Classy minimalist watch - Casio MTP-V006

This is definitely one of the best looking Casio analog watches I've ever seen.

To begin, this watch does come in several colors and styles. The one I'm wearing in the video above is the MTP-V006D-7B2 model.

Here are the other models for this particular style their respective colorways:

• MTP-V006L-1B2 - Steel with black dial and black leather strap
• MTP-V006L-1B3 - Steel with black dial and brown leather strap
• MTP-V006L-3B - Steel with gray dial and green leather strap
• MTP-V006D-1B2 - Steel with black dial and steel bracelet
• MTP-V006D-2B - Steel with blue dial and steel bracelet
• MTP-V006D-7B2 - Steel with white dial and steel bracelet
• MTP-V006G-1B - Gold tone with black dial and gold tone bracelet
• MTP-V006G-7B - Gold tone with white dial and gold tone bracelet

I say "this particular style" because there is also a version of the V006 like this one where the dial looks totally different with its Roman numerals.

What's the big deal with the railroad track inner ring?

The inner ring of my MTP-V006D-7B2 has what's known as a railroad track because it actually looks like train tracks. This is not to be confused with railroad watches a.k.a. railroad chronometers like those from Ball Watch. The railroad track thing in this instance is just for appearance's sake...

...but oh, what a nice appearance it is.

Certain luxury timepieces do make use of a railroad track on the dial. A. Lange & Sohne uses one on the 1815 model. Other luxury timepieces with a railroad track are Rolex Day-Date, Omega Railmaster, IWC Portugieser and several others.

While the railroad track on the Casio is an inner ring and not one that "hugs" the perimeter of the dial, it's still a very fancy look on a watch that sells for under 40 bucks.

White dial is the best option

The first reason I went with the white is specifically because the date wheel is also in white, resulting in a monochromatic elegant look. The only time any other color appears on the dial is on Sunday when the day reads SUN in red.

The second reason is that the look of this dial strongly resembles old Swiss mechanical stopwatches like this one:

My dad had one of these that looked similar to this. And I'm genuinely surprised this specific look hasn't been used more for wristwatch dial design. There was a time when a lot of people used mechanical stopwatches. The vast majority of them had a stark white dial with printed black indices. Some had red markings on them too. It was never anything fancy because it was built for function first and always.

Casio, intentionally or not, totally nailed the look of an old Swiss mechanical stopwatch with the white dial MTP-V006D-7B2.

Yes, this is minimalist

Some people think just about anything by Movado is the ultimate for a minimalist watch. True? Yes. But there is such a thing as having too much minimalism, and Movado timepieces trip that line. Movado does make great fashion timepieces and I don't take that away from them. But Movado's whole thing is fashion and not function first.

Then there are watches that have so much going on that you can barely read the time on them. The best (worst?) example I know of this is the Seiko Flightmaster. Wow, does that thing have a ridiculously complicated dial. You thought the Breitling Navitimer was complicated? Seiko will one-up you there with the Flightmaster. Granted, some guys like really complicated (but functional) dials and think that's looks cool. I can't do that. I need a dial I can read quickly.

...and that's why I say the MTP-V006 is minimalist. It's more complicated than a Movado but nowhere near as busy as a Seiko Flightmaster. If there were a rating system of 1 to 10 on how complicated/busy a watch dial is, the MTP-V006 would be right around a 4. Most chronographs are a 7 and then after that comes the stuff with the slide rule bezel on it where I'm amazed anybody could actually read the time on one of those.

A few notes for things I didn't say in the video

The bracelet has brushed links but with polished thin "stripes." Looks nice. Had they went with any more shine however, that would have been too much. Casio fortunately knew when to stop and got the look of the bracelet correct.

The back of the case is totally boring and very plain. Obviously there is no exhibition case back since it's a quartz movement, and all you see back there is a stamped Casio logo with some basic movement reference information.

100% of the watch case is polished with the exception of the case back.

The case is a snap-back, meaning it will be annoying to change the battery in this thing when that time comes.

All printing on the dial is raised. It's a light raise, but still, that is better than just flat printing.

The outline around the date window is also raised ink.

I dig the look of this watch a lot, and oh yes, this is a keeper for sure.

Published 2020 Jul 14