose a strong metal backplate could be made for the usb to rest below the watch itself, but maybe it’d take too much space. I think a microcontroller for the microSD to usb is needed.
I have this watch. My wife spent weeks trying to sell it on Facebook marketplace but they kept insisting it was an inappropriate item even after human intervention. I know it has connections with IEDs and terrorism, so I wonder if it is related to that.
This addon allows you to attach a micro SD card socket to the back of your F-91W for carrying around data. You will need a small cross-head screwdriver to install the addon. Also be aware that you will need to bend the 2 contacts up so they still touch the inside of the metal backplate in order to have the alarm beeping sound still present. Check this video out for more info.
"
I bought a F-84W off eBay a few years ago, and can highly recommend it. Same innards as the F-91W and very similar look, but with slightly muted colours and a sleeker design.
What oscillator are they using? Things like the DS3231 (which are temperature-compensated crystal oscillators) only do about +/- 2ppm, which is about +/- 1 seconds per week. You can tune them to do better (mine has been running at about -0.007ppm for a while), but on the tin, they appear to be worse than what you reported. (And they go to great lengths to be that accurate.)
It appears that a moderator has edited the title and added the year 2017 to it while updating it. But it is a mystery where they picked "2017" from. It occurs nowhere on the page.
An update on this thread: Emailed the moderators today about the incorrect year in the title. After that, @dang fixed the title by removing " (2017)" from it.
I've gone down the rabbit hole with expensive time pieces but they become a burden / obligation rather than a tool - especially as the prices of certain pieces in the secondary market have gone so high - so over time I've reverted back to much cheaper watches and find myself getting more joy out of the cheaper & much better value for money brands.
Very occasionally I'll take it off in favour of a dress watch for a special event but otherwise I just wear it all the time, knowing that if it finally fails I'm looking at $10 to replace.