Considering the wearable technology available to us today , it ’s amazing to recall there was a time when you had to manually readjust the calendar on your digital ticker each calendar month if you require it to stay accurate . That was the situation before the Casio Casiotron QW02 get in in 1974 . It was Casio ’s first wristwatch and the first digital vigil to have a fully machinelike calendar .
Now , 50 old age later on , Casio has commemorated its loss with theCasiotron TRN-50 , a fondly project retro reissue with more modern connected tech inside . It comes at a time whensome of us are trying to keep off so many notification disrupt our day , and it ’s in all probability the coolest path to achieve this destination yet .
Why this is such a classic watch
It ’s hard to sound how big a deal the original Casiotron QW02 was from both a technical and horological point of view , but the 1970s price gives you some idea . consort to Casio , it could be up to 58,000 yen in 1974 , which was about the monthly salary a Japanese university graduate could expect at the time . For context , in 2024 in the U.S. , this isestimated to be around $ 5,700 , so more expensive than anApple Vision Pro , and up there with luxury ticker from stain like Omega and Tudor .
Today , Casio is likely better known for its G - shock absorber models or perennial deary like the F-91 , but the QW02 was where it all began , so reimagining the watch for its 50th anniversary is appropriate . It did so originally this yr with the restrict edition TRN-50 and has lately followed it up with a 2nd reading , the TRN-50 - SS , that is part of its new Sky and Sea chain of mountains . Both are hard to ascertain , having proven very popular with Casio collectors and rooter around the domain , but is the 2024 Casiotron worth seeking out ?
Casio has maintain the design true to the original , but take the inside with a lot more technical school than an automatic calendar . Most famed for us is Bluetooth , so the sentinel can be paired to the Casio Watches app on your phone , where the time and particular date can be set and altered , a function which is also performed by Casio ’s Multiband 6 radio - controlled time adaptation lineament .
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The app also include a phone finder , world time modification , reminders , and a locating - tagging characteristic . good of all , it ’s solar - powered , so there ’s no need to punch in a charger .
What’s it like to wear?
Made from stainless steel , with mineral meth over the digital display , the TRN-50 has almost on the nose the same dimensions as the original QW02 , yet it does n’t experience humble or look former on your wrist joint . Its 111 - gm weight sounds heavier than it wears , mostly because of the thin and short metallic element watch bracelet , which is attractively project and finished . I also love the matching gold trifold grip on the TRN-50 - SS with the 50th Anniversary logotype and limited engraving .
For a digital watch base on a design from 50 years ago and with obvious retro entreaty , the TRN-50 still manages to look modern and surprisingly expensive on your carpus today . The Casiotron logotype , the fluting around the face , and the distinctive bezel all spark in the sunshine , while the squared - off integrated lugs intend it should work well on all radiocarpal joint sizes . I call up it suit my 6.5 - inch wrist in the photograph really well , and I ’ve bonk wearing it .
In the seventies and former 1980s , a digital Casio was the meridian of nerveless in the schoolyard . Today , the TRN-50 ’s faithfully recreated intention is understated and desirable . It is the perfect example of a watch that appeal to collector , casual watch devotee , and a generation that grow up control digital watches evolve . It all shows just how iconic and endure the shape and the engineering inside the QW-20 really were .
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Using the TRN-50
The new version has only a few design changes , one of the most impactful of which is replacing the QW02 ’s undivided causa button with four button around the eccentric . These buttons let you cycle through the modes , start the setting fare , aerate the light , or start the Bluetooth connection . Unlike some G - electric shock models , the button are all comfortable to press , and the action feel suitably processed and expensive , too .
connect the app takes just seconds , but it ’s not maintained , so do n’t expect notification or activity tracking . The Time and Place feature is spark with a long clitoris closet , and after syncing the watch with the Casio Watches app , your locating is shown on a map , complete with longitude and latitude information , time , and day of the month . This is handy for everything from mark where you park your car to quickly saving a place you ’d like to inflict later .
It ’s not going to gainsay an Apple Watch Series 9 or even a fully join G - shock absorber like theGPR - H1000 Rangemanin terms of overall functionality , but the app helps handle the watch ’s canonical functions without having to learn how to align things like the world time on the vigil itself . It also makes change the time when you move quicker too . The Casio Watches app has improved a batch over the last year or so , and although I could do without its catalog of scout shoot up prime placement in the menu , it ’s a cool way to keep track of your collection .
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Modernizing a classic
The Casiotron was a trendsetter and set Casio on its means to becoming a titan of the watch existence . It ’s fitting that a 50th - anniversary reimagining has been made , and it ’s wonderful to see that Casio has n’t divert far from the designing when it could have so easily done so . Adding Bluetooth give it an appropriate modern twist and increases its serviceability and appeal . It ’s one of the easiest - fag watches I ’ve tried in a while thanks to the superb bracelet and overall light weight .
It ’s hard to recommend a “ basic ” digital watch to smartwatch fan when theGalaxy Watch UltraandApple Watch Ultra 2exist , but when phones withdigital detox featuresare becoming more vulgar , a vigil like the Casiotron TRN-50 fit in well with this growing trend . The great thing is that you ’re actually get a very special , beautifully made ticker steeped in history that should easily last for days and years while fend off those irritating notifications at the same metre .
I make out how the Casiotron is effortless to wear while still looking seriously coolheaded , but I ’m not a fan of how difficult it is to buy . The TRN-50 was define to 4,000 opus globally , and it sell out in a very short meter , while the Sky and Sea TRN-50 - SS model is also only being made in circumscribed numbers . You ’ll either be favourable to feel one , pay more to get one through a third party , or have to await until Casio launches another interpretation .
consider it already made two Casiotron modeling in 2024 , there ’s a probability Casio may make another before its fiftieth day of remembrance straits , and I have no job telling you to go and snap one up if you have the probability .
