My second gold watch

I went gold once again.

In my watch collections are two gold Casio models, the A500WGA-9DF, and now the recently acquired AQ230GA-9D, seen above.

After I got my first AQ230 (black dial, stainless steel), I liked it so much that yeah, I had to go for the gold.

Embracing the cheeseball look of the very-early '80s

Early 1980s styling was weird because it was late-'70s styling that had been mildly updated, and that's what this watch represents.

The AQ230 is a reimagining of the AT552. That model looks nearly identical save for the fact it has a touchscreen that allows "invisible" calculator functions (yes, really). But what matters more here is when that watch was made, which was in the early '80s.

It usually takes about 30 to 35 years before a particular style comes full circle to where people can appreciate it again. The AQ230 totally captures that "late '70s + early '80s" vibe to it, but when in gold, that kicks it up another notch.

A gold AQ230 would have been a very fancy timepiece back in the day. It has the '70s styling with its paper-like dial (it's not white, it's yellowed and textured) with gold hands and sticks, and the '80s styling with its digital display below the analog face.

The fact the analog part of the dial is somewhat "squashed" also has that '70s/'80s appearance to it, because instead of that analog being a vertical rectangle, it's a short box.

I'm in my mid-forties old now, so I can get away with wearing one of these. After I got my black dial AQ230, I just had to get this gold one. Glad I did.

Wrist size considerations

There's goofy-big which I've talked about before, then there's goofy-small.

Is the AQ230 goofy-small? No. It is a proper size for a men's rectangle timepiece.

As a general rule of thumb, a rectangle shape men's timepiece should wear the same as a round 36mm. So if your wrist can wear a round 36mm, the AQ230 will fit properly with its 29.8mm case. Round watches need to be bigger to accommodate for the circular case while rectangle shapes don't.

To put this in perspective, just look at Fitbit fitness trackers. Most of those are all super-skinny pieces with case sizes of under 25mm, and you'll see the manliest of men wearing those things.

Or to put it in another perspective, if you can wear an F-91W and it looks fine on your wrist, the AQ230 will look fine too.

Published 2019 Apr 24