My first time online shopping was in elementary school browsing the Nixon website for minimal analog watches in funky colours. I don't remember if I got mine before or after that, but it had a monochromatic deep lavender-greyish case with raspberry coloured accents on the dial. I still have it, but the battery is dead and the strap is torn. I also still have my G-Shock, which was gifted to me after my uncle caught wind of my interest in watches. I don't think I liked it at first but it grew on me. The black and gold case and dial were gaudy and it was way too big for my wrist, but the seconds indicator was cool and G-Shocks were popular at the time. My sister even wore it occasionally, including once while painting walls, speckling it with white. I was mad at first but it honestly looked a lot cooler that way; they were like little stars against the night sky. It too has a dead battery, and I still think it is too big so it'll probably stay that way.
Those were my first two memorable watches. Between then and now I've gone through a handful more, and my passion for watches is now firmly established.
The concept of defaults really interests me. For example the default car being a Honda Civic or the default pen being the BIC Round Stic. They're easy choices that you can trust without much thought, are extremely accessible, and well documented/discussed. Often I see defaults as a starting point from which specialization can let you build exactly what you want. To me the F91W is the default watch, and the modifications I bought it with from n-o-d-e.net make it nearly perfect to me. The LCD screen is inverted so it has a green-on-black display, and the infamously feeble green LED is swapped out for a stronger white one. It also has a programmable NFC tag in it, which is a neat little trick that I have never used aside from testing it out. n-o-d-e also briefly made a version with a slot for holding a microSD card on the back of the watch, which I also would have no use for but find really, really cool. It's amazing the lengths people have taken the F91W to. I hope to learn more about them someday.
The stock strap on my F91W partially ripped while playing soccer. I bought a nylon one to replace it with. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but I do know that I like seeing the wear on the rest of the watch. In the same way people appreciate the patina on vintage tropical dials, I see perseverance in the scratches on the soft acrylic crystal and the chips in the resin case; they encourage me to wear it no matter what I'm doing.
If the F91W is the default watch, the MQ24-7B is the analog equivalent. Plain black and white, sans-serif numerals, simple stick hands, straight resin band, at an undeniably reasonable price. If you asked someone to draw a watch with no further instructions, this is probably what they'd picture.
This watch still feels pristine to me. It is obviously casual, but compared to the F91W it's practically a dress watch. It's also sized like a vintage dress watch, at only 35mm in diameter and about 8mm thick. In a way I feel like it's spoiled me, and I'm worried about getting a mechanical watch lest I'm unable to get used to the larger size. In high school I was adamant that digital watches were the way to go. Quicker to read, more functions, and a cute retro look. I bought the MQ24 to see if I could like analog, and if there was any practical purpose to it. While they're marginal, I think there are benefits:
TomasWatchReviews rates budget watches on his website. Of the many they've tried, there are only four in their "GOD" tier. All are Casio, and two of them are the watches I talk about here. I especially like his review of the MQ24.
I hear a lot about people associating their watches with certain events or times in their life. I have a pretty shit memory so it's hard to place them with moments, but I'm starting to get where this comes from. I graduated recently. I spent all of my last semester with one of these two Casio's on my left wrist. I’ve travelled, worked and rested extensively accompanied by them. I don’t know if I care about this but I'm starting to think I should. But maybe it's better not to get attached.
I visited the UK recently. I wore my F91W. I met my 2 year old niece for the first time and let her play with it. She liked the beeping sound it could make and wore it as jewelry for a bit. Her brother was 12, and I bought him an F91W to remember me by. He didn't seem incredibly excited by it, but I hope he wears it and thinks of me once in a while. The most enduring memory might be the time I spent with my 6 year old nephew. He was constantly full of energy and looking for something to do. I made up a game for him where we would start the F91W's stopwatch and try to stop it exactly at 10 seconds and 0 milliseconds. In our days together we probably played it for hours, and every time one of us was successful we were as excited as the last. I wanted to get him a watch too but didn't quite get to. Luckily, he sent me pictures a few days after my return to Canada of the new Casio his mom had given him, and told me about how much he had been practicing our "ten zero zero" game. I'm really glad he's enjoying it so much.
Started: 2023-07-20
Posted: 2024-02-04