It’s Better than the Casio Royale - The Casio-AE-1300WH-8AV
Casio - AE-1300WH-8AV
The desire for a new watch experience pulled me to the watch store yet again. This time I wanted the AE1200WHD-1A aka the Casio Royale. But instead, I purchased the Casio - AE- 13000WH-8AV, a watch I consider better than the Casio Royale, a cult classic.
The Casio - AE- 13000WH-8AV is a digital Casio watch that offers 100M water resistance, an orange LED backlight and six time-keeping modes. It comes in a comfortable black resin strap, a silver bezel, and neutral dial.
Once again, the watch bug bit me. I was all over Amazon for a couple of weeks, looking at all the Casio watches available on the site. I came across a plethora of watches, but one particular watch got my attention. The Casio AE1200WHD-1A aka the Casio Royale was the watch I wanted to add to my collection. After reading some reviews and watching quite a few videos on Youtube, that gave positive reviews about the watch I decided to pull the trigger. So the following weekend I headed to the store to get the cult classic.
After checking one store, I found the watch. But not the exact model. I found the AE1000WD-1AVCF Silver-Tone model instead. This version has a circular case instead of the square case that I liked. I tried it on and, it looked cool, but it didn't feel right. And that surprised me. I found a version of the watch with a different case shape and same function and, it just felt wrong on my wrist. It was mind-boggling, but I accepted it and headed to the next watch store in town.
At the next store, I didn't find the Casio Royale. But I found another watch I wanted. I found the F105W-1A Illuminator sport. This watch actually mimics the F91W in terms of size and function. But where it excels is with the retro look - that I love - and the blue illuminator light. That light is truly amazing to look at. But after trying it on, and seeing the look on the face of the female watch store employee, I realized that I could not wear this watch and be taken seriously as a grown man.
So after that rude awakening, the shop woman placed the illuminator back in the display. While she did that, I noticed the Countdown Timer aka the AE-1300WH-8AV. I asked her to see it and, I carefully examined it. The watch had the exact same case shape and size as the Royale. It had a lot of time keeping modes, for a Casio watch. One that stood out was the world time mode. After close examination and realizing that the watch is actually better than the Royale, I decided to buy it. When you think about it, the Countdown Timer functionally is a better watch. The Royale offers four functions while the countdown timer has six. One of which is the world time function. This watch immediately became something special. I was able to find another watch that offered more than expected. And with that, I bargained a bit for a discount, got it and took it home. I should add that I removed the text from the top and bottom of the watch. I thought it was distracting me from the dial that contained useful information.
So why do I love this watch? Aside from getting the function I wanted and more, I realized that it was incredibly useful. The world time function was not the only function that made the watch special. The timer function is remarkable and fun. It came preset with 45 to 10 minutes of settings. And the interval timer mode is useful for tracking sporting events with 9 interval times. I thought that to be useful.
Overall I think, as a purely functional digital watch, the Countdown Timer a great watch. I will also say that it is better than the Casio Royale (That's my hot-take for the day).
If you own this watch, let me know what you think about it.
That you for reading my blog and thank you for your time.
