Casio DW-291H-9AVEF - review
- Cheap watches what a passion!
- Mar 4, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 19
Big, ugly, peasant, anti-aesthetic, disproportionate... and that's why we love him ;)
Ladies and gentlemen, here is a must for your Casio collection and, more generally, very affordable watches. A Casio model that cares highly of both my positive review and your criticisms. With a strange, anti-aesthetic, squat and vulgar shape, the DW-291H immediately creates a sick addiction to the wearer.
But let's proceed step by step, and try to understand how "this curious thing" entered the heart of all of us collectors of Casio watches, and, despite its appearance, it fascinates several generations of Casio collectors.
Do you like it because it's a cheap G-SHOCK? Nope. Like it because it's a Baby-G? Nope. So why is the Casio used by Tom Cruise in the first Mission Impossible? No, no, and no, but actually there is some confusion around this model. So let's try to clarify the ideas both for those who already know the Casios and for those who would like to buy one of these models but have not yet understood the differences between them. Let's start by saying that the correct name of this model is Casio DW-291H-9AVEF (if you want to buy it on Amazon, click here,) and, therefore, it has nothing to do with the DW-290-1 series, i.e. the watch that we see in the movie mission impossible, or with the G-SHOCK series. There are two variants of our DW291H: The Casio DW-291H-1AVCF (click here) and the Casio DW-291H-1BVCF (click here). The confusion, however, remains and, therefore, I think it is much more useful with the help of images and a little history, to understand the differences between these Casio models.
In the beginning Casio created the G-SHOCK, and saw that it was all right and good! The first G-Shock was designed in 1981 by Casio engineer Kikuo Ibe, with the intention of creating a watch with extraordinary resistance. This "extraordinary" resistance should have concerned three aspects of the watch, namely, its battery life, its water resistance and, finally, its resistance to shocks. For this reason the project took the name of "triple 10", which stands for ten-year battery life, water resistance up to ten bars, resistance to a fall of ten meters. A little curiosity about it. The project was born from the fact that Kikuo had broken a pocket watch that had been given to him by his father, due to an accidental fall. In April 1983 the first G-Shock was produced, the DW-5000C (if you want to buy it on Amazon, click here). Thus began the production of this series of innovative watches, characterized by their sturdiness and resistance.
Initial sales of the G-Shock line were slow in Japan as people preferred dress watches. The situation changed radically when the US advertising division of Casio decided to highlight the "tough" aspect of the watch as much as possible, through a commercial in which a hockey player used the DW-5000C as a puck on the ice. To verify if the watch was really so resistant, a television station tried several times the actions performed by the hockey player on the DW model. The result was identical to that of the spot, and from that moment on, sales of the line grew rapidly and steadily.
And here is the first important piece of the story of our clumsy and curious DW291H. The design derived from the much more expensive G-SHOCK line will be extended, albeit with the necessary modifications based on the cost of the watch, to other series, such as the DW291 and the DW290 (the mission impossible watch to be clear, if you want to buy it on Amazon, click here). An element that all these models have in common is, for example, the strap designed to protect the module during a fall. Be careful, however, because there is a great underlying misunderstanding regarding this aspect of the strap and the resistance of the watch.
The strap protects the module, which is the heart of the watch, not the glass. In fact, its shape does not allow the watch to be stored in the normal way, with the strap completely extended and the bottom of the case resting on a surface. In other words, unless you want to place the watch in a special container every time, you are forced to put it "lying" on its side. And again, given the shape of the strap, it is very easy for the watch to fall and rotate on itself when you remove it. That is why many buyers were disappointed, and above all, all those who are accustomed to classic straps, leather or steel. I will return to this point later, for the moment I want to conclude on the fundamental aspects that create confusion between the models mentioned so far. The design, precisely, remains identical to all three series mentioned (but also to other similar series by Casio). A design conceived to protect the heart of the watch, which boasts the so-called "floating module", where the quartz mechanism floats free in a cradle of urethane foam, with the external buttons and LCD module connected with flexible cables.
In 1994, Casio will launch the Baby-G series on the market, i.e. the G-SHOCK for women and girls, given the constant increase of women engaged in increasingly tough sports activities, as well as traditionally practiced by men. I think it is now much easier to distinguish the Casio models covered by this post. The relatively expensive Baby-G series, which is nothing more than the G-SHOCK for women, the Casio DW290 from the film mission impossible, which is similar to our DW291H, but with a slimmer shape and an emphasis on the stopwatch and alarm functionality. And finally, our very beautiful Casio DW-291H-9AVEF.
But then, why is this model so popular both with Casio collectors of a certain age and with many very young people accustomed to watches that are much more aesthetically beautiful and also much more endowed in terms of functionality? For the youngest, the economic aspect is decisive. Before the various crises that followed and caused the prices of electronic components to rise and, in general, of all types of watches, this model could be brought home for 25-30 euros. An almost negligible price for a watch with incredible performance. Young people can therefore buy an all-purpose forklift, useful for the most varied activities (swimming, sea, running, MTB, training at home or in the gym), without worrying about risking ruining an expensive watch.
Another feature that makes this model highly sought after by those approaching the world of watchmaking for the first time, with a fairly small budget, is its predisposition to multiple "customizations", easy to make as the watch has several parts that can be replaced with a simple mini screwdriver, without running the risk of ruining or breaking the quartz module. On the internet you will find the most varied and even extravagant customizations of the DW291H, from models with straps in NATO fabric or braided fabric, up to models with the front panel and glass totally different from the original.
Its functions at a glance: world time with four time zones selectable and visible in the main mode, 5 alarms, hourly chime that can be activated - deactivated, key buzzer which can also be deactivated, countdown timer, chronograph, 12-24 hour format, orange light LED, light duration selectable from 1 to three seconds, and finally, like many Casio world times, if you hold down the search button in main mode for a few seconds, the selected time zones will start scrolling continuous way. Function that makes a scene, but that serves no purpose except to drain the battery.
And old guys like me (class 79), why do you like it? The answer is in the images I inserted in the post. For the elderly US public, the DW291 recalls one of the favorite and most requested toys of the past, the c.d. Robot Moon from the 50s. His ears - antenna, the transparent helmet from which it is possible to see the circuits of the robot, are very reminiscent of our Casio. For Americans, in short, it is a reminder of the first toy robots as well as of the first series of comics, cartoons, films and TV series all characterized by the presence of these funny, clumsy and antennae robots or extraterrestrials.
For us Italian old boys, however, the Casio DW-291H is very reminiscent of the face, or the head if you prefer, of the small robot protagonist of the cartoon Robottino from the early 80s. And I'll stop here, otherwise my eyes, who knows why they start to cry. Below you will find the banners to directly access the two colors available on Amazon.
Hello watch lovers! I hope you enjoyed my post and found some interesting information about the watch model I discussed. If you decide to purchase it, please consider using my affiliate link on Amazon. Otherwise, you can visit my page with Watch Brands on Amazon here: https://en.orologieconomicimigliori.it/watch-brands-amazon. If you're a watch enthusiast, feel free to follow me on Instagram. See you in the next post!
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