Solid State Watch is, at first glance, a simple digital timepiece – an iconic Casio F-91W Watch [RR2:12] – sealed inside a transparent resin case. But this is no ordinary watch. It’s permanently encased with its features locked in stasis. It's in there forever. No buttons, no functions, no light, no adjusting for day light savings, no tweaking for the inevitable lost or gained time … and no changing that 10 year battery. Frozen in time. What you're left with is a single, inescapable function: the passage of time.
Conceived by CW&T, the Brooklyn-based studio of artists Che-Wei Wang and Taylor Levy, the Solid State Watch is more functional sculpture than watch. It is a deliberate and poetic reinterpretation of the mass-produced Casio F-91W, an object that, since 1989, has quietly become one of the most reliable and democratic pieces of technology ever made. It is indeed the world’s bestselling watch
Also, as it happens, with a bit of tinkering, that particular Casio can be used by terrorists as a timer for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) … but that is literally another story! Despite that nefarious use case, the charm of the Casio F-91W lies in its unpretentious efficiency: accurate, durable and affordable. CW&T elevates this humble marvel to the status of artifact.
Each Solid State Watch is cast individually, in resin, using a process that includes 3D printing, vacuum sealing, heat and UV curing – all done by hand in their Brooklyn studio. The resin forms a solid, waterproof block around the Casio movement, freezing it in time. And because the process is manual, each piece carries with it the beauty of minor imperfections – a reminder that even in a world of digital precision, the human hand still leaves a trace.
What makes it truly conceptual is its refusal to change. When you order the watch, you choose your desired time in UTC format. That’s the moment your watch is frozen. From that point on, it will tick unbothered, slowly diverging – perhaps a second every few months – from atomic time. It’s as if CW&T is asking: What does time mean if you can’t touch it? What value does precision hold when you surrender control?
The absence of a backlight, the muted face partially obscured by a fluorescent orange dot (placed to mask the non-leap-year-compatible calendar), the invisible seams, the minimalist elastic strap – each element contributes to a piece that feels more like art than wearable tech. It’s a meditation on mortality, routine, permanence and ultimately obsolescence.
It’s also strangely playful.
"Most people don’t get it," writes one owner in a review on the CW&T website “… but I do, and I’m happy I did”.
Postscript
If you’re in the mood to nerd out on the accuracy or otherwise of the Casio F-91W watch, check out this YouTube video analysing 100+ F-91Ws that have been running concurrently for 13 years.
Story Idea: Keira Alexandra
____________________________
References
Images
1. Solid State Watch. Photo credit: CW&T
2. Che-Wei Wang and Taylor Levy. Credit: CW&T
3 to 6. Solid State Watch. Photo credit: CW&T
7. Video: "Shop Talk with Che-Wei Wang of CW&T" | Autodesk Fusion, 2024
8. Video: "Art, Engineering and Justice - how accurate is a Casio watch?",The Geekologist, 2016
