Teddy Baldassarre
Casio AE1200 Review
The Casio AE1200 World Time watch aka the Casio Royale is one of the most beloved and functionally robust watches on the market, digital or otherwise. The world map display on the dial along with that circular “analog” subdial have captured the imagination and wrist real estate of so many enthusiasts over the years who find themselves caught between the relative hassle of a mechanical world time watch and the malaise onset by an over-reliance on smart phones. You can trace this watch back nearly 40 years to the Casio “Twin-Graph” AE-20 and AE-200 watches, which had an LCD screen that was divided into both analog-style and digital display sections. Also released just shortly after in 1987 was the W-50U, which had a world-map display on the screen. In 2012 we saw the launch of the Casio AE1200 which has gone on to be one of the most beloved and popular digital watches out there. The "Casio Royale" So, why is the watch referred to as the Casio Royale? Well, it’s actually a pretty flimsy explanation but the name has certainly stuck. In the 1983 James Bond movie Octopussy, Roger Moore wears a Seiko G757 Sports 100 watch that gets a lot of closeup screen time. The resemblance between the Casio AE1200 and the Seiko G757 is uncanny so it’s not hard to see why fans connected the two. And, of course, the name Casio Royale is also a playful reference to “Casino Royale,” another Bond movie. And while “Casio” and “Casino” aren’t exactly orthographic neighbors,...