With the launch of its first watch in November 1974, Casio entered the
wristwatch market at a time when the watch industry had just discovered digital
technology. As a company with cutting-edge electronic technology developed for
pocket calculators, Casio entered this field confident that it could develop
timepieces that would lead the market.
In developing its own wristwatches Casio began with the basic question,
""What is a wristwatch?"" Rather than simply making a digital version of the
conventional mechanical watch, we thought that the ideal wristwatch should be
something that shows all facets of time in a consistent way. Based on this,
Casio was able to create a watch that displayed the precise time including the
second, minute, hour, day, and month — not to mention a.m. or p.m., and the day
of the week. It was the first watch in the world with a digital automatic
calendar function that eliminated the need to reset the calendar due the
variation in month length. Rather than using a conventional watch face and
hands, a digital liquid crystal display was adopted to better show all the
information. This culminated in the 1974 launch of the CASIOTRON, the world’s
first digital watch with automatic calendar. The CASIOTRON won acclaim as a
groundbreaking product that represented a complete departure from the
conventional wristwatch.
Casio transformed the concept of the watch — from a mere timepiece to an
information device for the wrist — and undertook product planning based on this
innovative idea. We developed not only time functions such as global time zone
watches, but also other radical new functions using Casio’s own digital
technology, including calculator and dictionary functions, as well as a
phonebook feature based on memory technology, and even a thermometer function
using a built-in sensor. The memory-function watches became our DATA BANK
product series, while the sensor watches developed into two unique Casio product
lines of today: the Pathfinder series displaying altitude, atmospheric pressure,
and compass readings.
In 1983, Casio launched the shock-resistant G-SHOCK watch. This product
shattered the notion that a watch is a fragile piece of jewelry that needs to be
handled with care, and was the result of Casio engineers taking on the challenge
of creating the world’s toughest watch. Using a triple-protection design for the
parts, module, and case, the G-SHOCK offered a radical new type of watch that
was unaffected by strong impacts or shaking. Its practicality was immediately
recognized, and its unique look, which embodied its functionality, became wildly
popular, resulting in explosive sales in the early 1990s. The G-SHOCK soon
adopted various new sensors, solar-powered radio-controlled technology
(described below), and new materials for even better durability. By always
employing the latest technology, and continuing to transcend conventional
thinking about the watch, the G-SHOCK brand has become Casio’s flagship
timepiece product.
Today, Casio is focusing its efforts on solar-powered radio-controlled
watches: the built-in solar battery eliminates the nuisance of replacing
batteries, and the radio-controlled function means users never have to reset the
time. In particular, the radio-controlled function represents a revolution in
time-keeping technology similar to the impact created when mechanical watches
gave way to quartz technology. Through the further development of high
radio-wave sensitivity, miniaturization, and improved energy efficiency, Casio
continues to produce a whole range of radio-controlled models.
