[Watch Marty]

This is my first review; any constructive feedback is appreciated. For the past two years I have been looking for my prefect lifetime watch. It had to do many things, including not stand out, be radio controlled, have three hands, be analog or combination (analog + digital), have solar and backlight. This is probably not my lifetime watch, but it is so cheap ($175 delivered) that I decided to buy it. I cannot believe that these do not get a lot of love on the forums. I have seen only one other review, but it was for the model with a white face.

Casio specs as follows (courtesy of Google Translate):



Bezel Case Material: Stainless steel metal band (stainless steel) The cut in the fold formula star Solid Band One push three

• Neoburaito
• Inorganic glass
• 5 ATM water resistant
• Tough Solar (solar charge system)
• (Up to 6 times / day) (China radio waves 5 times / day maximum) / manual reception automatic reception,: wave reception function
  <Japan> reception electric wave: JJY, Frequency: 40kHz / 60kHz (Fukushima / both bureau in Kyushu model)
  <North America region> reception electric wave: WWVB, Frequency: 60kHz
  <European region> reception electric wave: MSF/DCF77, frequency: 60kHz / 77.5kHz
  <China> reception electric wave: BPC, frequency: 68.5kHz
  * If you set the city can receive home a set time, the receiving stations according to the city. The time difference is set by the selected city.
• Time display (29 time zones, daylight saving time setting function) + UTC (Coordinated Universal Time): 29 world cities world time
• (1/100 second, 60-minute) stopwatch
• Timer (a set unit: 1 minute, set up: 100 minutes, measured in seconds)
• Strikes five time alarm
• Battery indicator displays
• (And to save power and stop the needle to turn off the display after a certain time in the dark) Power saving function
• Full Auto Calendar
• Display switch 12/24 hour
• Beep ON / OFF switching function
• 3 pattern display switching (date, day of the week, second display, time display), multi-language day of the week notation (five languages: Japanese / English / German / Spanish / Chinese)
• LED light (with afterglow function)
• If the function is used driving time from solar power in the state without the full charge: For about four months the power saving state: about 22 months
  
  JJY40 · JJY60 standard radio (city-functional receiver) / received signal Tokyo / Japan Home City
  Standard radio WWVB (Honolulu), (Anchorage), Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, New York / American
  Standard radio wave MSF London, Paris, Athens / British standard radio wave DCF77 in Germany
  Standard radio BPC of Hong Kong / China
  ※ There is the case of be received in good condition () in each city.
  
  * If there is no radio reception is, I work (15 seconds per month difference ±) usually quartz accuracy.
• Size (H × W × D) / mass: 43.8 × 40 × 9.4mm/115.5g

I ordered through US Amazon on Feb 7. It estimated delivery between Mar 12 and Apr 2. What!?!?!? Did they wait for an order before they went out and mined the ore for the case? Did they ship via Yak through Somalia? That seemed like a *LONG* time. Fortunately, they did ship the watch within four days and it arrived at my house today, 11 days after the placing the order.

It sailed through customs and arrived today.



Packaging was very good, with the center box well protected and anchored to a piece of cardboard so that it did not rattle in the box.





Inside was the watch on the white pillow.



Once the watch was exposed to light, the hands started moving to the current time in UTC. Notice the Kanji symbol in the window. I needed to set the language of the watch.



The bracelet.



The back.



The clasp.



Wrist shot with protective cover still installed.



Lume shots and backlight shots appear to be difficult. I hope to attempt those later tonight and post. Case and bracelet are made of solid stainless steel, with the reassuring heft to prove it. This watch is almost perfect, but for the price, it can afford to be very imperfect. What's not quite right about this watch?

• It feels just a little too small, a little too dainty
• The crystal is not sapphire
• It does not have automatic hand correction
• It is only water resistant to 50 meters

Let's be honest, those are small quibbles. The truth is that this is an amazing amount of watch for the money. Never replace a battery. Never worry about the time being incorrect. Never fumble for a light in the dark to see the time. This watch (almost) has it all. I am amazed that it doesn't get more attention.

 

[Sedi]

Great review - thanks! I agree - that model is underrated - it's on my to-buy-list for quite some time as I agree that it would make a very good everyday watch - the European version has sapphire btw - I have no idea why the JDM-version doesn't. What I like is that is can use standard straps and 3-hands design with the little LCD. I think I should get one :-d.
Enjoy it to the max!

cheers, Sedi

 

[Watch Marty]

the European version has sapphire btw - I have no idea why the JDM-version doesn't.

Doh! If only I had known! Oh well, it is a fine watch either way.

I did manage to get a couple of pictures. Here's a lume shot.



I had a devil of a time getting a picture of the backlight and resorted to a frame grab from video. The picture does not do it justice. In person it is much nicer.

 

[Sedi]

Lume looks pretty good on the pic - how is it in reality? Many Casios have bad lume but there are exceptions to the rule - I had an EQW-M1000 once and that one had good lume and was still readable in the wee hours of the night.
There's a trick to doing lume-shots btw - let the camera focus while the lights are on - then keep the button pressed to keep it focused and turn off the lights - then turn on the illumination of the watch and take the pic - voilá:


This can even be done with a cheapo digicam for 100 bucks.

cheers, Sedi

 

[Watch Marty]

Good feedback on the lume shots -- many thanks. This lume is much better than my previous lume, a Casio AQS800WD-1EV.



These are the only two watches I have had with lume, so I don't know if the current watch is bad and the previous was awful, or if the previous watch was typical Casio and the current one is better. To be honest, the last watch convinced me that I must have a backlight, but the current watch's lume is decent enough that I really don't use the backlight that often. What's more, the LCW-M100D has highly reflective hands and markers, so even in low light with no lume it is easy to read.

 

[Sedi]

Good to know the lume is better than on the AQ-S800 - I got the S810 and the lume on that model is pretty much useless. Same is true for my AWG-M100.

cheers, Sedi

 

[Wongsky]

Just noticed this thread - I have 2 of these, plus I've bought another 2 for family members.

I have a european version, with a blue face and sapphire glass:-



And a white JDM version without sapphire glass:-



I've been very happy with them both, I bought one with a grey face (LCW-M100DSE-1AER with sapphire glass) for somebody in my family, and another with the anthracite coloured face (LCW-M100DSE-7A2ER with sapphire glass) for another family member.

It was the experience of having these that was the impetus to get another (titanium) Lineage, with the tough movement (and no LCDs, or backlight) - the LIW-T100TD-1AJF:-



I've never really understood why the JDM versions of the LCW-M100D doesn't have sapphire glass - it was something I wondered when I got my white-faced one (I bought the blue-faced one about a month prior). My only criticism of the DSE version with sapphire glass, is that I'd just feel more confident if the water resistance was rated at 100m, and the only other negative - the chapter ring. If it was painted it or styled differently, it would look fine, but because of the styling and because it's self-coloured it looks cheap and nasty - which is quite a shame, really, because otherwise the watch and bracelet are finished quite nicely - the titanium lineage in the last photo doesn't suffer from this, because the chapter ring is different.

It was a model that I arrived at after looking for something that would be my ideal watch (3 hands, solar, atomic), and I think they're great watches, really. Simple looks, LCD that's useful for the additional features - and in my opinion work better for things like world time than many of the other implementations on better watches.

 

[Watch Marty]

Just noticed this thread - I have 2 of these, plus I've bought another 2 for family members.

I have a european version, with a blue face and sapphire glass:-

View attachment 1547469

And a white JDM version without sapphire glass:-

View attachment 1547471

I've been very happy with them both, I bought one with a grey face (LCW-M100DSE-1AER with sapphire glass) for somebody in my family, and another with the anthracite coloured face (LCW-M100DSE-7A2ER with sapphire glass) for another family member.

It was the experience of having these that was the impetus to get another (titanium) Lineage, with the tough movement (and no LCDs, or backlight) - the LCW-T100TD-1AJF:-

View attachment 1547475

I've never really understood why the JDM versions of the LCW-M100D doesn't have sapphire glass - it was something I wondered when I got my white-faced one (I bought the blue-faced one about a month prior). My only criticism of the DSE version with sapphire glass, is that I'd just feel more confident if the water resistance was rated at 100m, and the only other negative - the chapter ring. If it was painted it or styled differently, it would look fine, but because of the styling and because it's self-coloured it looks cheap and nasty - which is quite a shame, really, because otherwise the watch and bracelet are finished quite nicely - the titanium lineage in the last photo doesn't suffer from this, because the chapter ring is different.

It was a model that I arrived at after looking for something that would be my ideal watch (3 hands, solar, atomic), and I think they're great watches, really. Simple looks, LCD that's useful for the additional features - and in my opinion work better for things like world time than many of the other implementations on better watches.

Wongsky,

Very nice. I scratch my crystal and had a sapphire installed. Sadly, this introduced minor defects to the face.