I’ve been going through a bit of a resurgence in my love of watches over the last six months or so and starting to think about how I can share one of my other passions on my blog. My first post is around finding that one watch that is both minimal and functional. After looking through my collection I settled on the Casio F-91w as my favourite minimal watch.

It’s got everything I need (date and stopwatch) and is light and small enough that I don’t even notice I’m wearing it.

The only thing I miss is being able to see the time at the same time as running the stopwatch.

At less than £20 this is the perfect watch to buy if you want to get away from a smart watch or just start wearing a watch again.

One of the great things about Casio is that at less than £20 there’s a chance to made it your own through some simple modding.

I’ve been wanting to mod my AE1200 for a while so whilst I had 30 mins to spare I decided to have a go.

All I used was a small screwdriver, a sharpie, spudger, some nail varnish remover and a cotton bud.

First thing I did was to remove the white text from the case above and below the display, with a cotton bud and nail varnish remover and it came off pretty simply.

I then had to take the watch apart to get at the front template with all of the text on. It’s just 4 screws holding the back on, don’t forget to keep the water seal safe when it comes off.

Use the spudger to take out the unit and the front plate will come out easily.

I tried nail varnish remover again on the text I wanted to get rid of but it didn’t work so I removed it with a sharpie.

After I was done I simply reversed the process and got it all back together.

I’m pretty pleased with my first mod on the AE1200.

You can see where it started off in my review.

Had to pick up one of my favourite watches in one of my favourite colours. Currently £9.99. (On sale because it’s been discontinued).

I’ve been using the Casio G-Shock step tracker for a good few weeks now and feel like I’m now in a position to share some opinions on using it.

Design and comfort

I feel that with G-Shock you either love or hate them, for me Initkwlly I wasn’t sure. It’s chunky but not uncomfortable when bending your wrist. If like me you tend to wear beads or wrist bands too then the buttons are stiff enough to also not be activated, something that happens with most of my other digital watches.

The design has grown on me though and I’m now really into this look, also glad I got the sand colour. As much as I like bright colours the bright neon version might have been tough to pull off.

The strap is thicker than your typical Casio Resin and feels like a different material. Soft but fairly rigid. I find it comfortable but does get a little clammy on walks or when it’s hot. I found myself loosening it a few times over the day to keep it comfy.

Overall it’s not as comfortable (for me) as something like an F-91w.

Legibility

Here’s where the experience falls down for me. Having both an analogue and digital display is nice but I find the digital one almost useless. With the reverse LCD it’s hard (almost impossible) for me to see that display without turning on the backlight. It’s a pain when you need to set a timer as it’s on this smaller display. It’s also impossible to see in bright daylight. In fact it might be reason I never wear this watch again to be honest. Coming from an easy to read F-91w where I can quickly glance and see the info I want I struggle to do the same with this one.

If like me you wear glasses or struggle generally with smaller fonts or display colour then check it out in store first.

The backlight is bright and very good.

Step tracking and Bluetooth

It’s got Bluetooth on board and uses this connection to sync accelerometer data to your phone. It’s basic but work’s reliably.

The app experience is pretty bare bones but gives you an overview of how active (in my case inactive) you’ve been.

You can view steps today or get a more in depth look over the weeks or months. It’ll also use your phone location services to show on a map, I work from home so not much here for me.

It doesn’t hook into Apple Health at all and if you’re used to an Apple Watch then it’ll seem a bit rubbish.

For me though it’s been quite nice going back to basics.

It does have functionality around setting timers if your into interval training but as someone just walking then it may as well not be there.

Value for money

I picked mine up at an outlet mall so the retail was lower, I paid £70. Retail is around £100 at the time of writing, which I feel is a little high. £50-£80 seems about right here. I think I’ll carry on using it intermittently but my trusty F-91w is the watch I gravitate towards still on a daily basis.

If you’re looking at a non fussy way to track your activity levels then I can’t recommend it highly enough though. It’ll take a beating, comfortable and sync setup (follow the instructions!) is pretty straightforward. Just make sure you don’t pay more than £80 for one.

The Casio F-91w is still my go to no fuss watch, there’s a lot to love and at £20 or less then it’s a watch most people should have in their collection.

As I’ve said before I’ve worn some form of this watch since the 80’s and it continues to be one of the lightest and most comfortable watches I own.

There’s only two downsides

1. The light is dreadful but remember the cost here. It hardly lights up and in the middle of the night I find I can only see the hour element.
2. When you are using the stop watch you can't see that time. Coming from an Apple Watch this is the one thing that I miss. I set a lot of timers and not being able to see the time when running one is a little frustrating.

In terms of how it’s held up, few dings and scratches but great.

I can still read the face ok and the buttons all work great.

The straps usually fall apart after a few years but mines fine, bear in mind until recently I haven’t worn it every single day and night.

I’m not sure how much longer I’ll wear this one but that’s just because I want an orange or yellow variant but there’s only two areas the be prepared for if I keep on using this one - battery change and a new strap (which may turn out being more expensive than the watch).

At £20 or less this is the only watch to buy if you’re after something to begin your watch collection with or want to take a break from a smart watch like me.

I’ve been wearing Casio’s since the 80’s and after testing out the really great G-SHOCK 800 with it’s Bluetooth and step tracking I’m going back to the F91.

It’s light, has a stop watch, backlight and most importantly it’s simple. I got a bit frustrated syncing step data to the Casio app and in my bid to be more at ease with my technology I gave up on it and going back to what might be my favourite watch of all time - well, with my budget 😀.

This announcement looks pretty interesting from Casio. I’m enjoying my step tracker G-SHOCK but it seems Casio are joining the smart watch crowd. Not for me I don’t think as I’m keeping it simple but I’d be tempted to give it a test.

12 month battery for step tracking, 14 hours for heart rate and GPS.

No UK retail price but quick conversion seems to work out around £380.

I’ll see if I can pick one up closer to the time.

I’m a couple of days in with the G-SHOCK 800 and it’s been a nice step back from something too smart.

I’m taking stock of the tech around me and taking a break from Apple Watch was top of my list. I’ve been struggling with a few issues lately and the Apple Watch has made things worse but I didn’t want to stop wearing a watch. I’ve been into watches as long as I can remember and whilst I’ve been wearing old school Casio and automatics lately I looked into Casio options for something that could keep me honest with my activity.

The 800 series had an accelerometer on board to monitor steps, something that I wanted. A more basic way to tracking felt a bit less heavy handed.

It’s also a G-SHOCK so super durable and the soft strap is comfortable.

I’m still getting to grips with the iOS app but it works fairly well but doesn’t sync with Apple Health, a bit of a bummer.

Overall for £80 I’m really pleased so far and I’ll have a full review in the coming weeks.

If you’ve been following along I’m taking a step back from the Apple Watch, something I’m not ready to go into just yet but it’s let me get back into watches. I’ve always been fascinated by watches and have a nostalgic love for Casio so I picked up the AE1200 for £24.

It’s retro look reminds of something that might see in films such as Aliens and Blade Runner and I love it. At less than £25 it’s also a bargain. I’ve been wearing the F-91w a lot but still find it a little small sometimes, especially with my ageing eyes.

I mean it when I say it’s the only digital watch you’ll need though. It has a good backlight, has nice large numerics, a timer and stop watch. The main selling point is as a world timer but I work for the UK arm of the company and the majority of my friends are UK based so have little use for it to be honest. Having this though doesn’t add any complication to using it day to day, it doesn’t get in the way.

You’ll see from looking at it (especially side on) that it bears some resemblance to a G-Shock but aside from water resistance it won’t be as durable. This is where my two negatives come into play. The screen is plastic (what else would I expect at less than £30) so it’s scratched up. Secondly the buttons aren’t recessed so they get hit accidentally, quite a lot. If you wear any sort of bracelet alongside then you’ll be changing time zones multiple times a day.

I’d love to see a new model with recessed buttons and a bit of a tougher screen, I’d happily pay double for it. A white version would look great too, some free tips for you there Casio.

For less than a video game you get yourself a great daily wear watch that has a lot of functionality that you’ll use throughout your day. It’s resin strap is comfortable as most Casio are and the light is outstanding.

If you’re after a digital then this is the place to start looking.

I’ve discovered what might be my favourite watch straps that are available on my traditional watches and the Apple Watch. Archer straps can be found on Amazon pretty cheaply with lots of options and I’ve now used both the canvas and silicone versions and am impressed by ease of of installation and quality.

They have a quick release pin that is accessed via a little switch on the back of the strap as you can see here on the image above.

I’ve used the 20mm on my Bulova Moon Watch but also intend to get the Apple Watch version and do some more testing.

They come in small packaging but Amazon doesn’t do a good job of packing them efficiently.

Yes that’s the box it came in!

Just got through an Archer canvas strap and I think it looks great.

I’ve not tried a NATO before so I picked up a Sniper Bay on Amazon for £14 and tried it on a Citizen.

I went for the ‘bond’ grey and blue colour. This one comes with the strap and the tools you need.

When you use a nato you have to keep the watch band pins in place to loop the strap through.

You can see the way I’ve looped it through above.

I think it looks good on this body and it’s definitely a comfortable band to wear.

I’ve become fascinated with watches again after taking a break from my Apple Watch. In particular anything to do with space travel at the moment. One of my grail watches is an Omega Speedmaster but this new Bulova Lunar Pilot has scratched that itch and I thought I’d share some pictures of the unboxing.

It comes in a great looking case containing an extra nato style strap with Apollo 15 mission date details, a strap removal tool and all of the relevant documentation.

I’ll post up a review soon but straight off I’m loving the look of this watch. For a sub £450 watch this is some of the best build quality I’ve seen at this price level.

On the back is a nice touch adding mission details of when the watch was used, more on this in the review.

Two things I’m into are space and watches and more recently I’ve gotten into researching watches that have ended up in space or on the moon. The most obvious watch that comes to mind is my dream watch to own, the Omega Speedmaster but at over £3000 it’s a little out of my price range for now. The good news is that one of favourite watch brands has ended up in space, lots of times - Casio.

The g-shock 5600 series had been worn into space multiple times and is a great everyday watch.

The model I picked up to review was the 5610, tough solar for £74. It looks big when you see images but in reality it’s not that big on the wrist so first off don’t be put off straight away.

This model has a couple of cool additions on top of the 5600, solar powered and the ability to update itself via atomic timekeeping.

On using it for a week here are some of the takeaways

• The buttons are recessed so can't be hit accidentally
• The strap is typical Casio resin and super comfortable
• It's light enough to forget you're wearing it
• The illumination is the best I've used on a watch
• It'll take a beating

This has to be the best value for money in terms of having a daily watch you can wear anywhere.

If you’re looking for an everyday watch with a great history then the g-shock is hard to beat, especially if you’re into space. Until I save enough for an Omega, this is my number one space watch.

I’ve been wearing my trust Casio F-91w on and off for a few weeks now but been looking over at the G-Shock wondering what I’m missing. I don’t need to go into the background of these tough watches but as a fan of space travel it’s the only “space watch” I can afford, yes it’s certified for space travel. The Omega Speedmaster isn’t within my reach anytime soon but this astronaut approved Casio was.

First off the time and illumination is spot on. Easy to read and lights up the entire screen, something the much cheaper F-91w struggles with. I can see the time clearly at any angle and checking the time in the middle of the night is easy.

The case is sturdy but not too big but the buttons are harder to press.

The strap is made of the familiar Casio resin, which I find to be great. Doesn’t get clammy in the summer and is light. The strap on the 5610 is thicker and more rigid than the F-91w so bear that I’m mind. I find the F-91w disappears when I’m wearing it, the 5610 not so much.

If you’re after a hard wearing digital then you can’t go far wrong with the 5610 but for me it ended up being a little too big for my tastes and I went back to wearing my F-91w.

It’s hard to have grown up in the 80’s and not have a love for Casio watches. It’s what most of us would have been using when you had your first proper watch. I’ve still got my Master of the Universe and Star Wars watches I had when I was a kid but as soon as I got a little bit older Casio was my jam. Back in the 80’s I had an F-15, which I’ve lost over the years but the F-91w (released in 1991) became my go to watch. This also got lost but fortunately to this day Casio still manufactures them.

When I was looking at a break from my Apple Watch it was the obvious choice for me. At less than £15 it’s a no brainer if you want a classic.

I’ve also flirted with a G-Shock but I always come back to the F-91w. It’s so light and comfortable you forget you’re wearing it. I wear it pretty much 24x7 and even at this price point it’s durable. The screen will scratch being plastic but the body holds up surprisingly well.

The time and date are easy to see and all the buttons are logically laid out.

The only downsides of this watch are the strap durability and the light. The watch will easily outlast the strap, which tends to crack over time and at this price point it’s often cheaper to get a new watch rather than strap, which isn’t great for the environment. Then the watch light only illuminates from the left hand side making the minutes harder to see.

Otherwise this is one of the best watches ever made.

Be careful though and make sure you buy from a reputable store, there’s lots of fakes around. Yes it’s hard to believe but there are lots out there, this watch truly is an icon so I guess even at a low price point there’s money to be made from forgeries.

I’m no big watch collector (I wish I had the disposable income to be one) but everyone should have one of these in their collection.