Bill writes:
I pay it so little attention that I thought my daily wear watch was an Armitron, but I got to looking at the Casios referenced in this post and there it was: my 16-dollar Casio daily wear watch.
With a 10-year battery and cheap as hell, it is hard to beat. Mine has been hot, cold, wet, shaken, dropped and gone everywhere I go. Plus I like the red face. It is more subtle than the dive watches that have the grooved "wreath of pretense" , so it may not be "manly" enough if you feel the need for a wreath. If you go for some "less is more" it is pretty much there.
You can also get it with a black dial (and directly from Amazon) for only $14.99:
http://www.amazon.com/CASIO-MW600F-2AV-10-Year-Battery-Sport/dp/B004D35W8A/ref=pd_sbs_watch_2/180-7679492-9311157
Posted by: David | January 07, 2013 at 06:07 PM
I have a similar Casio watch, though it is silver, with a metal band. Its blue dial is quite striking. It is a low end Casio Edifice, which also came with a ten year battery.
Posted by: Scooby214 | January 07, 2013 at 07:20 PM
I hadn't seen this darker version. That dark blue dial is more subtle than the red one, and approaches the "blacked out" theme I often see on the everyday-carry.com blog I so enjoy. Thanks for pointing it out. My other watch love is the old thin, rectangular Seiko watches with metal bands. The stainless reverse of the bands is a marvel of metalwork, often more attractive than the "front" side of the band, in my eyes. Of course, I do have a stainless fetish -- just look at my kitchen and the overflow pot shelves in the garage!
Posted by: Bill Bush | January 07, 2013 at 07:21 PM
Just a thought: this watch and the Sony radio just mentioned can be had as a combo with free shipping from Amazon, I do think. Deal?
Posted by: Bill Bush | January 07, 2013 at 07:24 PM
Looks like a good beater watch. I prefer steel myself, it's not pretentious; I don't feel 100% comfortable with things that are excessively gaudy, be they clothes, bags or watches. I'm curious to know more about this rectangular Seiko you mention - is it a vintage model?
Posted by: Ulysses | January 08, 2013 at 03:50 AM
Yes, Ulysses, I have found 4 of the vintage thin Seikos at yard sales for $2 to $5. The cost of a battery is my only additional expense. They fit well on me, as I do not have thick manly wrists. I like the smoothnesss of the bands, too. Here is a link to an Ebay example:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-SEIKO-Quartz-2Y00-5F99-Gentlemans-bracelet-watch-Excellent-/130830405265?pt=Wristwatches&hash=item1e76198e91
BE WARNED: measure your wrist and check the bracelet length before ordering. Some of them, especially from Asian countries, have really small bands that do not fit even my smaller wrists. Verify size before ordering. (Do I sound like the voice of bitter experience?) Hope this helps you find something you'll enjoy.
Posted by: Bill Bush | January 08, 2013 at 04:22 AM
When my old daily beater Timex fell apart a couple of years ago, I drove over to Walmart and picked up a Casio W-96H (http://bit.ly/WZ20DT). It also has the ten year battery. It's light and even has dual time on it which is handy when I am on the road.
When I bought it, I thought the watch would fall apart before the battery went out but the band is still perfect and there are only a couple of light scratches on it. I've had bands on $30 Timex watches start cracking within a year.
The only real wear is that the text above and below the face has just about disappeared from me washing my hands, I guess. All in all, I am very pleased.
Posted by: Jason | January 11, 2013 at 04:07 PM