Big hair, comics & Walkmans
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These words are the mid 1980s to me. The TV show Stranger Things brought the 80s back and even my eldest son stated that they seemed to be far simpler and fun times than these days.
Whilst I agree with that to some extent, I am also old enough to remember how annoying certain things were back then also, particularly as a big music fan. Vinyl is still sold and even cassette tapes are making a comeback. I’ve lost track of how many tapes were lost to crappy cassette players. Scratched vinyls? Don’t get me started. I’ll take today’s music on demand to a wireless mesh of speakers in my house, not to mention a handheld device containing all the music ever made, in an absolute heartbeat. What about watches then? This was the time of the LCD display and the Casio calculator watch. The mechanical watch was something old people wore and the multi alarm, multi-function displays that ran on a small battery, now that was cool. |
Even the Bond movies at the time had digital watches with various ‘state of the art’ features such as a wireless message that said, ‘Come in 007’ scrolling across its digital display. Interestingly, these were always Seiko models and the ‘interesting’ part is that Seiko no longer produce any of these watches.
Well, lucky for us then that nobody told Casio that the 80s are in fact over. We’re now at the spiritual successors of 80’s smartwatches, with never ending buzzing, blinking and vibrating smartwatches of our time- without the legendary battery life of the LCDs. How fascinating it is that in 2020 I can buy a $45 digital watch with dozens of functions, lasting 10 years on one small battery. And, wearing one takes me right back to watching ET, Weird Science and Terminator. Bon Jovi’s Living on a Prayer immediately starts playing in my head and I start suggesting hair mousse and pastel colours to the missus. Anyway, enough on that. Let’s get stuck in to the catchily named Casio AE1200WH-1BV. |
My impressions owning & wearing the watch.
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So as mentioned, I bought the watch for $45. I have bought socks that cost me more than this. It’s not my first Casio purchase in the 21st century, I own a couple of G-shocks which are built to take a beating. This watch is more of a daily wear. To be clear, I purchased this more as an experiment and a fun addition to the collection, rather than replacing my mechanical watches.
At this point, I tend to write about packaging. Tempting as it is to photograph a ziplock bag, I refrained. However, it does come with a thick manual, swing tag and warranty. The warranty card is signed Casio Computer Co LTD, located in Sibuya-ku. Awesome. That would have been pure Far East magic to 1980s me. To present me, it takes me right back to that area of Tokyo. We are both winners. |
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The 1200 has a nickname. The Casio Royale. Now apparently this is due to Casio modelling the design heavily on the watch Roger Moore wore in the movie Octopussy. So why is it not then called something to do with that name rather than the far too chiselled Daniel Craig in Casino Royale? I think that may be what is commonly referred to as a rhetorical question.
What I will say is that Casio’s design is more attractive than the Seiko worn in the movie. The world map in particular looks great. So let’s talk of the case first. It’s all plastic. I think it’d be silly to talk about stunning lug design and bevels here. It’s quite simply moulded plastic. That said, the shape is great. Basically, all you see is large squares with the edges cut off all over this watch and it works very well. What I’m not in love with is the various 'informative' text all over it. It’s much like buying a PC in 2010, covered in stupid stickers. |
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Apparently we have to remind the owner for 10 years that this watch has a 10 year battery life. We also have to remind the owner for the full duration of the ownership that there is an ‘illuminator’ built in. Meaning, a tiny light that is activated with the top right button and lights up the display in the dark.
Call me Mr Pedantic but I’m quite capable of memorising a feature like this all on my own. I also don’t feel that this is such a powerful marketing statement that people would spot this, stop me, ask me if it’s really TRUE? And then immediately rush to their nearest online store and buy one. Why have this then? Casio watches have always had all this stuff printed so I guess it’s in line with the retro approach. |
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On to the dial then. This is basically one large LCD, covered by mineral glass, with a plastic overlay to visually organise the features available here.
The most eye-catching part of it is the world map. A world time function in a mechanical watch is something that could cost you as much as a fairly nice car and it’s probably less functional than what we can find here (shh…don’t tell anyone). The bottom right button allows you to cycle through a few locations in the world quickly. Is my mate in London still sleeping? Is it night or day in NYC? Sure, I can check on my phone but guess what – it’s actually far quicker to do that here. Clicking the bottom right button brings up the time, city code in the bottom display and also moves a little dot to that part of the map. As you’re doing this, the top left round display stays put at your current time. So at a casual glance, you have all the info you require. |
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It’s actually a very beautiful solution to a complex issue. What time is it here v Sweden and what parts of the world are on the same time zone? Having the marker on the map shows all applicable areas of the globe.
What I will say on the date functionality is that it really annoys me that on all Casio watches we have to endure month-day and not the day-month format that the majority of the world uses. It's a common complaint and I really think it should have been rectified by now. |
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I suppose the most polarising aspect of these watches is the pure function over form design of the numbers. It is what it is. There is no denying it's very legible. It’s hard to claim that the number design is beautiful compared to a modern day amoled screen that will display literally anything you want, but the rudimentary 80s feel still works today, to my eyes at least. This model has a slight yellow tint to match the overall theme of black and gold. I think it makes the display look nicer than the standard grey affair.
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Flipping the watch over and we’ll find a metal plate with some engraved text, simply screwed in with four phillips screws. These screws are easy to remove and you can change the battery in 5 mins. You can also completely lift out the movement and all the internal components. Why would you want to do that? I won’t go into it here but if you’re so inclined, ‘modding’ this watch is super easy. YouTube is your friend here if you want to give it a go.
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The bracelet. It’s plastic. Ok, it doesn’t quite end there but almost. The patterned back and grooves means that it doesn’t become a sweat fest and it’s actually really comfortable to wear.
I say actually since it does perhaps look cheap and nasty but it’s only cheap, not nasty. There’s a signed buckle and plenty of textures on the strap to break up the drabness of black plastic. More good news here, it’s a fairly standard spring bar mechanism to hold the strap in place, meaning that if you want to replace it with something more fun, it’s super easy to do yourself and finding matching straps will be far easier than the very different G-Shock strap designs. |
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Finally, the illuminator. It does indeed illuminate as promised EVERY time I look at the watch. Some cheaper Casios have fairly pathetic little lights built in but this one is solid. You’ll have no issues seeing the time and I particularly like that you can extend the time it lights up from 1 to 3 seconds. At 1 second I feel a bit like my sleepy brain is not quite taking in what time it is. These light up displays do give the impression of ‘Hurry the F up and tell the time, we don’t have all day here’. That’s ok, lack of political correctness is very 1980s.
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Movement
Module number 3198 Strap & Bracelet
Resin band (fancy name for plastic) Case
Case / bezel material: Resin miscellaneous
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Final Words
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I’ve come to really like this little watch. It’s comfortable to wear, ridiculously priced and have all the functionality you could reasonably expect, and more! The retro look is not to everyone’s liking and it is hard to snap out of the 1980s when looking down on your wrist.
But I will say this. I can’t think of a watch that I would be more comfortable to wear if I was travelling, particularly if you already stick out like sore thumb as a tall, blonde man that could pretty much only melt into a crowd in Scandinavia. It’s extremely unlikely that anyone would look twice at it, in fact they may even feel sorry for you and give you one of theirs, and perhaps even buy you a drink? I’d like that. |
19 cm wrist
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I do really like that customising these watches is so easy. You can easily make it your own by removing all the silly text, change the colours and truly wear something unique. Stuff it up? Buy another one at $45…
In closing, is it possible to get poodle hair music, hover boards and RoboCop out of your mind whilst wearing this? Yes, I think it is. These watches are as fun now as they were then and this smart watch will not push work emails or chat notifications at you all day long, need I say more? Cheers, Esbjorn |
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Did you enjoy this review? Coffee fuels my night time ponderings.
