- Casio release M-Edition digital watch with Leica design inspiration
- The watch is available in two variants, a Chrome style and a Black version, just like many Leica M-Series cameras
- The watch’s retailer, PPP Cameras, is already sold out of both versions
Leica cameras are among the most desirable photography products money can buy. Despite the seemingly astronomical prices, they are built for a specialist audience and often sell out within minutes of being announced. However if, as is the case for me, owning a complete M-series system is beyond your current budget, the new Casio M-Edition watch might scratch a red-dot-related itch.
Available in Chrome and Black versions, the digital watch features a customized red dial that not-too-subtly references that iconic roundel of red paint adorning the body of many popular Wetzlar-made Leica cameras, such as the Leica M11, or Leica M-EV1. The echoes of the M brand don’t stop there. Even the watch strap is crafted in a leatherette pattern that is supposed to make the user (or a jealousy-laden observer) think of the look and feel of Leica camera bodies.
Furthermore, while the watch stops short of actually taking photographs, it’s fitted with special red LEDs that functionally are used for the watch light but serve the double role of paying homage to a camera’s internal light meter. Having not actually tested a sample yet, I’m not convinced a red LED would make me think of a light meter first and foremost, had I not already been briefed that this watch was camera-themed. I mean, there are plenty of other household appliances that use red LEDs. My TV remote for example. Or the status light on my blender. Leica doesn’t make blenders though, so I guess it must be a light meter…
The magic Leica touch
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If you thought this is all a bit of a gimmick, you’re probably not alone. But that doesn’t stop it from selling like hot cakes. It seems that just as actual Leica M-Series cameras fly off the shelves just because they are emblazoned with familiar iconography, so too does a digital watch that the manufacturer tells you is inspired by the famous German brand.
As of the date of writing this, PPP Cameras, who are the reseller of the Casio M-Edition Watch, are already completely sold out of all versions, with a second batch expected in March. PPP is run by Pierro Pozella, who some might recognise as the camera expert on the hit BBC show, The Repair Shop, so it is clearly made and sold with love.
In its favor, the price of $205 / £150 / AU$295 is brilliantly affordable, so unlike the cameras it is styled after, you won’t have to decide between buying one instead of a car, or putting a deposite down for a house. Moreover, it seems to be a variant of the Casio AE1200, a watch that already has a following thanks to its similarity to James Bond’s far more expensive Seiko timepiece in the film Casino Royale.
It might not be the luxury product that a Leica M11-D, or even a Leica Q3 Monochrom is, but the styling, however gimmicky it might seem, has a section of the market all to itself. If you love all things Leica, there’s a good chance it will become something of a curiosity in the future, which might mean its value increases far beyond its current retail price. Right now, it’s cheap, cheerful and, if you like this sort of thing, quite endearing.
It even tells the time.
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