Casio

Casio Men's WL500-1A Tough Solar Digital Sports Watch

• Tough solar power, full auto LED light with afterglow
• 4 daily alarms and 1 snooze, hourly time signal, stopwatch
• 12 and 24 hr formats, power saving function

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Shopping for a fashionable, feature-packed timepiece doesn't need to drain your bank account. The affordable Casio Men's Tough Solar Digital Sports Watch #WL500-1A comes packed with features typically found in more expensive digital watches, like solar powered quartz movement--which means you'll never need to change its battery--an LED light with Afterglow technology for telling time in the dark, a day and month calendar, and four daily alarms (including a snooze function for when you need a few extra minutes of sleep). This watch also includes a stopwatch that can record split time and a low battery warning. With a resin band with a traditional buckle clasp, this watch is water-resistant to 165 feet (50 meters).

The Casio Story

With the launch of its first watch in November 1974, Casio entered the wristwatch market at a time when the watch industry had just discovered digital technology. As a company with cutting-edge electronic technology developed for pocket calculators, Casio entered this field confident that it could develop timepieces that would lead the market.

In developing its own wristwatches Casio began with the basic question, ""What is a wristwatch?"" Rather than simply making a digital version of the conventional mechanical watch, we thought that the ideal wristwatch should be something that shows all facets of time in a consistent way. Based on this, Casio was able to create a watch that displayed the precise time including the second, minute, hour, day, and month — not to mention a.m. or p.m., and the day of the week. It was the first watch in the world with a digital automatic calendar function that eliminated the need to reset the calendar due the variation in month length. Rather than using a conventional watch face and hands, a digital liquid crystal display was adopted to better show all the information. This culminated in the 1974 launch of the CASIOTRON, the world’s first digital watch with automatic calendar. The CASIOTRON won acclaim as a groundbreaking product that represented a complete departure from the conventional wristwatch.

Casio transformed the concept of the watch — from a mere timepiece to an information device for the wrist — and undertook product planning based on this innovative idea. We developed not only time functions such as global time zone watches, but also other radical new functions using Casio’s own digital technology, including calculator and dictionary functions, as well as a phonebook feature based on memory technology, and even a thermometer function using a built-in sensor. The memory-function watches became our DATA BANK product series, while the sensor watches developed into two unique Casio product lines of today: the Pathfinder series displaying altitude, atmospheric pressure, and compass readings.

In 1983, Casio launched the shock-resistant G-SHOCK watch. This product shattered the notion that a watch is a fragile piece of jewelry that needs to be handled with care, and was the result of Casio engineers taking on the challenge of creating the world’s toughest watch. Using a triple-protection design for the parts, module, and case, the G-SHOCK offered a radical new type of watch that was unaffected by strong impacts or shaking. Its practicality was immediately recognized, and its unique look, which embodied its functionality, became wildly popular, resulting in explosive sales in the early 1990s. The G-SHOCK soon adopted various new sensors, solar-powered radio-controlled technology (described below), and new materials for even better durability. By always employing the latest technology, and continuing to transcend conventional thinking about the watch, the G-SHOCK brand has become Casio’s flagship timepiece product.

Today, Casio is focusing its efforts on solar-powered radio-controlled watches: the built-in solar battery eliminates the nuisance of replacing batteries, and the radio-controlled function means users never have to reset the time. In particular, the radio-controlled function represents a revolution in time-keeping technology similar to the impact created when mechanical watches gave way to quartz technology. Through the further development of high radio-wave sensitivity, miniaturization, and improved energy efficiency, Casio continues to produce a whole range of radio-controlled models.

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B002J4UBHW
• Item model number: WL500-1A
• Batteries: 1 Lithium Metal batteries required.
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,749 in Watches (See Top 100 in Watches)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's Fantastic!, May 12, 2010

By 

Jeffrey Brown "Jeffreylb94" (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Casio Men's WL500-1A Tough Solar Digital Sports Watch (Watch)

This is worth the price! It really does run by the sun, and the solar panel also charges the rechargeable battery at the same time, so you will never need to replace the battery. If your'e tired of replacing batteries, but want something cheap, then this is the perfect match! VERY easy to use! The one issue I have is that When going to different menus (alarms, Countdown timer, then timer) it will make a small beep sound, which can be very hard to use that at school, or some place quit. I also do really like the feature where you tilt the watch 45 Degrees and the light can auto come on (if you set it).

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Casio Solar Watch, June 7, 2010

By 

Wyatt A. Arnold "Art Arnold" (Tucson Arizona USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Casio Men's WL500-1A Tough Solar Digital Sports Watch (Watch)

I have had casio watches for decades. As a swim coach the stopwatch function is a must. This watch is very visible with a large time AND day and date function. In the past I have had Casio watches where the day and date was difficult to see. I also like the FLICK YOUR WRIST finction that lights up the watch at night. This is a solar watch and I have had the watch for about three weeks and have noticed no difference from a pure battery powered Casio. We will check future reviews to test the duration of the solar power. I love this watch so far and give it a five out of five star rating.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Competent. Strange manual. Slow charging., August 6, 2010

By 

Cologodan (Ft. Collins, CO) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Casio Men's WL500-1A Tough Solar Digital Sports Watch (Watch)

This watch competently keeps and measures time. The stopwatch,elapsed time and second time zone functions are much easier to use and read than the tiny dials on, for example, a Citizen EcoDrive. I cannot report on the alarm functions, because the watch, after weeks in the sun, is still charging. The manual is clearly written and illustrated, but physically tiny. However, the functions are easily learned and intuitive, so constant reference to the manual is not required. If the watch ever charges fully, I expect the alarm to be as capable as the rest of the watch. If it does not fully charge, I will give it away or toss it.