Casio F91W-1 Classic Resin Strap Digital Sport Watch

I’m over big, bulky watches. I’ve got my Suunto and a couple G-Shock watches. I still wear them, still love them, but mostly I just want a watch that keeps nice, precise time, doesn’t stand out from my wrist 3/4 inch and hopefully looks juuuust a little dorky. I’m also cheap. Waterproofness is important to me. I work a desk job. I commute by bus or train- watches help with that. I like to go on a run a couple times a week and wear a watch. I don’t sleep or shower with my watch on unless I’m camping or in a hotel. I like digital over analog because I kind of like to know exactly what time I think it is and I only ever estimate when I’m reading an analog watch because I’m lazy. Also, when I’m in a meeting or I’ve been pinned-down by someone I don’t want to talk to and I want to know if this really is taking forever or if my perception of the passage of time is just being warped- it’s easier to sneak a peek at a digital watch and get a precise read. I realized a few months ago that I really am just as happy wearing a $15 Casio as I am with my $250 Suunto and that most days I don’t need to know the barometric pressure. Some days, yes. Most days, no. But I like having a variety of watches (including the Suunto, which is fabulous). And I like to choose which watch to wear each morning. That’s fun for me. Recently I got on Amazon and ordered a bunch of new cheap Casio watches. I got four new watches for $52. I think Timex’s are over-priced. That’s how cheap I am.

Casio W-800HAV ($20-ish) Digital Black. My eight-year old son and I each got one of these watches for Christmas 2016. We both love it. We both have other watches but wear this one the most. It has a fairly low profile- doesn’t catch on pockets or shirt sleeves. I love the light- it looks stupid, like piddly. But it actually lights the face well. I go jogging at night sometimes. The light works well enough for me to see how slow I am even while I’m bouncing down the road. And it’s got “Dual Display”. I don’t know what else to call that. It shows the time on one part of the screen and at the same time it show the stopwatch numbers. Nice to keep track of both. Or, If I’m out and about, I’ll set a stopwatch when the train goes by because I know that the train comes by every 15 minutes. So I can see when I’m coming up on another 15-minute mark and also see the time on the sub-display.

Casio F-201WA ($10.47) Digital Black. Comfortable. Lightweight. Easiest buttons to push. Good light. I like that it has countdown timer and lots of alarms. I miss being able to see the time when it’s in stopwatch mode like I can with the W-800HAV and the WV-200A.

Casio WV-200A ($40-ish) Waceceptor Digital Black with chrome and red. Looks good. Like the steel case. Good protection for the glass. Relatively heavy. A liiiiitle too thick. Really nice buttons. Great electro-luminescent light. This one is the only watch of the group that you can set it so it doesn’t beep every time you push a button. I really like being able to turn the beep off. Sometimes I like to set a stopwatch in a meeting so I can see how long somebody is going on with some bullsh*t. Strangely, timing somebody’s bullsh*t is a nice distraction from the bullsh*t. But I don’t like my watch to beep when I’m doing pushing buttons. “Dual display”- you can still see what time it is when you’re in other modes. Countdown timer is nice and many of my other watches don’t have one. I don’t give it extra points for the whole Wave Ceptor thing. Doesn’t add any value for me and it kinda sucks battery. This watch has been on my wrist for a full day of snorkelling and handled it beautifully. I live in a land-locked state, so when I get to the ocean, I’m in the water ALL DAY LONG. I can’t dive deeper than maybe 20 feet, so it’s not a serious test for a watch that says it’s good to 200m. But if you’re diving to 200m and time is critical, you’re going to spring for something more than a $40 Casio. (I love you, Casio).

Casio HDA-600 ($14.79) Black Analog. Not the most comfortable. Kinda squeezes my wrist from bone to bone or flops around a bit. I dunno, it just fits weird. YMMV. Love the face protector. Can’t wait until it starts to look a little banged up. Glowy dots on the hands aren’t really impressive. Date window works perfectly. Looks tough but it’s probably not. I like it a lot.

Casio MQ24-7B2 ($14-something) White-faced Analog. Incredibly light. Truly forget that you’re wearing it. Easy to read. No date window. No lumi. Nice, simple and never catches your sleeve in a dress shirt. Yes, I’m fancy. Some people are smart enough to read an analog watch that doesn’t have numbers on it- just dots. I’m not one of those people. I screw it up enough when there’s numbers. This has numbers. I like numbers. Haven’t tested this one for waterproofyness. Casio only says it’s water resistant. I hardly ever do underwater demolitions anymore.

Casio A168W-1 ($16.15) Stainless Digital. I love / hate this watch. I don’t know if Casio was really trying to make a watch that looks fancy but it’s really a dork-bomb, or if they we’re going for dork-bomb as their aim. Either way. This watch is a stunning success. I think this watch is the pinnacle of nerd-swank. 1980’s wannabe stockbroker, cool old guy who doesn’t give a sh*t, little bit of silver under the sleeve to catch someone’s eye- oh wait it’s a friggin Casio digital. I mean, it’s chrome-plated PLASTIC for crying out loud. How awesome is that? I love all of that. Love it. It’s got the Illuminator light, which works great. Clock, date, stopwatch and alarm. No countdown timer. The metal band is not comfortable. It’s got edges and it pulls on my arm fur. Clasp works great and it’s wicked-easy to adjust. Slips under a dress shirt easily. Again: super-dorky. Makes me smile every time I put it on. Then wince when it pulls the fur.

Casio F91W-1 ($11.35) Black Digital. I like this watch a lot. It’s super thin. Very lightweight. The light looks stupid but it works well. The buttons are easy to hit. It ranks pretty high on the ‘Dork’ scale. People recognize it. Hold that one button down and it says CASIo. It’s great. Proud to say I’ve never worn this watch along with flannel and a beanie. Never.

This is a simple, good value for money watch. It shows the day of the week as a two letter code (Mo, Tu, We, etc.) and the day of the month as a number. It has an alarm, stopwatch and hour-chime. It is splash-proof. I find that the time drift is of the order of a minute every six months, although, of course, this will depend on the temperatures at which the watch is kept. The user adjustments at the spring and autumn clock changes stop indefinite drifting. The strap is the first thing to fail – generally after about two years. At this point I usually replace the watch.

I have bought this same make & model of watch for something like 20 years or more, this latest (due to losing the last one on holiday) being my 4th. I did change the battery on the first (after 5 years+) but have not bothered since, as the cost of a battery was a significant % of the cost of a new watch – a bit like changing a car when the ashtray gets full!!! But up to personal choice. I had one where the rubbery strap split and broke after about 4 years- but again the cost of a strap outweighed just getting a new watch, and besides, I do not personally like to wear a watch on my wrist, just keep in my shoulder bag/trouser pocket!!! (so that one with no strap lasted me a further 3 years, before the battery died)

So, if a cheap, inexpensive, accurate (20 seconds slow after 1 year) “throwaway when battery/strap broken/stopped” style of watch is what you are looking for – then in my opinion this one is a good choice.

Oh – and finally, yes the light at night is not very bright (I have to also pop my reading glasses on), and the alarm is not very loud (but I find good enough as a gentle reminder for 20 seconds) – but don’t a lot of people these days also have mobile/cell ‘phones that do all that (and tell the time!)…..so good enough as a secondary/auxiliary time piece in my view, with also handy stopwatch/time counter function.

I bought this renowned watch for its iconic status. Many reviews have already been done on the quality and functionality of the watch, so I’m instead going to add the following interesting facts:

1. Most folk say this watch was released in 1991, but in fact it was released in Japan in 1989. This makes it the longest manufactured digital-watch in history.

2. Casio state that these watches continue to sell around 3 million of these watches worldwide EVERY SINGLE YEAR making it the best selling digital-watch in history.

3. The watch was worn by Barack Obama AND Osama Bin Laden….more or less simultaneously!

4. Due to its construction and availability, the Casio f91w was adopted by terrorists for use as timers in Improvised Explosive Devices. The CIA considered possession of the watch as an identifier for their ‘terrorist watch list’. At one point, it is alleged that over 30% of inmates at Guantanamo Bay had been found in possession of either a F-91w or a variation carrying the same module.

5. With a good battery and the watch kept at body-temperature, accuracy over time is said to be more accurate than mechanical/analogue designs….including Rolex!

6. This model has been displayed in the London School of Art, due to its iconic design.

7. Purists refer to this watch as the ‘happy meal watch’ due to the fact that, wherever you are in the world, the watch generally retails at the same price as a Macdonald’s meal.

Some people are worried about the ‘Water Resist’ standard? Well the following is the official standard (ISO 2281) which the watch is able to exceed:

Resistance when immersed in water at a depth of 10 cm.

Immersion of the watch in 10 cm of water for 1 hour.

Immersion of the watch in 10 cm of water with a force of 5 N perpendicular to the pusher buttons for 10 minutes.

The watch shall be placed on a heated plate at a temperature between 40 °C and 45 °C until the watch has reached the temperature of the heated plate (in practice, a heating time of 10 minutes to 20 minutes, depending on the type of watch, will be sufficient). A drop of water, at a temperature between 18 °C and 25 °C shall be placed on the glass of the watch. After about 1 minute, the glass shall be wiped with a dry rag. Any watch which has condensation on the interior surface of the glass shall be eliminated.

Immersion of the watch in 10 cm of water at the following temperatures for 5 minutes each, 40 °C, 20 °C and 40 °C again, with the transition between temperatures not to exceed 1 minute. No evidence of water intrusion or condensation is allowed.

Immersion of the watch in a suitable pressure vessel and subjecting it within 1 minute to the rated pressure for 10 minutes, or to 2 bar in case where no additional indication is given. Then the overpressure is reduced to the ambient pressure within 1 minute. No evidence of water intrusion or condensation is allowed.

Exposing the watch to an overpressure of 2 bar. The watch shall show no air-flow exceeding 50 μg/min.

(No magnetic or shock resistance properties are required.
No negative pressure test is required.
No strap attachment test is required.
No corrosion test is required)

So there you have it: The Casio f91w. Probably the most astute £10 purchase you’ll ever make!