Arms-On: Casio Edifice TOM’S fiftieth Anniversary Model Watch

For the automotive fanatic children of the ‘90s and early ‘00s, there’s possibly no additional beloved or important Japanese car than the white, inexperienced, and purple amount 36 Toyota Castrol TOM’S Supra, which launched Toyota its first-ever All Japan Grand Touring Automotive Championship (JGTC) title in 1997. Merely as importantly, though, the Castrol TOM’S Supra turned the unofficial poster automotive for the wildly well-liked “Gran Turismo” racing recreation assortment, introducing the legend of TOM’S and Toyota effectivity to a know-how of followers exterior Japan. This legendary racer isn’t the place tuning agency TOM’S began its storied racing partnership with Toyota, nonetheless, and for its latest Edifice launch, Casio pays tribute to a full 50 years of TOM’S-engineered Toyota racing machines. The model new Casio Edifice TOM’S fiftieth Anniversary Model blends a racy, modernist skeletonized carbon case with a secure guidelines of choices, along with a bevy of impressively built-in seen tributes to a variety of of the vehicles which have made this five-decade racing partnership so legendary.

The first impression that the Casio Edifice TOM’S fiftieth Anniversary Model gives on the wrist is extreme lightness. In true Casio model, it’s not exactly small at 44.5mm massive and 13.3mm thick, nevertheless the skeletonized carbon fiber-reinforced resin “Sospensione” case is so lightweight it barely registers all through placed on. The mannequin claims an complete mass of merely 56 grams, in actuality. With that talked about, there’s nonetheless a secure amount of wrist presence proper right here, thanks primarily to the prolonged, massive skeletonized lug constructions. Although this open-wheel suspension-inspired lattice design does mitigate the perceived seen weight significantly, there’s no getting throughout the substantial 50.1mm lug-to-lug dimension. With its excellent strap end hyperlinks, the perceived dimension on the wrist is even bigger, and the downturned type’s wraparound affect and the slimming power of black can’t totally overcome this sense of scale. However, the case is impressively superior and detailed for this value stage, mixing the cutaway matte black kinds of the precept case physique with a brushed, polished, and black-coated 60-minute bezel in stainless steel. Equally spectacular is the anti-reflective sapphire crystal, which features a ghostly printed “36” on the 36-minute mark in tribute to the JGTC championship-winning Castrol TOM’S Supra. Spherical once more, the watch choices an etched, screw-fastened caseback that features the TOM’S model, which permits a reasonably sporting 100 meters of water resistance.

Whereas it may appear to be a vibrant, albeit broadly customary modern racing chronograph design at first look, nearly every a part of the Casio Edifice TOM’S fiftieth Anniversary Model is a direct seen tribute to the racing historic previous of TOM’S. For instance, the translucent subdials at 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock attribute a skeleton layer lifted straight from the four-bolt Igeta wheels used on the distinctive TOM’S KP47 Starlet, whereas the colorful ring between the outer chapter ring and the woven carbon fiber foremost dial ground pays tribute to that automotive’s white, purple, and inexperienced racing livery. Within the meantime, the honeycomb development surrounding the three o’clock date window echoes the grille pattern of that exact same KP47 Starlet, with a lavender background referencing that automotive’s distinctive purple valve cowl. Added collectively, all these seen tributes sort a gratifying, racy, and refreshingly non-literal automotive-inspired design, nevertheless it’s not with out its faults. As an illustration, the vivid orange-and-yellow central seconds hand is a working seconds, leaving the additional detail-dependent chronograph seconds present to a low-contrast gray-on-gray subdial at 6 o’clock to enhance the red-rimmed 9 o’clock chronograph minutes. This format moreover solely permits for chronograph timing in one-second intervals, a severely limiting challenge for monitoring a motorsport the place tenths and even hundredths of a second are generally essential.

Casio powers the Edifice TOM’S fiftieth Anniversary Model with its in-house Module 5530 solar-powered quartz split-seconds chronograph movement. Small-interval timing deficiencies nevertheless, the Module 5530 is a solidly succesful performer, offering an accuracy of +20/-20 seconds month-to-month and an affect reserve of 5 months on a full picture voltaic price. To complete the bundle, Casio fits the watch with a novel asymmetrical strap in black leather-based. Similar to the case and dial, this strap design is brimming with TOM’S racing tributes every obvious and refined. There’s no missing the embroidered inexperienced and yellow TOM’S racing patch on the 6 o’clock side, nevertheless the painted forest inexperienced strap edges moreover pay homage to considered one of many workforce’s most enduring racing colors. Even every of the strap keepers are straight impressed by the TOM’S KP47 Starlet — the leather-based one naturally sporting the white, inexperienced, and purple racing color scheme, and the black stainless steel keeper takes every its tapering silhouette and its spherical cutouts from the lightweight wing mirrors used on that automotive. Sporty seen nods aside, it’s a solidly plush and versatile strap risk correct out of the gate, making the ultra-light case rather more cozy all through placed on.

Amongst followers of Toyota, Japanese motorsports, or the “Gran Turismo” racing recreation franchise, few names elicit the an identical form of reverence and pleasure as TOM’S. The model new Casio Edifice TOM’S fiftieth Anniversary Model brings this 50-year racing legacy to the wrist with a surprisingly superior seen tribute, tying in all types of race-car cues alongside a sporty, modernist skeleton chronograph design. Although the mannequin makes no level out of a restricted manufacturing run, it’s easy to think about the Casio Edifice TOM’S fiftieth Anniversary Model will in all probability be a limited-time offering, and the watch is in the marketplace now by the use of licensed sellers. MSRP for this watch stands at $300 USD as of press time. For additional information, please go to the mannequin’s website online.