Twenty Dollar Time Machine

A month or so ago, I found out that Timex had reissued their signature digital watch the Ironman 8 Lap. If you’re not familiar, the Ironman set off a revolution in watches; with automotive styling (and even automotive paint) and a distinctive logo on the funky ribbed band, it was the hot watch for the late 80s and early 90s. The $45 dollar Ironman was so big in fact, that Bill Clinton wore one to his inauguration, as well as David Duchovny’s character Fox Mulder on the X-Files.

Unfortunately for me, I was a little late to the party. The reissue has been sold out unless you want to pay twice the retail cost on secondary sites like Ebay. They are still available through Timex’s Japanese site, but shipping to the US has been suspended due to the tariffs. Bummer.

After about three weeks of refreshing the Amazon link a half dozen times per day, I couldn’t take it anymore and did the next best thing – I bought a Casio F-91W.

Introduced in 1989, the F-91W was the pinnacle of simplistic 80s watches. A quality quartz movement wrapped in a resin case, it didn’t do anything particularly special. It had an alarm and a stopwatch function, and it told the time and date. And that’s about it. A small reed bulb tucked in the corner might give you enough illumination to take an educated guess on a really dark night. It was new but outdated all at the same time, something an MIT graduate in black socks would choose to wear.

I’ve owned a lot of watches over the years, including a previous F-91W and a couple knockoffs. I bought into the Timex Indiglo line in the mid 90s and never looked back. Everything else seemed like a step up from the Casio, and to a point that’s true; a little heft, bigger face, a leather band, all things that signify quality in a time piece.

What I lost along the line, what I forgot, is how damn comfortable the Casio is to wear. The cheap resin band doesn’t dig, doesn’t pull – it warms to body temperature and feels like a part of you. People usually throw out the line that, “you forget you’re even wearing it,” but that’s not accurate. More that it feels incredibly natural to wear it. You don’t forget it, you accept it.

No gimmicks, no fancy logo. It’s just the #1 selling watch in the world. Like the Ironman, it’s been worn by at least one President, but also a pretty famous terrorist.  So, we’ll have to call the celebrity factor a wash. The only real change is an upgrade to an LED light instead of the reed bulb, a small concession in 2025.

And while the Ironman 8 Lap reissue would have set you back twice it’s retail cost in 1986, the Casio is still selling for the same $20 that it traded hands for more than thirty five years ago. To me it’s priceless. I think I was around nine years old when I got my first one and having another puts me right back into that time – the colors, the textures, the simplicity that the Casio represents. A time of cheap Japanese cars, cassette tapes and member’s only jackets.  Magic.

“Do you have the time?”