Before the MoonSwatch, there was another simple ‘plastic’ watch that broke the internet and that was the ‘Casioak’.
Well, now there’s a new one.
And it comes with Bluetooth connectivity and solar power.
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The Casioak, officially known as the GA-2100, was launched in late 2019 by Casio’s G-Shock division.
It was simple and unassuming but it also came with a unique octagonal bezel, hence the nickname ‘Casioak’ – a reference to the AP Royal Oak.
It was cheap, only $99 at retail, but the problem was you couldn’t get it anywhere – it was permanently sold out – and it began trading for hundreds if not thousands of dollars in the secondary market.
Following the initial success, Casio made a sequence of sensible decisions, adding little tweaks here and there to keep the watch relevant beyond the hype.
Most of these upgrades were about aesthetics – with new colourways and new materials – but this is a bit more than that.
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First of all, the new Casioak is Bluetooth-friendly, which means you can download an app on your phone and use it like a smartwatch.
Secondly, it is now a solar-powered watch, which means you’ll never have to worry about changing the battery.
And the stats are pretty impressive, Casio said it will run for 7 months in full darkness before needing a ‘top-up’ of solar energy.
For the time being, it is only available in five different colour variants: black with black accents, black with red and grey accents, dark green, dark blue and yellow.
Having said that, the ‘regular’ battery-powered model is available with around 20 different colour combos, so we can reasonably expect more options for the solar Casioak in the future.
The bad news is the new Casioak is a bit more expensive than its $99 predecessor: it costs $150.
Except for the yellow one, which (not sure why) costs $160.
