When Casio released the original Casiotron back in 1974—the brand’s first wristwatch—it became the world’s first digital watch with an automatic calendar function. Fifty years later, the brand is celebrating with a new, dare I say, sexy black and gold version that almost looks like something a Bond villain would sport while announcing plans to blow up the moon.
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The black-and-gold color scheme of the Casiotron TRN50ZE is meant to evoke the day's first flicker of light. Gold is used for bezel, logos, and a notch on the stainless steel black band. The band is also engraved with “50th Anniversary.” The case back also commemorates the anniversary via another engraved “Casio 50th Anniversary” mark.
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Importantly, Casio has come a long way since inventing the automatic calendar function, and that’s reflected in the vast variety of functions that are part of this watch. It’s solar powered with Bluetooth and radio control, features a stopwatch, a countdown timer, five daily alarms, an auto LED backlight, and a smartphone link that connects to an app that gives it even more functions. Those app functions include automatic time adjustment (four times a day); world time (about 300) and times for other settable locations; pressing a button on the watch records the date, time, and position on a map within the app, which can be useful as an activity log; and there’s also a phone finder.
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One of our favorite things about this Casio is its somewhat approachable 42.7mm case size. Meaning, unlike some of their other watches, which can be wrist swallowing giants, the 50th Anniversary Casiotron, or more technically the TRN50ZE-1A, can be worn without being too showy. Though, its black-and-gold face and bracelet does stand out.
In total, the watch comes in priced at a reasonable $600, much cheaper than many of the G-SHOCK Casio’s out there and, yet, it still sports many of their impressive features.
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