Watches A to Z: Casio

Casio was founded in 1946 by Kashio Seisakujo in Mitaka, Tokyo. It's first product was a finger ring (called the Yubiwa pipe) for holding a cigarette while a smoker's hands were busy.  Profits from that ring (which seemed to be a viral product), helped the company get into electronics and they released their first calculator, the Casio 14-A, in 1954. 

Casio 14-A Calculator - Photo by Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1974, they released the CASIOTRON, their first digital LCD watch.  The case shape looked much like this modern watch on Amazon called the Casio Model Vintage Watch A171WE-1AEF.

Over the years, Casio has evolved into one of the best sources for reliable, practical, and reasonably priced watches.  While they got their start with calculators and digital watches, they offer plenty of good analog watch choices.   The company even makes diver-style watches now.  The Casio MDV-106 series (more popularly called Casio Marlin) provides a uni-directional bezel and a respectable 200 meters of water resistance. It's available here on Amazon. It's one of the best values in diver-style watches around.

Casio MDV-106 Marlin

As a watch collector, my personal journey with Casio started with the Casio Forester.  It's a great beater watch that stands up well to rough conditions and is light weight and comfortable in hot summer conditions.

Casio Forester

I've since branched out to own Casio Tough Solar models like the one shown below.  Even tougher that these outdoorsy watches of mine are the well-regarded, but slightly more expensive Casio G-Shock series of watches (available at the link on Amazon).

A Casio Tough Solar Watch

No matter whether you are collecting watches as a hobby or wearing watches to tell the time, Casio watches offer an outstanding value for the money.

Wristwatch Review: Casio MRW200H Neo-Display Dive Watch

Reviewing an Inexpensive Classic from Casio

 [I originally published this review on Yahoo Contributors Network on March 22, 2014.  However, as Yahoo is shuttering their site on July 31st, the article is being republished here.]

If you plan to take a wristwatch in harm's way, there are two approaches you can take. You can buy a expensive armored watch or you can buy a super cheap watch that you don't mind getting damaged. One such disposable watch is the rugged Casio MRW200H Neo-Display Dive Watch. It's a very inexpensive watch, but it mimics much of the style and some of the functions of far more expensive timepieces. I was thrilled to pick up a diver-style watch for less than $20.

Watch Style. This Casio looks like an expensive dive watch. It has a black case, black dial, and a black resin strap. I got model MRW200H-4BV on which the watch hands are luminous and numbers are in contrasting orange. (This watch is also available in different variants with white, blue or green numbers or with luminous bubbles instead of numbers on the dial). This Casio has a rotating diver-style bezel with an inverted triangle marking 12 o'clock and the first 15 minutes marked at minute intervals and every five minutes with contrasting numbers. The dial has large numbers for 12 hour time and an inboard set of smaller numbers to provide 24-hour time. A day and date window take the 3 o'clock position. Multi-national forces may appreciate that the day is provided in Spanish, French, and English.

 Watch Functionality. My Casio MRW200H-4BV keeps time well and more than meets my expectations for a watch at this price point. For most daydreamers, this watch works quite well. However, if you have more demanding needs from a watch, you'll want to be aware of potential drawbacks with the MRW200H. First, the bezel is not uni-directional and it doesn't click with each turn. Scuba divers use rotating bezels to keep track of how much time they can spend under water. A uni-directional bezel can't be bumped to show that divers have more time available. It helps keep them from running out of air. Second, the watch is a little finicky to set. Finally, the crystal is definitely scratchable.

Watch Size. The Casio MRW200H-4BV is a nicely-sized watch with a 43 mm case diameter and 11 m case thickness. The strap appears to be robustly sized 22 millimeters near the watch, but tapers down to a far more modest width at the buckle. While the band is a bit flimsy, it is long with adjustments for any sized wrist. At only about 4 ounces, this Casio is extremely lightweight and comfortable.

Watch Construction. The Casio MRW200H-4BV has a black resin case and stainless steel caseback. The case bumps out slightly to protect the crown. While it is not a screwdown crown, this Casio does provide 100 meters of water resistance.

Price. I've seen this Casio at a wide variety of price points between $16 and $25. Walmart and Amazon have it for the lowest prices. I was able to pick it up from Walmart for just less than $19.

Overall. I really like this watch. The MRW200H series of Diver-Style watches are a good value for the money. They make a great "bang around watch" and cost less than $25.

These watches are a lot like potato chips, it's hard to stop with just one. A bang around watch from a name brand like Casio for less than $25 is always a great day.

Cheap Dive Watch Review: Casio MRW200H Neo-Display Dive Watch

Everyone wants a bad ass commando-style dive watch.  Everyone wants the kind of watch that has a case, strap, and bezel in midnight black and high visibility numbers. But, real commando watch capabilities often come with a high price tag.  Of course, if you aren't a real commando, you don't have to pay that high price.  You can just buy a watch that looks cool.  When it comes to cool for the price, it's hard to beat this Casio:

Casio MRW200H Neo-Display Dive Watch

Yup, I finally broke down and bought the Casio MRW200H Diver-Style watch that I've been lusting after on my trips to Walmart and Target.  It's pretty awesome for a watch that costs less than $25. You can read my complete review of this watch here.  If you'd like to buy a watch like this, Amazon has plenty of varieties here.

Casio Watches for Christmas

C is the next stop on my Christmas watches A through Z tour.  It can be hard to imagine buying someone a Casio watch for Christmas.  The company was built on cheap little digital watches.  But, today, Casio is a watch world powerhouse with premium watches for everyone.  The big choice for today's Casio buyer is between analog, digital, or ana-digital watches.  The company is known for it's G-Shock series of ruggedized digital watches.  Now, Casio is also known for advanced analog watches marketed under their Edifice model line.

The Big Casio Watch Choices: 

Casio also has many watches that can take the wearer off the beaten path. I like CASIO Men's Forester Sport Watch as an inexpensive bang-around watch.

The Casio Forester is Perfect for Fall Foliage

But, the Casio Men's PAS410B-5V Pathfinder Moon Phase Hunting Timer Watch is a great digital watch choice for fishermen and hunters.

Casio Pathfinder Moon Phase Hunting Timer & Mothra!

I think the Forester would be a great choice for an active kid who likes the outdoors.  The more sophisticated Casio Pathfinder might be a great choice for an adult.  Both watches are less than $30.

Finally, don't forget the Casio Edifice!  It has three subdials and a great stainless steel look!

A Casio Edifice Watch

You can find the most modern Casio Edifice now on Amazon.com!

Casio Digital Watch Technology for Everyone

Casio makes some amazing high tech watches.  Their Edifice line of analog watches are wonders.  They make high end digital watches with incredible features.  But, one of the coolest things is that they make watches with amazing features for everyone.  For example, this Casio World Time Illuminator digital watch can show you a map of the world and the time in different timezones.  That's cool enough.  But, to do it all with a $25 watch with a 10-year battery life.  That's pretty awesome!

Wristwatch Review: The Casio Edifice (Model EF305-1AV) 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. 

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

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:

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.

Casio Edifice (Model EF305-1AV)

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.

Casio Edifice (Model EF305-1AV)

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.

[Update: If you'd like to buy this Casio Edifice, it's available here on Amazon.com in 2025 for less than $40:  Casio Edifice EF305-1AV.]

Casio Analog Watch with 10 Year Battery

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

If you are interested in this watch, it is available in 2024 on Amazon as the Casio MTP-3050D-2AV Classic Men's Stainless Steel Dress watch with 10-year battery.  A decade without changing a battery has a style of its own.

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!

Psssst.... check out Watches at Walmart!

The Walmart Watches of 2011

Watch enthusiasts tend to look far and wide for their latest timepieces.  However, they could save a lot of money if they just went to Walmart.  A whole wide world of watches awaits with prices as low as $7.  Most sell for about $12.88. 

The Watch Shelf at Walmart

Name brand watches from Casio, Timex, Carriage, Armitron, and Elgin are also available.  Most are very reasonably priced.  For example, one alternative to Casio's expensive G-shock models might be this simple, but colorful, digital model for only $14.24.

A Bright Blue Casio Digital Watch

Of course, if you like the Walmart price on this inexpensive Casio watch, you'll really love this low price for the same watch on Amazon via our affiliate program link!

Another Great Watch for the Woods from Casio: The Casio Forester

The Casio Forester is a great watch for outdoor activities.  It has a rugged, nylon and velcro band, and a tough plastic case.  If damaged, the Casio Forester is cheap enough to replace.  It has military colors.  Overall, it's a great bang-around watch for weekend wear.

You can read my complete review here:

Wristwatch Review:  Casio Forester Men's Analog Watch

Hitting the trail with a Casio Forester

If you'd like to snag a Casio Forester from Amazon, simple click my affiliate link:  Casio Forester on Amazon.

Welcome to the Jungle! Casio has your watch!

Are you an outdoorsman?  Do you explore the woods, the fields, and the jungles?  The Casio Pathfinder Hunting Timer can tell you the best times to fish and phase of the moon.  Plus, it has a camouflaged band to help you blend in!  My complete review is published here:

Wristwatch Review:  Casio Pathfinder Hunting Timer Digital Watch

Here is my Casio Pathfinder and Mothra--a typical Florida-sized bug!!!

A World Class Casio for a Low Price!

I've been sporting my Casio Telememo 30 World Time Ana-Digital Watch for a few months now and I still love it.  I think the design combines modern and retro elements.  Plus it offers useful telememo and world time functions!  

Casio Telememo 30 World Time Ana-Digital Watch

You can read a complete review here:

Wristwatch Review:  Casio Telememo 30 World Time Ana-Digital Watch

To check out the Casio Telememo 30 on Amazon use our affiliate link: Casio Telememo 30 World Time Ana-Digital Watch