Copyright gqindia
If you’ve ever secretly wished a DeLorean would whisk you out of your 9-to-5 and back to 1985, Casio has just dropped something that’ll get you pretty close. The popular Japanese watchmaker has launched a limited-edition Back to the Future calculator watch, a retro timepiece that’s equal parts nostalgia bomb and low-key fashion flex. Yes, the mega-nerdy yet super cool calculator that originally came out in the early '80s. Based on the classic Casio CA53W, the new model looks like it’s been plucked straight off Marty McFly’s wrist. Think black resin case, chunky rectangular display, and that gloriously impractical tiny calculator keypad that screams '80s tech optimism. The details? Subtle film-inspired touches: the Back to the Future logo on the strap, a glow-in-the-dark dial, not to mention the packaging: the watch is delivered in a VHS cassette tape-inspired box and outer sleeve. And the fans are loving it. “Growing up in the '80s, I remember everyone in my class racing to get a CA-53 after seeing Marty McFly wearing one in Back to the Future Parts II and III,” says Haider from Vintage Casios. “More recently it was worn by Walter White in Breaking Bad earning its place as a cultural icon. Almost 40 years later, Casio is releasing the CA-500WEBF-1A which looks like a lovely tribute to the Back to the Future series: coloured keys and graphics that nod to the DeLorean’s time circuits with special caseback details too! It looks like Casio have kept all the same functions to be basic and at the same time practical with a calculator, daily use timekeeping, alarm, stopwatch, dual time and calendar to 2099, whilst trying to make you grin with nostalgia every time you check your wrist. I can’t wait to get my hands on one!” In the days before smartphones, the Casio calculator watch was the ultimate geek-chic status symbol. Owning one meant you could do maths on your wrist — very futuristic, very cool. Now, it’s less about calculating your shopping bill and more about serving serious throwback energy. “Pure nostalgia, taking a lot of people back to their childhoods!” says watch collector Neil George. “Using one of the most recognised Casio models and adding some small but noticeable nods to the movie, I have no doubts this piece will sell well.” For watch collector Bill Adler, this one’s a no-brainer: “Offhand, I can't think of any other watches that remind me of the greatest possible adventure: time travel. There are a lot of movie-related watches that have piqued my interest (including the Seiko Giugiaro worn by Sigourney Weaver in Aliens), but this is the first one that I will likely get because it's not wildly expensive, plus Back to the Future is an incredibly fun movie that everyone loves. A calculator watch was high-tech in the '80s, and who knows, it might be handy if somehow this watch sends me back to 1985.” It’s a watch that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that’s the point. It’s cheeky, camp, and drenched in ‘80s nostalgia in the best possible way. Watch writer Thor Svaboe captures it perfectly: “To me the new Back To The Future edition of the indisputable, iconic calculator watch is a massive cliché of eighties advertisement porn. But that is exactly why it is so intensely appealing to me, other seventies kids, and Gen Xers wanting a birth year watch. I was hooked from the first bars of the movie theme, even if none of my fingers are small enough to actually use the calculator keyboard.” G-Shock collector Andy McIntyre agrees. “Double the nostalgia and the excuse I need to relive the 80s,” he says. “Awesome movie details on the classic Casio calculator I used to wear in the 80s. Marty McFly would definitely approve of this Time Machine!” Sure, your phone can do everything this watch can, and more. But where’s the fun in that? Via gq-magazine.co.uk
