Casio Retro Watches

Once upon a time, watches were big clunky things that ticked. Most required daily attention or they'd grind to an awkward mechanical halt. Things changed forever with the arrival of mysterious and expensive digital watches in the early 1970s. These nifty gadgets had miniscule red LED displays that required you to poke a little button before offering up the time.

The digital watch became a runaway phenomenon in the early 1980s with the emergence of affordable LCD displays that always showed you the time, whether you wanted to see it or not. I was stunned to discover that Casio offers a Casual Classic line of watches harkening back to the angular days of the early 1980s. Most are pretty basic -- simple retro silver or black, without fancy Sport doodads or complicated extras. You get the time, a calendar, maybe an alarm, and a little light for reading the display in dark caves or cupboards. Prices start at an almost silly $7.95.

Casio Casual Classic Watches (Casio USA Inc.)