Have you stopped to consider Casio’s mostly sub-$100 captivatingly retro funky watches lately? These basic digital watches are so affordable, they might sometimes be overlooked and taken for granted. But they fill a certain niche in the watch industry and, we’d argue, offer something fun, compelling and utterly unique — even collectible (in the sense that we just want to collect them all).
Just as nostalgia has infiltrated the rest of the watch industry, Casio has resurrected some of its vintage designs. Unlike most other watch brands, however, “retro” and “vintage” for Casio is coming from the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s Japan. We’re talking stuff that looks like it’s from Blade Runner or some anime-envisioned Tokyo of the future.
Products in the Guide
“Vintage” is also the name of a Casio collection where these reissues live (so don’t be confused: we’re talking exclusively about new watches here), but the brand never really stopped making many such funky, retro-futuristic digital models. The classic F91W, world time and Data Bank (calculator) watches never went away, but have also spawned fascinating variants.
Those alongside reissues like the model from the 1979 film Alien and other less famous watches make for a smorgasbord of retro-funky-geek-chic fun — that you can actually afford. We love them all. The following are some of our favorites, but the brand’s current (and recent) offerings are worth even deeper exploration.
casioCasio A171WE-1A
It’s kinda like an F-91W but with a rare feature among digital Casio watches: it’s round. But combined with the rectangular screen, it’s got a killer Casio look and retro charm despite being a modern design.
