In the golden days of the 90’s, Casio watches were all the rage among elementary school kids. One watch towered above the rest, though: the mighty F-91W. Its slim profile, along with its everlasting battery life made it a mandatory element of the everyday-carry for lots of people back then. Of course, this was before the dark times (before the smartwatch), but I digress.
Everybody and their dog had an F-91 in the fourth grade, and I wasn’t about to be left out. A couple of months later, I stumbled upon a very similar watch, just a little bit thicker and a tad more sober. Little did I know that the “Illuminator” tag beneath the display would kickstart my still present obsession with lume and night visibility.
F-105W
Even at its diminutive size, the well-respected F-105 commanded a hefty presence on my puny wrist. The rubber strap seemed to circle my wrist with room to spare, to the point that I even considered punching an extra hole in the strap. But to be perfectly honest, I couldn’t care less. At the press of a button, I could marvel at the glorious blueish green light that seemed to pour out of the tiny display, a technology that put the laughable green LED of the F-91 to shame. It came at a cost, though: some contrast was lost due to the luminescent coating beneath the liquid display, making viewing the display at moderately shallow angles quite challenging. A little price to pay, in my opinion, to enable this much superior lighting solution.
As for the rest of the buttons on the watch, they functioned the same as the ones on the F-91. I could time events up to 60 hours, set a daily alarm for 6:30 am, and cram the screen with all possible indicators by simultaneously pressing all three buttons.
I eventually replaced my trusty F-105 with an even more awesome watch, but first, let’s take a quick look at its grown-up counterpart, the A168.
A168
In a nutshell, the A168 is nothing more than a F-105 in adult clothing, namely, a beautiful chrome-plated resin exterior that better compliments everyday fashion. Other than the handsome red/blue/yellow color scheme on the dial, the inner components are exactly identical to the ones in the F-105, down to the gorgeous blueish green luminescence. I acquired mine in 2015, and religiously wore it on weekends until last year, when the CR2016 battery inside gave the ghost. An attempt at reviving the watch resulted in tragedy, as the watch didn’t survive its first trip to the pool. I’m fairly sure its inner sealing became compromised as the battery was replaced. Always missed, never forgotten, I set about purchasing another watch.
Good night, sweet prince.
Quick detour: another F-105
At some point in 2018, I decided to order an F-105 online so I could dress down on weekends (a legitimate concern for every watch nerd and a reason as good as any to justify a purchase). I felt a rush of nostalgia as soon as I strapped it on my wrist, but the feeling didn’t last long, as a couple of weeks later the watch surreptitiously disappeared from my nightstand only to reappear on my beloved wife’s drawer the next day. Well, it was good while it lasted, and to her credit, I will say that she pulls it off much better than I do, even in formal wear.
CMD-30
Let’s travel back to 1999. I can’t quite remember what happened to my first F-105, but I know that in the fifth grade, I fell in love with another Casio. The amazing CMD-40 seemed downright magical at the time. All classrooms back then were equipped with a TV, and a dear classmate of mine used to prank the teachers with his wrist remote controller. My eyes glistened with greed, and as soon as I got the chance, I managed to get a CMD-30 as a gift from my parents. (I’m aware that I sound like a spoiled brat, and maybe I was, but I also was very polite and got really good grades). My watch wasn’t as pretty as the CMD-40, but it was much more comfortable in the wrist. A huge downside, at least for me, was that this watch had no luminescence whatsoever, but it more than made up for it with the coolness of having absolute command over every TV and VCR that came my way. I played countless pranks on relatives and strangers alike, and to this day, I still get a kick out of increasing the volume on my LG TV. Yes, that’s right, IR technology has been a solved problem since the 20th century, so I still get the chance to play like a little kid even today.
A700W
After laying my trusty A168 to rest, I set my sights on the A700. I hesitated for some weeks, mainly due to the lighting technology. It seems that “Illuminator” backlighting is a thing of the past, as more recent Casio models are sporting LED lighting, but make no mistake, this isn’t the LED of 30 years ago. Current LED technology is almost equivalent to the Illuminator solution of the past, while keeping maximum contrast in the display. I even prefer this orange glow over the blueish green of the A168, as it helps to preserve night vision.
The dial is absolutely gorgeous. Its color scheme screams 80’s, but in a good way. It’s simultaneously playful and serious. Its quartz movement has become a godsend during my weekend gigs, riddled as they are with audio cables and strong magnetic fields.
However, I’m not so sure about the thinness. On one hand, the watch all but disappears on your wrist. It’s really that light and thin. On the other hand, I feel it’s still missing something, an X-factor that the F-series of the past had in spades. Could it be the advertised battery life, slashed in half due to its thinness? To be fair, though, the A700 is still quite new. Only time will make an icon of it as its forefathers, or doom it to be forgotten like countless other watches.
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