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F‑91W‑1
Casio Collection F-91W
Lug width: 18 mm
Source: Two sourcesCase size: 38.2 mm
The story · Since 1974
The story of the Casio Collection
The F-91W cost about $20 when it appeared in 1989 and still sells for a little more than $10, unchanged, on the wrists of a future US president and, in leaked US files, suspected bomb makers.
- 1974 to 1987 A calculator maker tells time Casio entered watches in November 1974 with the Casiotron QW02, whose calendar adjusted itself for months of different lengths.
- 1988 Eight digits on the wrist The CA-53W replaced the CA-50 with an eight-digit calculator, a 1/100 second stopwatch and dual time in a 24 g resin case.
- 1989 Moriai's first design In June 1989 Casio launched the F-91W, the first design Ryusuke Moriai drew for the company.
- 1990s to 2011 The watch on a watchlist In the mid-1990s militants in Pakistan and the Philippines used the F-91W as a bomb timer.
- Mid-1990s Steel for the same idea The A168 arrived some years after the F-91W, in the mid-1990s, dressing the same lightweight, low-cost formula in a steel-covered case with an electroluminescent backlight.
- 2008 to 2013 A chemistry teacher's calculator Breaking Bad dressed Walter White in a CA-53W, a modest 1980s calculator watch that suited a broke schoolteacher.
- 2020 to 2025 Back to the future, again In 2020 Casio finally gave the CA-53W five colour variants with inverted displays.
~90 million
rough estimate of F-91W units shipped over 30 years (Casio publishes no figures)
Read the full storyHide the story
~90 millionrough estimate of F-91W units shipped over 30 years (Casio publishes no figures)
7 yearsrated battery life of the F-91W
~150mentions of the watch in leaked Guantanamo assessments
£15.95price The Independent gave for the Casio calculator watch Serena Williams wore to win Wimbledon 2012
10,000Casio F91W watches bought on Amazon in a single month, per TechRadar (late 2024)
50 gweight of the A168WA, in a 38.6 x 36.3 x 9.6 mm case
Chapters
- 1974 to 1987
A calculator maker tells time
Casio entered watches in November 1974 with the Casiotron QW02, whose calendar adjusted itself for months of different lengths. Through the late 1970s and 1980s it piled calculators, games and phone books onto the wrist.
- 1988
Eight digits on the wrist
The CA-53W replaced the CA-50 with an eight-digit calculator, a 1/100 second stopwatch and dual time in a 24 g resin case. For decades it existed in a single black version.
- 1989
Moriai's first design
In June 1989 Casio launched the F-91W, the first design Ryusuke Moriai drew for the company. It packed an alarm, auto calendar and split-time stopwatch into a case about a third of an inch thick, with a battery rated for seven years.
- 1990s to 2011
The watch on a watchlist
In the mid-1990s militants in Pakistan and the Philippines used the F-91W as a bomb timer. Leaked Guantanamo assessments published in 2011 mentioned the watch nearly 150 times, and design critic Stephen Bayley still called it a modest masterpiece.
- Mid-1990s
Steel for the same idea
The A168 arrived some years after the F-91W, in the mid-1990s, dressing the same lightweight, low-cost formula in a steel-covered case with an electroluminescent backlight.
- 2008 to 2013
A chemistry teacher's calculator
Breaking Bad dressed Walter White in a CA-53W, a modest 1980s calculator watch that suited a broke schoolteacher. When the character turned 51 on screen, it gave way to a TAG Heuer Monaco.
- 2020 to 2025
Back to the future, again
In 2020 Casio finally gave the CA-53W five colour variants with inverted displays. For the 40th anniversary of Back to the Future in 2025 it released the CA-500WEBF with an OUTATIME display and a flux capacitor on the caseback, sold at EUR 119.
Worn by
Michael J. FoxScreen1989
As Marty McFly he wears the CA-53W calculator watch in Back to the Future Part II (1989) and Part III (1990); in the first film he wore its predecessor, the CA-50.
Bryan CranstonScreen2008
As Walter White in Breaking Bad he wears a CA-53W, the cheap calculator watch that marks the character before his transformation.
Serena WilliamsSport2012
Wore a Casio CA53W-1 calculator watch, which she was not paid to wear, while winning her fifth Wimbledon singles title in July 2012. She said she found it for an 80s-themed family tournament and never took it off.
Kristen StewartScreen2019
Wore a Casio LA11WB-1 digital watch at the Charlie's Angels photocall in London in 2019; GQ reports she bought the watch herself, not through her stylist.
Ryan GoslingScreen2010
Before his TAG Heuer deal of 2021 he often wore a Casio A168, photographed on stage with his band Dead Man's Bones at FYF Fest in Los Angeles in 2010. Personal wear, not a film role.
Idris ElbaScreen
Spotted several times in a gold-tone Casio A168WG-9MV, alongside the Cartier and Rolex pieces in his collection.
Tyler, the CreatorMusic2019
GQ singled him out in 2019 for wearing the Casio MQ24-9B, an analogue Casio with Arabic numerals and a yellowed-looking dial, with exclusive streetwear.
Colin FarrellScreen
Seen many times in a gold-tone rectangular Casio LTP-V007G-9B from the standard collection, including on The Graham Norton Show and a People magazine cover; some observers first took it for a Cartier Tank.
Chris PineScreen2020
Film role: as Steve Trevor in Wonder Woman 1984 he wears a Casio A168, a model that only appeared in the 1990s. Personal ownership is not documented.
Heath LedgerScreen2008
Film role: as the Joker in The Dark Knight he wears a Casio CA-53W calculator watch. Personal ownership is not documented.
Samuel L. JacksonScreen2015
Film role: as the villain Richmond Valentine in Kingsman (2015) he wears a Casio CA-53W. Personal ownership is not documented.
Moments
2025. The Back to the Future CA-500WEBF went on pre-order on 21 October 2025, packed in a box shaped like a VHS cassette.
2019. Kristen Stewart wore a Casio LA11WB-1 she had bought herself to the Charlie's Angels photocall in London, which GQ used to explain why the coolest celebrities were wearing $20 watches.
2015. Film: Samuel L. Jackson's villain Richmond Valentine wears the same CA-53W in Kingsman.
2012. On 7 July 2012 Serena Williams beat Agnieszka Radwanska for her fifth Wimbledon title wearing a Casio CA53W-1. The Independent set her £15.95 watch against the Rolex Roger Federer strapped on a minute and 28 seconds after winning the men's final.
2011. A detainee file at Guantanamo listed the F-91W on Muhammad al-Rimi's wrist as one of two suspicious indicators, alongside $100 bills.
2011. Footnotes in the leaked files said Pakistani officials had found more than 600 of the watches in a Karachi safe house.
2010. Ryan Gosling played FYF Fest in Los Angeles with his band Dead Man's Bones wearing a Casio A168, eleven years before he became a TAG Heuer ambassador in 2021.
2008. Film: Heath Ledger's Joker wears a Casio CA-53W calculator watch in The Dark Knight, the role that won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
One detainee, Abdullah Kamel Al Kandari, pointed out that four chaplains at Guantanamo wore the same watch.
Awards
- 2011Good Design Award (Japan, G Mark) · Good Design Long Life Design AwardReference A168 / DBC-610 / LA670
Casio's digital watches A168, DBC-610 and LA670 won the 2011 Long Life Design Award (No. 11L01008), which honours designs that have endured; Gizmodo Japan quotes the jury calling the A168 the archetype of digital watches.
Generations and strap changes
- 2026Future Classic collection
Casio grouped six of its most popular design classics, from the 1982 LA680 to the 2025 AQ-240, into one collection.
- 2024ABL-100WE
Casio added a smart digital watch with Bluetooth to its retro line.
- 2019A700
The A700 revived an 80s design in a 6 mm case, in gold and silver.
- 2001A168WA-1
A unisex silver digital with stopwatch, alarm and automatic calendar.
- 1990A159W
Casio cites the A159WGEA-1 among vintage models that became all-time classics, and says the typical case shape became the brand's characteristic feature.
- 1989F-91W
The F-91W launched in Japan in 1989 and its design has stayed largely unchanged since, with an 8.5 mm profile and 21 g weight.
Casio says the resin band is attached with pins rather than standard spring bars.
- 1984AQ-230
Casio presented its first wristwatch combining digital and analog display; its successor, the AQ-230, is still popular today.
- 1974Casiotron
Casio presents the Casiotron as the world's first LCD wristwatch, with a fully automatic calendar.