These New Super-Affordable Casios Will Add Some Retro Charm to Your Watch Collection

2 min readRetro, affordable, cool? Ding, ding, ding! Casio is hitting all the sweet spots by expanding its AQ-240 analog-digital watch lineup. It’s added black and deep-blue sunburst dial options, while keeping the squircle case, stainless-steel bracelet, and combination of analogue hands and a digital display.The two newcomers are the AQ-240E-1A and AQ-240E-2A2, joining the three AQ-240 models that arrived earlier this year. And while Casio hasn't exactly reinvented the wheel here, it didn't need to.CasioThe AQ-240E-1A is the moodier of the pair, with a black sunburst dial surrounded by slim metallic hour markers. The AQ-240E-2A2 swaps the black for a deep blue, while both get simple silver-tone hands, chrome-plated resin cases, and stainless-steel bracelets.Then there’s the shape. Not quite square, not quite round, the softly curved case gives the AQ-240 that very retro look Casio does so well. It’s pretty compact, too, measuring 40.9mm by 35.8mm and just 8.1mm thick, with a weight of 51g.CasioWe know they look good—but what’s inside? Well, it’s Casio’s Module 5154, which comes with dual time and world time, as well as a 1/100-second stopwatch with a 60-minute capacity. A daily alarm and hourly time signal add to its list of features, alongside an automatic calendar and a choice of 12- or 24-hour digital time.All of that information appears on the little digital display tucked into the bottom of the dial. It's small enough not to interfere with the retro looks, but means you get rather more functionality than the analog hands might initially suggest.You won’t have to tire your wrist with any winding, either, as the battery is rated to last around three years. On top of all that, there’s water resistance for everyday use. So, maybe don’t go diving with it on, but there’s no need to panic over a bit of light washing up.COURTESY OF CASIOUnfortunately, for the time being, the watches are only available in Japan, where they retail for ¥7,700—around $48. They’re available to pre-order now ahead of going on sale later this month, although Casio has yet to confirm when they’ll make their way to the U.S.At that price, though, we suspect there’ll be more than a few wrists waiting for them when they do.