Of course, the Casio Overland only appears to be available in Japan (aren’t all the coolest Japanese watches?), but if you have some strings over there, they might be worth pulling to get your hands on one of these. In my opinion, the Casio Overland is the nicest looking solar Waveceptor to date.
Here’s the skinny on the Casio Overland:
- Tough Solar. Solar cells in the dial keep the watch’s battery charged. I have a couple Casio Tough Solar watches, and I’ve found that this system works remarkably well.
- Waveceptor. That’s Casio’s way of saying that this watch is automatically calibrated through radio waves transmitted by atomic clocks. The Casio Overland works with 40kHz and 60kHz signals which are intended for use in Japan, however the atomic clock in Fort Collins, Colorado broadcasts at 60kHz, so it will work in the US. (Watch Report reader Victor Shiff has pointed out that although the frequency is the same, the time code is different, so this watch will not work in the US. Bummer. Thanks, Victor.)
- Alarm.
- Water resistant to 100 meters (330 feet).
- Battery charge warning function. I’m not sure how this works, but I’m guessing the second hand starts jumping in two-second increments to indicate that the watch’s power is low.
- Power saving function. If the watch detects that it is in the dark for an extended period of time, it will stop to conserve power.
- LED illumination. That means it uses a small LED (probably bluish) to illuminate the dial. LED illumination is much brighter than electroluminescent, and is what Casio is using now for analog watches.
- Perpetual date, meaning it doesn’t need to be reset after months with fewer than 31 days.
- Metal case. Available with metal bracelets or nylon straps.
- Retail is approximately between $165 and $250.
Thanks to the magic of Google, here’s an English version of the Casio
Overland product page.
