Casio F-91W: The Iconic Hipster watch, that shares history with Obama, Osama and Even Al-Qaeda
Watches may remind you of luxury brands like Rolex and Patek Philippe. But here you are, reading this interesting blog dedicated to Casio F-91W, that costs less than $10 (yes, you read it right). Although the cost is minimal, the history of this hipster watch makes it more iconic than Rolex or Patek Philippe.
Before we begin, let’s have a look at this iconic F-91W.
Casio F-91W: The Hipster’s Favourite
From trendy mechanical watches to tech-laden smartwatches, the thing we wear on our wrist has become more complex than ever. The classic design was rolled out in June 1989. This design functionality has everything a watch could do. It is precise (losing no more than 30 seconds in a given month), waterproof, has a stopwatch, seconds timer, an alarm, an hourly beep and a green backlight. It tells the date and day of the week.
The F-91W has an average battery life of seven years. It comes with a resin band. Weighing only 21 g, it looks classy and gives a retro vibe. Casio still pumps out over 3 million units of the F-91 per year. This watch is particularly popular with those looking for a low-cost, reliable, accurate timepiece for daily usage.
These two names don’t go well together. Obama and Osama are poles apart. You may wonder if they share anything in common. The answer is yes. The only piece of thing that they had in common is the Casio F-91W. Much interestingly, it has been worn by many famous people, including Osama Bin Laden and Barack Obama.
Barack Obama & Osama Bin Laden
Both were spotted wearing the F-91W. It’s the only brand, that Laden wore in public.
The Terrorists Timepiece
The watch is also renowned for being one of Al-Qaeda’s favourite accessories. The connection with terrorism isn’t something to be happy about, but this says something about the reliability of the watch. Let’s try to understand why has it picked up a reputation for being a preferred timepiece by the terrorists.
The F-91W’s association with Al Qaeda was prominently established following the Denbeaux study. The United States Government detains over 500 individuals at Guantanamo Bay prison. After profiling the detainees, it was found that a lot of the detainees who worked with explosives, were captured wearing, the F-91W (or its silver-coloured sibling A159W). Casio watches were mentioned almost 150 times in prisoner assessments from Guantanamo.
Jihadi militants appreciated the F-91W and its dozens of variations for their resilience. “Run it over with a car, smash it with a hammer, drop it in boiling or ice-cold water– the beast holds its own”. Being sturdy, prolific, and cheap, it can also work as a key ingredient for bombs. The terrorist organisation even distributes them in training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Junior jihadis learn how to assemble them.
The watch face can be hooked up to a circuit board, some 9-volt batteries and plastic explosives with little difficulty, then set to detonate as easily as fixing your morning alarm. A maximum timer of 23:59:59 allows the bombers to put plenty of distance between themselves and their explosion targets. To make multiple IEDs, they should have very little variation time between them; so they chose their timers to come from the same respected manufacturer. This model was also useful because it was water-resistant.
Terrorists use F-91W in making time bombs. The United States Department of Defence lists the watch as one of Al-Qaeda’s favoured IED triggers.
The U.S. offshore detention centre at Guantanamo Bay now lists the watch as a “suspicious item” that could be used as contributing proof to have you detained in its cells.
In the post-9/11 period, if a captured terrorist was found to possess an F-91W, the person was assumed to have been trained in bomb-making.
Conclusion
Outside of the terrorist world, the F-91 W is popular in many regular armies, including Singapore’s military service, US AIR Force training camps, the British Army and the Royal Air Force.
Even if the watch does not belong to the legendary G-Shock series, it lives up to that name. This watch has been available for 30 years without changing and is still identical to the original. Especially for Generation X, who still knows and appreciates the watch from their youth, the Casio offers a perfect relic of the past on the wrist. 100% retro!
When the Japanese make something, they ensure that it lasts longer than the owner.
“You never actually own an F-91W, you merely look after it for the next generation.”
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Written By: Pratik Choudhary
