Casio’s Film series (an ambit metaphor for their thinness) spanned the 80s and 90s, and included some of their most collectible models from this period. The FS-02, despite the model number, was one of the last Film models released, and features a full dot matrix screen which can be set to display some fun little animations along with the time, and shows animated transitions on mode switching. Sadly, no sound was included in these so they lack an alarm and countdown timer. However, they do feature lovely electroluminescent backlighting, which comes on for a minimum of 1.5s. At only 29g, and impressively thin at 5.8mm, this is a properly minimalist unit, with rather unique construction – instead of a separate module which comes out of the case, the case itself forms the module chassis, with the buttons entering the case from above and below, although contrary to what you might assume from their appearance, they actuate in parallel with the screen just like normal buttons. A proprietary strap fixture system rounds out the weirdness, so it’s a good thing the materials employed have stood the test of time. <-All of that was pinched from the description of the FS-00, which is a very similar watch released only a few months earlier (which is why this one is down as 90s, even though it was released in February 2000). This model however, sports a rather unique feature, enabling a couple of extra display modes: a radial dot matrix! It’s a shame there aren’t more watches like this. As far as I know, no other watch can bust out both digital and ‘analog’ with the same display elements (if we exclude power-hungry smartwatches with general-purpose displays).

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