Casio

While many Swiss watch manufacturers have been in existence for 100 years or more, Casio is a relative newcomer to the watch industry. The very first Casio watch, the "Casiotron", made a big splash on the watch scene when it was introduced in October 1974. While the features offered are an afterthought today, this watch was on the leading edge of technology because not only did it show the hours, minutes, and seconds, but also had a "unique" function that could automatically determine the number of days in a month and whether or not the current year was a leap year. Prior to 1974, Casio had developed their success and reputation in the electronic calculator industry. At the same time, the watch industry was undergoing a technological revolution from mechanical to quartz mechanisms. Quartz watches are in essence electronic calculators that measure pulses from a crystal oscillator and converts those measurements into increments of time. Considering this, it was only natural for Casio to branch out into the watch business. Over the last thirty years Casio has been a major global innovator of watch design and advancement. They introduced the toughest watch in the world, the Casio G-Shock Watch. In addition, they have pioneered the development of solar powered watches, atomic time watches and watches with barometers, altimeters, heart monitors and even remote controls for all your other electronic equipment!