Friday, October 28, 2011

The Casio Edifice from Walmart

The Casio Edifice line is comprised of the most advanced Casio analog watches.  It's the elite and the vanguard of Casio efforts to break into the high end wristwatch market.  I was quite surprised to find an Edifice model in my local Walmart.  It was the EF305-1AV model.  It's not an advanced, high tech, model.  But, it does have very cool looking subdials, the Edifice name, a stainless steel case, and best of all a Walmart price!

You can read my complete review below:


Casio Edifice (Model EF305-1AV) Analog Watch with Subdials

Wristwatch Review: Men's Casio Edifice (Model EF305-1AV)Analog Watch with Subdials

A Premium Casio Men's Multi-Function Watch Plucked from the Shelves of Walmart 

The Casio Edifice line of watches represents some of the top watches from Casio. This review covers an attractive watch that snuck into Walmart with the Casio Edifice label. Subdials and sophistication are high on the list of any watch enthusiast. Even those of us on tight budgets love a sophisticated watch. When I spotted a Casio Edifice watch at Walmart for less than $40, I had to snatch it up. The watch offered a black face, a sleek stainless steel case with water resistance to 100 meters; analog subdials for the date, 24-hour clock, and day of the week; a mineral crystal, and a generously-sized black resin band. This Casio watch simply offered a combination of sleek styling, solid construction, technology, and straightforward functionality. It was undoubtedly a man's watch. When I got home, I had a chance to ponder my purchase for a little longer. Like many watches, the Casio Edifice (Model EF305-1AV) has a Japanese quartz movement that was cased in a Chinese factory. The watch design seemed well balanced. While it has subdials, the watch design is not fussy. This Casio Edifice has luminous hash marks on each hour and luminous hands for the hours, minutes, and subdials. These features make the watch plainly readable for telling time in casual use or low-light conditions. Some of the features remind me of other favorites in my watch collection. For example, the plain stainless steel bezel reminds me of the Pulsar dress watch that I love for job interviews and the resin band reminds me of the band on my Caravelle by Bulova Divers-style Watch. This Casio Edifice watch is also well proportioned.



While the trend in mechanical watches tends towards large and clunky, the case of this quartz movement Casio is approximately 40 millimeters in diameter and about 8 to 10 millimeters thick. The Casio Edifice should comfortably fit beneath the cuff of a dress shirt. The buckle seems substantial enough to avoid damage and the band offers plenty of potential sizes. Compared to my Casio HD-series watch, the band and buckle are of higher quality. On this Casio Edifice, the buckle is all metal. It's rare to find a stainless steel watch with components and design of this quality within a $40 budget.


However, no bargain watch is perfect. The most serious criticism of this Casio Edifice is that the subdial numbers are very difficult to read. This makes this affordable watch a little tough to set accurately. A second serious criticism is that this watch is estimated to have a two-year battery life. Since it was ticking on the Walmart shelf, I have no idea how much quality time I'll actually get with this nice looking watch. Finally, despite the Edifice name, this watch doesn't have any of the high tech features of the rest of the Casio Edifice watch line up. Depending on which high end watch you buy, the more expensive Casio Edifice watches have more advanced technical features like solar power, 1/1000th of second analog stopwatches, "Multi Band self-adjusting atomic timekeeping," and multi-mission drives which can power five separate watch motors. Despite the Edifice name on the face, this watch is not listed in the Edifice line up on the Casio web site. Like a secret half-brother, this watch is only admitted into the family when you do a deliberate search for Model EF305-1A.

Of course, on Amazon, some of the high end Casio Edifice watches cost over six times the price of this bargain model. At less than $40, this Casio Edifice is simply one of the nicest watches that you can buy on a Walmart watch budget. If you are looking to squeeze a nice watch into a tight Christmas gift budget, this bargain watch looks nice and is only half the price of some of the higher end Casio watches at Walmart. With a sleek stainless steel case, functional subdials, and a quality band, the Casio Edifice (Model EF305-1AV) Multi-Function Men's Watch is one any man can be proud to wear.


Thursday, October 27, 2011

Another Rumours Watch

I have another Rumours watch in my watch collection.  It's a simple, diver-style, casual watch with a rotating bezel.  I think the watch is off late 80s or early 90s vintage.  It doesn't look like a million dollars and it doesn't look like something from Tag Heuer or Rolex.  But, this Rumours watch does look like an honest, affordable, and attractively styled time piece.

A Rumours Quartz Diver-Style Watch

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Waiting for a train? Try a pocket watch!

If you find yourself waiting for a train, a gun fight at high noon, or a hypnosis patient, you might want to try a pocket watch.  I got this one from Walmart for $12.88 each.

A Walmart Pocket Watch


[Over the years, I have often seen very inexpensive pocket watches with various themes: Star Wars, Railroads, etc. But, sometimes on Amazon, you do stumble upon a pocket watch that reminds you of finer things and times gone by.  For example, in 2024, I saw this Bulova Ashton Pocket Watch on Amazon and it comes with a very nice wooden display case.  It's definitely a timepiece to be proud of.]

A Fine Bulova Ashton Pocket Watch


Saturday, October 22, 2011

How do you store your watches?

My world is overflowing with watches.  Since I collect inexpensive, dare I say, cheap wristwatches, they tend to accumulate.  However, even a cheap wristwatch has to live somewhere.  Otherwise, you just end up with a huge and almost out-of-control pile of watches.  Right now, I keep most of my watches in two dedicated watch cases.  I use the Joan Rivers watch box.  It stores quite a few normal to small-sized watches.
Joan Rivers Watch Box

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Calling all Mall Ninjas!

You know you like the manly, man, style of tactical gear.  But, since you aren't actually on a SWAT team, you can save a lot of money by paying the practical price instead of the tactical price.  I got this tactical style watch from Walmart for only $10!  It's an awesome bargain and a great watch to boot!



Friday, October 14, 2011

Thinking about a high end watch? Think American! Think Towson Watch Company

One day all your credit cards will be vanquished.  One day your Powerball numbers might get called.  On that day, you might be able to consider a really high end wristwatch.  If you ever find yourself in that market, you might try looking to an unusual source:  America!



Companies like the Towson Watch Company proudly make premium watches in the U.S.A.!  When the "behind the music" years end, I am so there .  .  .


Wednesday, October 12, 2011

An Elgin Watch Blog

Just because we enjoy and wear cheap . . . er . . . affordable watches, doesn't mean we can't appreciate fine craftsmanship and the vintage watches of yesteryear.  Today, Elgin is a brand of Chinese-made watches sold in stores like Walmart. 

But, once upon a time, Elgin watches were fine American timepieces.  I've been dropping in on a blog about restoring and repairing antique Elgin watches.  It's definitely worth a visit:  Jeff's Elgin Time Watch Blog.  While vintage Elgin watches can be a little expensive, ebay has many at prices less than $100.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Lorus Watches: A Seiko by another name?

If you are looking for a nice, low cost, wristwatch, you might try Lorus.  Lorus is a Seiko brand that makes cool watches and sells them at affordable prices.  Here's a picture:


This watch is attractively styled and an excellent value!  However, I don't see many retailers in the U.S. carrying Lorus watches lately.  According to the Lorus website, they are sold in Canada, Europe, and other non-U.S. markets.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

A Mysterious Watch From Pembrooke

I've had this watch for many years.  It is labeled as being a "Pembrooke" watch.  I probably bought it the Value City close out store.  It's a very comfortable watch to wear because it has a small clasp that feels just like the rest of the watch band.



After a recent battery change, the watch is running well and makes a great no-nonsense watch for work!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Casio loves you long time!

Fortunately for those of us who are battery-change challenged, Casio has a lot of watches with ten year batteries!  That's awesome!  Ten years is a long time to go without the hassle of changing a battery.  One of my first 10-year battery watches is just this basic analog wristwatch.  
Casio Men's Analog Watch with 10 year battery

Monday, October 3, 2011

My latest Casio in HD

Casio has an affordable series of watches with a full decade of battery life.  The Casio HD series looks great and is a comfortable bang-around watch.  The coolest thing is the price - it was less than $20 at Walmart!

The Casio HD

You can read my complete review of the Casio HD here!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Is this sign short for Sproing!

I saw this sign posted at the watch counter at Walmart.  I really love my CASIO watches.  But, definitely, let this sign be a warning to all ye who might open a CASIO!

A sign about the complexity of Casio Battery Changes

"Due to the technical nature of some of our watches, it is very important that the battery is replaced by a certified CASIO technician.  The CASIO technician will insure that your watch retains its original water-resistance specifications."  The sign adds, "For battery changes on G-Shock models, Databank models, and models with 100M and above water resistance, please ask for a CASIO service mailer."  Due to the complexity of battery changes, I'm glad to see CASIO going to more and more 10 year batteries!