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Casio Retro Collection 38.8mm X 29.8mm Unisex Watch
Ref. AQ-230A-1DMQYES
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Stepping up in the same dial colour
The AQ-230 sits in a line Casio has kept in production for decades precisely because the combination — analogue hands reading local time above a digital window tracking a second zone — remains genuinely useful in a case small enough to disappear under a shirt cuff. The dual-display layout was a practical solution when it appeared, and it has not dated because the problem it solves has not changed. At 29.8mm the case reads closer to a dress watch than a utility piece, which suits the stainless steel bracelet and butterfly clasp more than the usual resin strap this format often comes with. The black dial keeps both the analogue and digital registers legible without competing with each other, and the sapphire crystal is an unusual material choice at this end of the Casio range — it resists the fine scratches that would eventually cloud a mineral glass over years of daily wear.
- Reference
- AQ-230A-1DMQYES
- Brand
- Casio
- Collection
- Vintage
- Case size
- 38.8mm
- Case material
- Two-tone
- Case shape
- Tonneau
- Dial
- Black
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Bezel
- Unidirectional rotating
- Movement
- Solar
- Functions
- Chronograph, GMT, Day-date, Small seconds, Moonphase, Power reserve indicator, Tachymeter, Skeleton dial, Stopwatch, Countdown timer, Alarm, Backlight, World time, Perpetual calendar, Solar powered, Radio controlled, Bluetooth, Step counter, Heart rate, GPS, Compass, Thermometer, Altimeter, Tide graph, Dual display
- Water resistance
- 30m
- Bracelet / strap
- Mesh bracelet
- Strap colour
- Bronze
- Clasp
- Butterfly clasp
- Lume
- Luminous
- Retailer
- Goldsmiths
Learn more about Casio
Tadao Kashio founded Kashio Seisakujo in Tokyo in 1946 as a machine shop. The company's first success was a finger ring that held a cigarette, and its second was the 14-A of 1957 — the world's first all-electric compact calculator, which used solenoids rather than gears.
Casio entered watchmaking in 1974 with the Casiotron, a digital watch with an automatic calendar that knew the varying lengths of months. The company approached watches as an electronics manufacturer rather than a horological one, and that difference produced the G-Shock.
The G-Shock came from a single engineer, Kikuo Ibe, who broke a watch his father had given him and set out to build one that could not break. The specification was three tens: survive a ten-metre drop, ten bars of water pressure, and ten years of battery life. It took over two hundred prototypes, and the solution was suspending the module inside the case on a cushioned internal structure rather than mounting it rigidly. The DW-5000C shipped in 1983.
It became one of the most durable product designs in any category, adopted by militaries, emergency services, and skateboarders alike, and Casio has since added solar charging, radio and GPS timekeeping, Bluetooth, and full-metal and carbon variants.
Casio also produces the Edifice, Pro Trek, and Oceanus lines, and remains an independent Japanese public company.
- 1946
- Tadao Kashio founds the company in Tokyo.
- 1974
- The Casiotron is Casio's first digital watch.
- 1983
- The G-Shock DW-5000C survives Kikuo Ibe's three-tens brief.
- 1994
- The Frogman extends G-Shock to ISO dive certification.
Also in 6 collections
This watch appears in Chronograph Watches (1,258), Watches Under £100 (652), Mesh Bracelet Watches (242), Skeleton Watches (220), GMT Watches (199) and Solar & Kinetic Watches (187).
Manufacturer’s guarantee
What the specifications mean
Strengths
- 38.8mm suits most wrists
- Sapphire crystal, which resists scratching
- Luminous hands and markers for low light
- Second time zone for travelling
- Sits in the lower half of Casio's range as we list it
Worth knowing
- 30m means keeping it away from water
Your new watch
Frequently asked questions, and things you should know about this watch
Can I swim with it?
No. At 30m it will survive rain and handwashing, but not submersion of any kind.
Will the glass scratch?
Unlikely. Sapphire is second only to diamond in hardness and shrugs off everyday marking.
Does it need a battery?
No. It charges from light, and the cell behind that is designed to last a decade or more.
Is it a men's or women's watch?
Listed as unisex, and at this size it suits any wrist that takes the dimensions.
Cheapest place to buy
Goldsmiths is the only UK retailer we track stocking this reference new, at £44. There is nothing to compare it against today.
Who are Goldsmiths?
Goldsmiths has been selling watches in Britain since 1778 and is part of the Watches of Switzerland Group, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange. They are an authorised dealer, so a watch comes with the manufacturer’s own warranty.
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