INTRODUCTION

I was in Tokyo for a couple of nights during the last week of May and to remind me of my trip, I bought myself a Casio Edifice solar powered watch as a souvenir. Before I dwell more about my new toy, first let me tell you why I bought the “cheapo” Japanese watch.

If you are a follower of mine, you know that I am into automatic watches only as I hate changing batteries of analog watches. And I have been recommending Rolex watches to everyone because my Rolex GMT Master I Pepsi which I bought 20 years ago still looks damn new and is still ticking! Last year, 2018, I even managed to secure the new Rolex GMT Master II Pepsi 126710BLRO at retail price! However, my favorite day to day Rolex is the Air King because I do not need to adjust the date! To read more about my sons’ and my Rolex watches plus many articles related to Rolex, please click here to my Rolex Page.

Sometime in early February 2018, I was itching for an all black watch and managed to purchase a Citizen Eco Drive solar powered watch for less about RM450, which was a steal. Click here to read about my All Black Stealth Citizen Eco Drive.

 

I tell you, the Citizen Eco Drive is so freaking cool as I did not need to wind it unlike my Rolex! Despite me not wearing the Citizen Eco Drive for weeks at times, it has been ticking non-stop ever since I bought it more than a year ago. I just leave the watch on a shelf in my room (with the curtains closed at all times) and the little light it absorbs is adequate to power the watch! I am impressed with  Japanese solar technology.

And since the Citizen Eco Drive is super cheap relative to my Rolex, I am not bothered if I scratch it (I am not the gentle type and my Rolex Air King smooth bezel is full of scratches, haha) or give it to someone who is desperate enough to ask it from me (i.e. rob/mug me).

My New Toy – Casio Edifice EQB-900-2A Blue Dial

Having owned the Citizen Eco Drive for more than a year, I am now a fan of Japanese made solar powered watches. So while I was at Narita Airport to catch my flight with Japan Airlines Business Class, I dropped by one of the many shops there and happened to see the Casio Edifice Solar Powered Blue Dial selling for JPY38,700 (most probably I could get it cheaper in Malaysia). I thought the watch looks nice and would remind me of my Tokyo Trip 2019 (article to be published soon) for years to come.

Like I mentioned in the first paragraph, I bought the “cheapo” Casio Edifice as a souvenir simply because it was relatively super duper cheaper than a Rolex and more importantly it was solar powered (Casio calls their solar technology Tough Solar where weak light source from fluorescent lamps are enough to power the watch).

Here is the thing, I knew nothing about the Casio Edifice except that is was solar powered until I read the manual and boy was I pleasantly surprised to find that this cheapo souvenir watch which I bought for myself is packed with unbelievable technology features that make operating the watch a breeze.

With Bluetooth, all I needed to do was connect the Casio Edifice EQB-900 to my Samsung smartphone using the Casio Watch+ App (downloaded from Play Store for FREE) and magically the watch will adjust automatically the hour and minute hands of the main dial! And with a touch on my smartphone screen, I can select the time of whichever country I want for the second smaller dial and it will automatically set the time too! With the Casio Watch+ App, I can even set the alarm for my Casio Edifice EQB-900DB-2A with my smartphone. What is more interesting is that the watch can locate my phone if necessary (watch finder feature)!!! The Edifice EQB-900 also has Stopwatch and Timer features too but I doubt I will ever use them.

If you refer to the above image, by simply touching the bottom of my phone, I can switch the dials time, i.e. the large dial will show World Time (country I have chosen) and the smaller dial the local time shown in my smartphone.

LED Light

I have a confession to make about my All Black Stealth Citizen Eco Drive –  the watch is useless at night as I can’t read the time! It is really a stealth time watch, hahaha. And it is also not easy to read the time at night on my Air King if there isn’t adequate lighting.

Therefore, I am delighted that my new toy, i.e. Casio Edifice EQB-900 comes with LED light!!!

Below are images showing the watch with and without the LED Light:

To show you just how useful the LED light is, check out the video below:

Rolex GMT versus Casio Dual Time

It is a fact that Rolex watches are of the highest quality and built to last BUT all it does is tell time. I do love my Rolex GMT Master I Pepsi, Rolex GMT Master II Pepsi and Rolex Air King BUT I hate to rewind the damn watches after not wearing them for a couple of days. Yes, I can buy a watch winder but heck it needs to be plugged into an electric socket which consumes electricity which is kind of wasting our natural resources and defeats the purpose of having automatic watches.

The Casio Dual Time watches, and in particular the solar models are also “automatic” in the sense that I do not need to replace battery every year or so. And best of all, with the second dial, I can have 2 time zones or magically any time zone I want by simply touching my smartphone! And with LED lighting, in the dark I will have no problems telling the time.

Having said the above, our smartphone has all the features of the Casio Edifice and more, haha. So do we really need the Casio Dual Time Zone watch or even a Rolex watch? hahahahaha. Watches are history and nowadays just a “shiok sendiri” thingy.

Bros and Sis, the thing is this, if you already have a Rolex to “shiok sendiri”, the Casio Edifice Dual Time is more “fun” to own compared to a boring Rolex or other mechanical automatic watches that just tell time and nothing else. For the price of a stainless steel Rolex sports model, we can purchase a new Casio solar powered watch every single year for the next 10 years. And the best part is that our “heart” won’t be hurt if our cheapo Casio watches get scratched and when we are on the streets, we are more than happy to give away our Casio to someone who desperately needs it.

Now, I still need to clarify, all of us still need to have a Rolex in the event of an emergency. The reason is when there is a nuclear war or when we are attacked by Aliens where they will destroy all our electric/power generators or when Godzilla emerges in the darkest hours due to extreme pollution preventing sunlight from reaching the earth surfaces, the only watch that will still be ticking is none other than a Rolex 🙂

Click Here For More Articles and Photos Of My Friends’ and My Japanese Solar Watches