Watches
                  by Christopher Williams
                         2025-10-06


I haven’t worn a watch since the mid-2000s, but lately I’ve
been thinking about getting one again. One reason is I don’t
like having to pull out my phone to check the time; it’s
slow and clumsy, and I’m tempted to check my email and other
attention-seeking notifications more often than I’d like.
I also don’t care to have a "smart" watch which wouldn’t
really help with the latter issue and would require charging
multiple times per week.

Recently I came across Luxferre’s gopher hole who’s a bit
of a watch collector. He listed requirements for his ideal
watch[1], such as dial size, maximum weight, hand length,
lug width, etc. Later he wrote about the Casio DB36[2], at
only $40, being the best "bang for a buck" when it comes to
LCD-based models.

I checked out the DB36, and it is indeed a capable but
unassuming watch which intrigues me. Then I looked at the
other current Casio Databank watches, and the DBC32 caught
my eye. I used to wear one just like it about 25 years ago!
I think I still have it somewhere in a disassembled state.

Well, it’s not exactly the same. The DBC32 can store only 25
phone book entries whereas my old one could store probably
150 or 300 or more, and it lacks a countdown timer. Also,
the DBC32’s keypad can be used only for numeric input
whereas my old watch’s supported alphanumeric text entry.
Adding or editing the name in a phone book entry requires
using two buttons to go forward or backward through the
character set, but since a name is at most 8 characters
long it’s not too painful to enter one. And if I remember
correctly, my old watch allowed me to give each alarm a
short name so I could tell what it’s for (e.g., "LUNCH" or
"STUDY").

     ______________________________________________________
    /
      Each phone book entry can have a name of up to 8
      characters long and a number of up to 15 digits long
      (which can also contain hyphens and spaces). If we
      assume the name is stored in 8 bytes (padded if
      shorter than 8 characters) and the number is stored
      with two digits per byte (as in BCD), each entry
      would occupy only 16 bytes of memory. So 25 entries
      would occupy 400 bytes, with maybe one additional
      byte to indicate how many entries are used.

      I suspect the module has 512 bytes of nonvolatile
      memory, leaving perhaps 111 bytes for all other
      functionality (alarms, stopwatch, etc.). I know
      memory ain’t cheap these days, but surely Casio
      could’ve splurged on a few kilobytes....
     ______________________________________________________/


None of those is a deal breaker for me. (Though I do wonder
why Casio made it somewhat less functional than similar
models from 25 years ago.) It has enough features to be
useful but not too many to be a distraction, its display
is easy to read, and it’s cheap—cheaper than the DB36 in
fact. So I ordered one. I read reviews about the plastic
strap breaking every couple years, so I also ordered a
steel mesh strap to go with it (which helped to get me
above the $35 order minimum to get free shipping). And
despite being more breathable (read: more comfortable) and
longer-lasting, it actually costs _less_ than a genuine
Casio plastic replacement strap.

Anyway, I’ve been wearing it for a few days now, and I like
it. No more pulling out my phone to look at the time. (Well,
I’m still working on breaking that habit.) I don’t mind that
it also gives off an "engineer"/"nerd" vibe. And I like that
it has a "10 year battery", meaning I don’t have to worry
about replacing or charging the battery for _years_.

In four days it’s gained about a second, so I estimate it’ll
gain about 7 or 8 seconds per month which is within its
rated +/- 15 seconds per month. No big deal. I can live with
that. I can retard the time by 7 or 8 seconds once a month
(or 15 seconds every other month), or I can periodically
sync it against WWV or an Internet-based time service. Easy
peasy.

Someone on Reddit complained how hard the keypad keys are to
press (they said a similar model, the DBC611, has flat keys
that are easier to press but also easier to press the wrong
key). I haven’t found that to be the case for me. Each key
has a triangular profile when looking from the side, and it
seems the sweet spot is on its peak.

Now I just need to find my old watch and see what it’ll take
to revive it. Maybe I’ll gift it or this new watch to one of
my sons.

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                         References
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[1] gopher://hoi.st/0/posts/2024-04-22-i-refreshed-my-watch-requirements.txt
[2] gopher://hoi.st/0/posts/2024-05-20-a-look-from-another-side-again.txt