50 years of CASIO

We explore 5 decades of the watch brand that has quietly wrapped the wrist of pop culture's biggest moments

Like many young people my first introduction to CASIO was their scientific calculator. Algebra, quadratic equations, endless afternoons I should have been spending playing Call of Duty ruined by revision for my maths GCSE. So it was quite the turn of events for the brand to become an integral (and enjoyable) part of my life in the coming years during college. Beginning my A levels in 2011 one of the more exciting prospects of leaving secondary school was of course: no school uniform. The opportunity to curate (a generous description given some of my choices back then) my own aesthetic also coincided with the rise to prominence of one Tyler the Creator, front man of Odd Future. In a miraculous turn of events gawky, lanky, artsy Black men were in style and all I needed to do to latch on to this newfound cultural cache was sport a 5 panel, grab a skateboard and of course snag a golden CASIO wristwatch.

Rap music acting as a conduit between watches and the masses was nothing new. Hip-Hop's bling era of the early 2000s all the way to teenagers today have an in-depth knowledge of premium jewellers thanks to Atlanta's dominance of the rap scene in the late 2010s has meant that throughout my life, the ice on your wrist has remained a status symbol. This makes one of the coolest watches on the market being accessible with my 17 year old pocket money all the more remarkable. Before YouTube videos of rappers buying bust-downs that cost more money than the average person will earn in their life, the tumblr dashboard had me thirsting after a A168WG-9EF like it was my one way ticket to the good life. In a fashion landscape that often relies of virality and scarcity to establish that ever sought after cool factor, CASIO maintaining cultural relevance for 5 decades with an accessible price point and easy to buy product is an anomaly. It's the kind of reputation that can only be garnered by consistently making product to a high standard, year on year, decade of decade, and never compromising on those principles whilst still innovating and collaborating with culturally relevant peers. Now over a decade later on CASIO's 50th anniversary I had the pleasure of speaking to the brand directly about why people have been checking the time with them for the last half a century.

Who is the founder of CASIO and how did they get into watchmaking?
Founded by four Kashio brothers, Tadao, Toshio, Kazuo and Yukio. Kashio right from the very start were passionate about creating products that solved problems and contributed to wider society - it's why they developed the first electronic calculator.Watches naturally evolved as a next step as they started to grow their business in consumer electronics - noticing an opportunity to create timepieces that provided advanced features to assist people's daily lives at competitive prices.

What contributed to their popularity within Japan?
Being a Japanese family owned business (and still is today) CASIO had a unique understanding of what the country's consumer needed. This combined with their forward thinking designs that were very much outside the box compared to others of the time, contributed to huge popularity among the younger generation in Japan which led to its wider success in other worldwide territoires.

Casio watches are worn in plenty of films and TV shows ranging from Stranger Things and Saltburn to cult classics like Alien and Back To The Future. Does the brand intentionally market with studios?

A lot of our watches are often organically worn in films as they represent and fit the character so well, such as G-Shock for a secret agent or soldier for example. These often become pop culture moments in themselves - such as Marty McFly's calculator watch in Back To The Future.

What led to CASIO becoming popular outside of Japan.
CASIO's obsession with continuously building upon the plethora of features built into it's timepieces saw the birth of designs that captured the imagination of a huge electric audience the world over. Younger generations were pulled in with watches that not only told the time but changed tv channels, fired infrared lasers to play games or sent messages to one another. Older audiences found watches that stored multiple names and telephone numbers - cool and quirky databank & calculator timepieces had a sleek appearance with an advanced technical background which was very advanced for the time. These watches solved problems, improved daily life and were supplied at a price that everyone could afford, popularity remains as relevant today as it was then, spreading into wider TV & film culture as the go-to watch for many characters in iconic films over the decades

Shop CASIO's vintage collection here

Article by Martyn Ewoma