i will never get along with analog watches

I've tried to get along with an analog watch, and it's just not happening.

My daily wearer is still the Casio W735H. Mine has wear on it now because I've worn it so much. This watch agrees with my skinny wrist. By the numbers of 51.4mm lug-to-lug, 47.1mm diameter case, and 16.1mm thick, this watch should not fit my wrist, yet it does. The W735H has "wings" after the case that drop off like a cliff with a very sharp downturn. And because of the hybrid resin/nylon fabric strap on the particular model I have (one side nylon, other side resin with a loop for the fabric part), the watch magically fits me even with the overhang at the bottom. I say magically because I can't even explain why it fits me, because again, it absolutely shouldn't.

This is not about fitment, but rather the conclusion I've begrudgingly come to that I will never get along with analog dial watches no matter what.

Two examples of analog watches I own:

The Casio MTP4500D, which does fit my wrist very well with its 48mm lug-to-lug, 42mm diameter case and 11.3mm thickness, looks absolutely amazing. It really does. Small seconds subdial, chronograph, screw-back case for easy battery changes, black dial with neat looking orange hands... the watch just looks good.

Another is the "Cartier Tank" of Casio watches, the AQ230. I own two of these. A silver case with stick hour markers on a black dial and a gold with stick markers on a gold/linen dial. The AQ230 is featherlight at just 47g.

With the MTP4500D, I love the fact it's time-only. Set it, put on the wrist and go. Easy. The problem is that depending on what time of the day it is, I may get confused as to what time it actually is. If it's 6:40pm, I may confuse that as 7:40pm. I don't know why my brain thinks that way when looking at an analog clock at certain times of the day, but it does.

With the AQ230, I can set the little digital part to display digital time instead of the date. That's ridiculous, because it defeats the whole point of wearing an analog timepiece in the first place. The watch has a small-square-luxury appearance going on and looks fantastic, but my brain still periodically gets that same time confusion like with the MTP4500D.

Is there a solution to that confusion on my part while staying analog? Yes, and it's called a jump hour watch. This is technically digital even though no LCD panel is present. Jump hour watches have two little panels. One for hour, and the other for minute. Some include a seconds dial and/or a date complication while others do not.

I have two problems with jump hour watches. The first is that they look a little weird. The second is that I am absolutely and totally used to seeing time + weekday + month + date all on one screen of a Casio digital, which you can't get on most analog watches.

For analog, the most convenient is the Seiko 5 because all of them have a day-date complication. And if it's a diver, you get the dive timer too (I don't dive, but absolutely would use that timer for other things). I mean, sure, you could go with a Rolex Day-Date to be fancy, but a Seiko 5 suits better as a daily wearer. For something more highfalutin as an extremely good daily wearer, several Seiko Prospex models have the day-date on it with the dive timer also.

On those watches, you get time, date, weekday, timer (on most), and that's it. No month. But like I said, I am absolutely and totally used to seeing time + weekday + month + date, having the timer on a separate screen, and also having an alarm and stopwatch...

...and wow, is that difficult to give up. I just don't want to do it.

Now if I wanted to go flat out luxury digital to keep all the features I like with full steel, Casio has that with the G-SHOCK GMWB5000D. That is one of the "full metal" digital G-SHOCKs. There is also the super-highfalutin break-the-bank made in Japan MRGB5000D. And when I say break-the-bank, no, it's not at the cost of upper tier Grand Seiko watches, but it is up there in the G-SHOCK world.

Both of those watches are obviously nice, but total overkill for me because I get all the stuff I want out of my W735H.

Is the W735H I wear an ugly watch? Basically, yes. It will never win any beauty awards. But again, it's got all the features I really like.

What I am hoping to someday find is a luxury or at least a luxury-looking digital watch where I don't lose any features, and is one that fits my skinny wrist. Yeah, that is a bit of a tall order. (And no, the answer is not a smartwatch. I can't stand those things.)

The closest thing to that right now other than the G-SHOCKs I mentioned is the Casio WV58DA. I already have the resin strap version of that, and the dial design on that one is... okay. Not as good as the W735H. Certainly not as good as the G-SHOCKs.

My search continues. Until then, I'll keep wearing my ugly W735H.

Published 2025 Aug 10