Cheap Casio Analogue Watch

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Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,151
1,544
Cumbria
I was buying something in my local argos at the weekend and while waiting for it to come up I pottered around filling in time. I spotted a casio analogue watch with resin strap that TBH looked good. It was only £14.95. That's only a couple of quid more than terrorists favourite basic digital casio.

In fact there were two that price. One had a better casio divers style resin strap with day/ date too. I think they both would make a good, work watch to save my "good" seiko watch (office based with manufacturing role so not actually doing the work;)).

What will they be like, reliable or completely disposable?
 

Mesquite

It is what it is.
Mar 5, 2008
27,801
2,892
62
~Hemel Hempstead~
Reading the some of the reviews of the divers style watch most folks seem have a good opinion of it.

The battery can be swapped out for a replacement and you can also replace the strap as well so for the money it ought to do you well as a beater watch
 

Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,151
1,544
Cumbria
The strap I called divers style because it's that resin strap with the springy bits near where it attaches to the watch body. Not a full divers watch. I had a post uni placement with a company that bought me a casio divers digital watch 200m capability whatever that actually means. Just found it again and got given a £35 replacement battery fitting with matching oe pressure leakage levels. The same price as the watch when I got it. Now costs £99. Didn't bother with the battery.

Watch 1

Watch 2
 

Mesquite

It is what it is.
Mar 5, 2008
27,801
2,892
62
~Hemel Hempstead~
How reliable are cheap casio analogue watches?

Reliable in timekeeping or standing up to general wear and tear?

A quick google search shows most casio quartz watches will be accuarate to within 30 seconds or so a month which to be honest is plenty accurate for normal day to day life
 

Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,151
1,544
Cumbria
I don't tend to break watch parts. I do however find watch mechanisms fail on me.

I've not got the money for real watch quality. My record purchase was a £360 seiko bought for £165 at a closing down sale. It lasted just over a year. Lost the receipt and the retailer no longer existed (elderly watch repairer had retired). I went through a stage of decent watches failing on me. The only watches to last were a casio digital and my very first watch from when I was 10 years old, a cheap sekonda.

It's why I'm thinking of these cheapo watches. If they're reasonable in terms of losing time at an acceptable rate and are reliable in terms of not packing in/ suddenly losing minutes every day. Well then they're a good buy at £15.
 

John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,106
2,833
66
Pembrokeshire
I used a cheap Casio all through my expedition leading and canoe coaching years - I only broke one and that was the bail for the watch strap... it still works as a watch...
 

MikeLA

Full Member
May 17, 2011
1,955
319
Northumberland
Anybody in the armed forces will buy a cheap Casio watch and they will last everything they do.

I bought a similar priced Casio £10 from Argos for holiday not wanting an expensive watch to be lost, stolen or covered in sun cream. best thing it has a 10 year battery life. I don’t care what people think of it. It was worth every penny.
 

oldtimer

Full Member
Sep 27, 2005
3,182
1,800
82
Oxfordshire and Pyrenees-Orientales, France
I've had a Casio diver's watch for over12 years. I wear it every day swim, scramble and treat it roughly. Battery fitted and re-read every couple of years. Replaced the strap just before it fell apart. It is accurate. Worth every penny of the £35 I paid for it. Far better than the eco-drive it replaced.I
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
I wore a Casio watch for years. I'm pretty sure I didn't even spend a tenner on it. It kept time, it worked day in day out, dig in dig out, sun, rain, hail, bog, mud et al, and it still works :)

Workhorses, they really are, and worth every penny.

M
 

Robbi

Full Member
Mar 1, 2009
10,226
1,026
northern ireland
I bought these two yesterday, couldn't resist at these prices


 

Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,151
1,544
Cumbria
I bought these two yesterday, couldn't resist at these prices


Those were the two I looked at. Linked to upthread as watch 1 and 2 in same order. Except the white face no costing £14.99 so a little cheaper.

Does the first one have a unidirectional, rotating bezel? It says rotating on argos website but not whether it only turns one way.

The £8.99 basic digital casio is known as the terrorists favourite watch. Known for being the trigger timer on more Improvised explosives than any other type. So much so that aiui American and allied armed forces would detain locals wearing them, suspecting they're terrorists. Or so I once read in an article.
 

Brizzlebush

Explorer
Feb 9, 2019
581
397
Bristol
I bought an F91-W1 from e-bay recently. My old one finally died after 13 years (!) and a new (non-casio) strap.

I loved it, a proper beater watch. Yes, the backlight is pretty rubbish. But, it went swimming, snorkeling, surfing, all the places it's not supposed to, and just kept going.

Fast forward to the £3.89 E-bay version (I knew it was too good to be true!) and it lasted about 30 secs in the pool. Completely crapped out.

I think it must have been a fake. Or they've stopped making them like they used to? But beware people.

Anyway, the question now is do I get the MRW 200h or a "full price" F91? I've heard the lume isn't great on the MRW 200, if anyone could let me know?
 

Robbi

Full Member
Mar 1, 2009
10,226
1,026
northern ireland
Those were the two I looked at. Linked to upthread as watch 1 and 2 in same order. Except the white face no costing £14.99 so a little cheaper.

Does the first one have a unidirectional, rotating bezel? It says rotating on argos website but not whether it only turns one way.

The £8.99 basic digital casio is known as the terrorists favourite watch. Known for being the trigger timer on more Improvised explosives than any other type. So much so that aiui American and allied armed forces would detain locals wearing them, suspecting they're terrorists. Or so I once read in an article.


yes it does.
 

Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,151
1,544
Cumbria
That watch isn't diver rated even though the face has 200m water resistance on it. No good reason for such a bezel but I've had a watch with one before and they're actually useful for timing things with a basic analogue watch.
 

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