expensive and classy is a tall order for a digital watch

Just for grins, I looked up expensive digital watches since I prefer digital over analog. There were two things that immediately stuck out.

First, with little exception, everything was either too big or too goofy.

Second, it turns out I already own the second classiest digital timepiece, and it's not expensive at all.

At the very top of the heap for an expensive, classy digital watch is the Hamilton PSR. Best case finishing, best bracelet, best everything...

...but you have to like 1970s styling to appreciate it; that's the catch. Does it look good? Yes, but at the same time you're only going to have one of two reactions to it. Love it or hate it. I'll talk more about this in a moment.

After that Hamilton, it's all Casio from there. Yeah, sure, there are nixie tube watches, but that's not exactly what one would call classy. Expensive, yes. Looks cool? Yes. Classy? No.

Even in Casio world, G-SHOCK has the same problem where some are expensive but don't quite cut it as a classy timepiece. An example of that is any G-SHOCK 5000 series in metal. Cost is high, but classy? Not really. It's not exactly something that would work with a suit.

Oddly enough, it's two well-under-$100 regular Casio models that truly do look classy. And I own both of them.

I'm talking about the gold A500WGA and silver version A500WA. These are both World Time models, with 5 alarms, stopwatch, countdown timer and a whole bunch of world time features. It even has a cool looking map of the world at top right of the panel. And the night light is even decent.

It is funny to me that such a giant gap exists between those Casio models and the Hamilton, but that is what's out there for truly classy digitals.

Some more info on the Hamilton

With the Hamilton PSR, yes it totally has the 2001: A Space Odyssey vibe with it, and that's not a bad thing. There are a few other things about the PSR that are quite nice.

The battery can actually last for 5 years, which is absolutely better than how things were in the '70s where back then you'd barely get a year out of it.

Screw-down case back, which makes it easy to get to the battery to change it.

The PSR does have a legitimate 100m water resistance, provided you don't press the button while underwater with it (and that can be said for any digital watch).

Crystal is AR coated, which minimizes nasty harsh reflections.

Lastly I'll say the PSR appears chunky in photos, but that's a bit of an optical illusion just because it's square-ish with a thick bezel surrounding the panel.

I think the PSR look works. The case surface is brushed, which is good because it would look terrible were it shiny like a mirror. And of course, a luxurious brushing technique was used. The bracelet on it is also top tier stuff.

I'm happy to own the Casio A500 models I have, but I know the PSR is many levels better. For a high class digital, that Hamilton is as good as it gets.

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Published 2025 Oct 12