The Journey – Part 5: There Is Always a Place for Casio
There is always a place for Casio.
It’s the brand everyone knows — makers of watches that almost all of us have owned at some point. Whether it’s the ever-affordable F-91W that many of us were given at school, the rugged G-Shocks, or the sporty Edifice line, Casio really does it all. Few brands can claim to sit comfortably in a school bag, a diving log, and a jewellery box all at once, and Casio manages it without ever feeling like it’s stretched itself too thin.
The F-91W is probably the best example of that reach. Launched all the way back in 1989, it hasn’t changed its design since, and it’s now reckoned to be the best-selling watch of all time, with well over 100 million units sold. A seven-year battery life, a stopwatch, an alarm, and absolutely nothing else — it’s a watch that succeeds by refusing to try too hard, and there’s something genuinely admirable in that kind of restraint. The G-Shock line has an equally good story behind it: it exists because a Casio designer named Kikuo Ibe dropped and broke his own watch one day, decided that was unacceptable, and set out to build one that simply wouldn’t break — testing prototypes by throwing them out of a third-floor window until the shock-absorbing structure finally held up. That single-line pitch, “a durable watch that would not break even if dropped,” became one of the most successful watch lines in history.
Throughout my early collecting journey, Casio watches formed a core part of it. They came in all shapes and sizes: from more dressy options like the MTP-1370D, to practical pieces like the A500W, and even more unique designs like the “ode to Apple Watch” MTP-M305, complete with its moonphase complication. That last one still makes me smile — a resolutely analogue, resolutely Casio watch, wearing a smartwatch’s silhouette and adding a genuinely charming moonphase to the joke.
Casio quickly became my way of exploring different styles without spending a fortune — figuring out what I liked and, just as importantly, what I didn’t. A dress watch here, a field watch there, something a bit weirder just to see how it felt on the wrist. It’s a low-stakes way to work out your own taste, and Casio’s range is broad enough that you can genuinely cover most of the bases a much more expensive collection would need to.
“The same rationale as AliExpress, I hear you say.” And yes, in a way, that’s true. My early collecting days did lean towards quantity over quality. However, with Casio, quality was never really in question. Of the seven or eight I’ve owned, there hasn’t been a single fault or issue — even at such low price points. And although I’ve moved a number of them on, I know more will find their way back into the collection. That’s really the difference between Casio and the AliExpress comparison: with Casio, you’re never gambling on reliability, only on whether a particular design speaks to you.
I’ve talked at length about the Duro as the perfect swimming or holiday watch, and the Forester as the ideal camping or festival companion — and that’s the beauty of Casio. Yes, they produce watches at higher price points, like the EFK100 Automatic, proving they can step into proper mechanical watchmaking when they want to, but they also make incredibly solid pieces well below that — some even under £25. It’s a rare brand that can comfortably sit at both ends of that spectrum without either end feeling like an afterthought.
Casio’s In my collection
Casio Duro (MDV 106)
Casio EFK-100
Casio MTD-130D
Casio MRW-230h
Casio Forester (FT500WC)
What’s kept Casio genuinely interesting to me, even now, is that it hasn’t settled into just coasting on the F-91W and G-Shock’s fame. The brand keeps pushing into new territory. The MTP-E740, for instance, takes a translucent dial — a trick borrowed from Seiko’s 1970s Time Sonar — and lets you see the day and date wheels turning underneath, turning what’s normally a hidden mechanical detail into the whole visual point of the watch, all for around £85. The G-Shock line is doing something similarly bold with the GAC-2500: a fully analog G-Shock with a Nautilus-inspired cushion case that enthusiasts have already nicknamed the “CasioNaut,” complete with a magnetic hand mount that lets the hands shift slightly under impact rather than being rigidly fixed. And on the mechanical side, the Edifice EFK-200 shows Casio isn’t just dabbling in automatics as a one-off — it’s the brand’s second generation of in-house automatic Edifice watches, running a Miyota 8215 movement behind a sapphire crystal and a proper exhibition caseback, at prices that still undercut most of the competition.
Upcoming or new Releases (Photos credited to Casio.com)
MTP-E740-1AV
GAC-2500
MTP-E740-2A1V
MTP-E735AR-7AV
And it’s not just design experimentation, either — Casio is quietly branching into new technology too. The F-B100W-1A takes the exact silhouette of the beloved F-91W and adds Bluetooth connectivity and a built-in step counter, complete with an hourly activity histogram and a companion phone app, all while keeping the classic retro look completely intact. It’s a genuinely clever way to bring a 1989 design into 2026 without losing what made it special in the first place.
It’s that willingness to keep experimenting — while never losing the reliability that got Casio into so many collections in the first place, mine included — that convinces me the brand isn’t just resting on nostalgia.There is always a place for Casio.
And it’s those affordable, dependable watches I know I’ll return to. When I need something for a music festival, or a watch I don’t have to worry about on holiday, I already know exactly where I’ll look first. There’s a certain peace of mind in owning a watch you genuinely don’t have to think about — no worrying about knocking it, getting it wet, or losing it somewhere it shouldn’t be.
Casio will always have a place.