30 Years of Casio F-91W
Who has never had a Casio F-91W and does not have many (good) childhood memories associated with it? Okay, if you weren’t born in the 90s or behind, it is quite possible that you are not one of those privileged ones.
I was lucky to be born at a time when it was still possible to play in the street with our friends, without our parents being worried, I was from the time that in the Christmas our parents traveled to Badajoz to buy a lot of toffees, toys and another stuff that in the end was not due to the fact that they paying a few less Escudos or Pesetas (the Euro was yet to arrive) but all the enjoyment of making that journey every year, and presented us with a lot of treats, including those “damn” caramels “El Caserio” that cling to our teeth but that we never stopped eating and cursing them again and again, with toys and games many of which have not yet had arrived in Portugal and with some innovative technology, namely the famous digital watches, which for us it was something fun and cool, I don’t remember how many I and my sister received, but there were many, some Casios and many others brands, it didn’t matter, because when the time came for the trip to Badajoz every year, our old Casio from the previous year was long gone because we knew that another came on the way and the enjoyment and excitement was the same.
The Casio F-91W, although it only appeared in the 90s, has long been gravitating the world over the shape of other Casio models, namely the Casio DW-5000C model launched in 1983 (the first Casio G-Shock) and the Casio DW-240 launched a year later, the similarities with Casio F-91W are notorious, however, it was necessary to turn the 90s in 1991 to be launched on the market, it is very likely that it is still the best selling watch in the world today and also the watch with the longest lifespan on the market, with more than 3 million units produced annually and with 30 years of existence.
But after all, what makes this watch last in time? It marked the quartz crisis, during the 70s and early 80s, which almost collapsed the entire traditional Swiss watch industry, and despite having arisen almost a decade later, it reflects the foundations of the Japanese brand Casio in the watch industry.
The Casio F-91W is all unpretentious, if there is a watch that does not evoke status and vanity it is the F-91W, it was made to provide its wearer with the most accurate time possible and that is what best offers, in its humble size 37.5mm by 33.5mm, a thickness of 8.5mm and a weight of only 21 grams, we hardly notice it on the wrist. Its black plastic case that extends through the resin strap that accompanies it makes it a casual watch that can also be used for sports but that is far from being a beautiful and elegant watch, it is especially cool with its retro look of the ’80s that makes many horology enthusiasts have one of these watches that mix among the many Rolex, Omega and other prestigious brands in their collections.
And if you’re still not convinced, don’t worry that there is much more to be said about this tiny watch, it accumulates numerous functions in addition to providing the time, stopwatch, daily alarm, auto-calendar, LED light (it’s tiny, but it does the job), water-resistance and a battery life of 7 to 10 years, that after runs out can be easily replaced by you. All of this is available at a price that varies between € 20 and € 10, currently, it is on sale on Amazon at the promotional price of € 11,50. We alert you to the fact that there are many imitations of the Casio F-91W out there, so if you find them with prices below, it is likely that you are facing a copy, if you want to be sure that it is an original there are two ways to prove it easy and quickly, first way, press the button on the right side for a few seconds to which the word “CASIo” should appear on the screen, the second way, press the three buttons at the same time and the entire screen should be filled, we leave the photos below.
But if you don’t like the rudimentary look of the Casio F-91W, there are many other options available today for this model, spanning numerous different colors that Casio renews every year.
