Watches & Wonders 1984
It's time to get back to real business now that the yearly mutual pat on the back is over and by wearing my small ana-digi AQ-230A I'm doing my part to remind no one that a show is just a show and that you can't really predict trends just by visiting a booth.
Back in the early 80's, which you might be surprised to realize that it was actually quite a long time ago, the great divide in watchmaking was very obvious with the traditional mechanical crowd on one side and the quartz revolutionaries on the other. It was pretty clear which side will win, except that it didn't.
It didn't because LCD technology matured to the point where a display that was active at all time could be fitted in a watch case, and digital quartz watches sales took up like a rocket boosted ICBM. LCD was so cheap and convenient that it found itself practically everywhere. It was obvious where the watch industry was heading, except that it didn't.
It didn't because the majority of us felt more comfortable with reading time at a glance by judging the angles and ratio of mechanical hands. It's something that us humans are very good at, which might be a throwback to the time when this skill was useful when you were bouncing from tree's branches. Anyway, a solution was found by combining quartz with analog hands and an LCD display and thus was born the ana-digi watch. They were brilliant, they were exactly what we wanted and needed forever ever. Except that we didn't.
Well, we did - for a short time, and then we forgot about ana-digi and went back to what we were used to until cellphones obsoleted the whole concept of wearing a watch on the wrist. I may be the only one on WRUW showing an ana-digi today.
I'm a big fan of watches that are interesting because they are either unique, have interesting features, well designed or simply offer a great value for their price.
I love the 80ies vibes !! Need to get one of those!
Love the look of this peice. Looks great!!
Thankfully there's enough of us that I don't think these functional neo-relics will be going away anytime soon.
These watches are great. I would love that Casio could make a modern interpretation of this model with slightly better specs: 100m WR and a better backlight.
You use this as a dual time, right? I'm going to be doing some traveling and would rather risk losing something at this price point than a mechanical gmt.
I was just casually browsing watches on the internet… looking at this Casio, thinking “I should really get this one”.
I guess now I need to buy it :)
I used to have a Ricoh very similar to this but it was all black.
I had it for a few years not sure what happened to it but it was pretty beat up with it being my daily wear, I have searched for one online to see if I can spot the same model but haven't seen one yet.
What I do remember about it is that it has a faux painted grill but if you looked close it was actually mirror glass 😲.
You use this as a dual time, right? I'm going to be doing some traveling and would rather risk losing something at this price point than a mechanical gmt.
It has a dual time function or even triple time if you are brave enough.
The analog part is set separately and independently from the LCD, therefore you can theoretically have the hands display a time which is different from the two time zone allowed on the LCD.
But you might not want to do that because setting the analog time is a PITA and the LCD is very small. If you really want a cheap GMT for travel then my advise is to get an AE-1200 or a G-Shock M5610U.
I used to have a Ricoh very similar to this but it was all black.
I had it for a few years not sure what happened to it but it was pretty beat up with it being my daily wear, I have searched for one online to see if I can spot the same model but haven't seen one yet.
What I do remember about it is that it has a faux painted grill but if you looked close it was actually mirror glass 😲.
I remember that I was very surprised to learn that RICOH made watches because for me they were always associated with photocopiers.
These watches are great. I would love that Casio could make a modern interpretation of this model with slightly better specs: 100m WR and a better backlight.
But then it wouldn't be sold for the price of a sandwich.
I have this model in black! I love it!
It has a dual time function or even triple time if you are brave enough.
The analog part is set separately and independently from the LCD, therefore you can theoretically have the hands display a time which is different from the two time zone allowed on the LCD.
But you might not want to do that because setting the analog time is a PITA and the LCD is very small. If you really want a cheap GMT for travel then my advise is to get an AE-1200 or a G-Shock M5610U.
Ha! and thank you! Do you think I'd schlep all the way to India with just one watch? I am definitely taking an AE-1200. I'm looking for some other things to take as well, including something that might pass as a dress watch.
You use this as a dual time, right? I'm going to be doing some traveling and would rather risk losing something at this price point than a mechanical gmt.
Invicta make an inexpensive GMT with the same Swiss Ronda 505-24 movement that come in very expensive models.
I remember that I was very surprised to learn that RICOH made watches because for me they were always associated with photocopiers.
The first time I had heard of them was when my dad bought a quite expensive 35mm Ricoh camera.
Lovely, more elegant than aq 800.
You use this as a dual time, right? I'm going to be doing some traveling and would rather risk losing something at this price point than a mechanical gmt.
Check out the Casio AQ800E-7A. It keeps two time zones digitally and then you've got the analog display. I like the graph paper dial myself.