Digital Legend: Casio F-91W Review

The Rolex Submariner, Omega Speedmaster and Seamaster, Patek Philipe Nautilus, Cartier Tank and the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak are some of the most coveted watches in existence and undisputed trailblazing icons of horology. However, when it comes to mass-market appeal and creating incredible watches at a price just about everyone can afford, its hard to look past that titan of industry, Casio.

Casio have a titanic back catalogue of quality attainable watches for the masses alongside their many avenues of tech. Casio have spawned the indestructible G-Shock family and the cult classic AE-1200 “Royale” with its ability to track multiple time zones and house several alarms to name but a few of its features. However, one would struggle to imagine Casio watches without thinking of this one, the F-91W.

Launched in 1989, the F-91W was a replacement for the F-87W. A first effort by Casio designer Ryusuke Moriari, it has gone on to sell millions every year since inception, making it the most popular watch ever. From Former Presidents like Barack Obama, right down to a kid buying this as his first watch. With its resin case, alarm, digital display, 1/100 second chronograph stopwatch, 24 hour time, seven year battery life and claimed accuracy level of +30 seconds per month, the Casio F-91W has been seen in countless guises and versions over the years.

Now we must address the elephant in the room. Yes, F-91Ws were used frequently by terrorist organisations like al-Qaeda as a timing device for homemade explosives. In fact for sometime, anyone who wore an F-91W through airport security in the United States during the first part of the 2000s, would draw plenty attention from law enforcement authorities.

Anyway, that has long since passed and the F-91W has come out the other side, continually recognized as the significant icon of horology that it is. Best of all though, you can still pick one up for less than $60.

However, a quick geeze online will reveal F91Ws up for grabs for less than $5.These will undoubtedly be fakes however. Yes, you read that right, people are going out of their way to create fake versions of a watch that is seriously cheap to begin with.

Casio have built in feature with the F-91W which allows people to check that their watch is the real deal. Simply press down on the right timing button on the case and wait three seconds, if it reads “CASIo” you are in the clear and your F-91W is genuine.

When I was in the market for a beater watch, one that would take abuse and keep on ticking, I did consider a G-Shock of some description but thought it might be too cumbersome on my wrist, so an F-91W it had to be, one which I managed to bag from the Air New Zealand Airpoints store. Those trips to Mitre 10 really paid off!

When you have the F-91W on the wrist, its hard to imagine you are wearing a watch at all. Weighing in at 21 grams, its feather light and its 34.5mm case size means it will fit every wrist, from children to adults. The strap is also easy to to adjust and fits snugly all the way around.

It may say Water Resist, but Casio say the F-91W is really only suitable for water splashing and wearing in the rain. However, I do hear stories of people who have gone swimming with theirs and it still works fine.

The stopwatch is easy to use. I even tried to stop it and start it as quickly as possible, so far my record is 13 milliseconds. The alarm is a doddle to use too and emits the classic monophonic beep when it goes off. I have yet to actually use it as an alarm as I have a bedside clock for that, but my F-91W has become my trusty work companion. It has already picked up some grime which has made a home in the hard to reach places of its strap, but this certainly no bugbear.

My only slight bugbear with the F-91W, and its not a biggie all things considered, is its back light. A single tiny green LED bulb situated on the right of that case only manages to light a fraction of the screen, revealing the hour of time, but keeping you in the dark (quite literally) as to the res of the watches information. Then again, while it does give off some classic late eighties/early nineties vibes, some have had brighter LEDs fitted to their F-91Ws, something which you can easily do if it bothers you that much.

That aside, I just love my F-91W. I hope to keep this as part of the collection for many years to come, although as Tarmac’s own Matthew D’Souza pointed out when I informed him of my purchase, “It will probably outlast you.” That itself is a testament to the iconic status and longevity of a classic watch design that the Casio F-91W certainly is.

The F-91W is certainly a keeper. Plus, if it does break, however highly unlikely, I will have no qualms about spending another $40 to $50 and replacing it with another.