It’s counterintuitive, however one of many issues I respect most about working within the watch business is being reminded of my blind spots. The narrative is commonly that this neighborhood is small and tightly centered, and on some stage that’s true, however I believe extra broadly talking, the watch world is definitely huge, and there are massive fanatic communities we’ve barely tapped into. That grew to become extremely clear over the course of Windup weekend in Chicago as one of the talked about watches of the present was not really one that may be worn on the wrist. The Casio Ring Watch was not solely probably the most diminutive timepiece of the weekend, however one of many hardest tickets on the occasion.
I used to be conscious that these existed previous to Windup however I had no concept they had been so wanted and collectible. A peek behind the scenes: as a certified retailer for Casio, the Windup Watch Store sells Casio and Casio G-SHOCK watches on the honest, so over the course of the weekend, via Slack messages, day by day crew conferences with my Store colleagues, and conversations over shortly devoured lunches earlier than heading again out to the present flooring, I used to be in a position to get a way of the demand for this stuff. Every day’s allotment basically offered out within the honest’s early hours, and those that had been in a position to seize one felt they walked away with the prize of the present.
The CRW-001 Casio Ring Watch has a retail value of $120, however a fast Google search reveals homeowners are asking wherever from $160 to $200 for the ring on the second hand market (on the time of this writing it’s offered out on the Casio e-commerce website). That’s a wholesome premium and (possibly) the signal of a real collectible, however it doesn’t really feel prefer it’s crossing over into the territory of the absurd. This isn’t a Rolex sports activities watch buying and selling for 3 times its retail value – even on the excessive finish of the spectrum, the Ring Watch nonetheless sells for a value that’s comparatively accessible. It’s nonetheless enjoyable. It jogs my memory, in a means, of the early days of MoonSwatch madness earlier than it grew to become (or was revealed to be) an enormous, bland, little bit of company synergy that exists solely to squeeze revenue out of watch shoppers.
The good factor in regards to the Ring Watch although is Casio’s dedication to the bit. This isn’t some shortly produced, disposable gag. It’s a full steel recreation of the acquainted G-SHOCK DW5600 case profile, and based on Casio it’s solely doable with a particular steel injection molding (MIM) course of to create a case, caseback, and ring from a single piece of steel. Casio additionally downsized their commonplace digital module by an element of 10 to slot in the watch. One way or the other, the tiny LCD can show not simply the time, but in addition the date, a second time zone, and controls for a stopwatch.
Ring watches are usually not a brand new growth in fact. Miniaturization has at all times been a fascination of watch and clock makers, and early ring watches date to way back to the seventeenth century. However I can’t recall a interval overlapping with my very own watch enthusiasm the place the ring watch has really emerged as a pattern. Casio is clearly tapping into one thing right here, one thing that would have been effervescent underneath the floor for years, that the neighborhood was primed for.
It’s price mentioning, maybe, that well being oriented merchandise worn on the finger just like the Oura Ring are additionally having a second. And whereas the Casio Ring Watch isn’t geared up with any well being monitoring sensors (and the Apple Watch seems to nonetheless be a dominant pressure within the smartwatch sector), this may very well be a sign that there’s a possibility for watch manufacturers to get within the well being monitoring wearable market in a severe means.
There are a small handful of really buzzy watch launch moments in Windup’s historical past. The under-the-radar debut of the Bel Canto just a few years in the past involves thoughts, as does the Studio Underd0g “Pizza Party” watch. It’s enjoyable when the doorways to Windup open and there’s an actual sense of anticipation round a single product. You may see the gang migrate to at least one sales space to purchase (or simply get a take a look at) one thing that may solely be seen there, on the occasion. I wasn’t anticipating this 12 months’s most mentioned watch to be one you’ll be able to’t put on on the wrist, however being stunned is all a part of the enjoyable. Casio
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