Watch Review: Casio Ocenaus T200

Oceanus is a high end line of sporty/dressy watches from Casio that is only sold in Japan.  This is the second Oceanus model I've owned, and I've had it for about six months now.  It has, in my opinion, the most quality and excellence per dollar of any watch at any price point.  Bottom line - if you like the styling, get it, it's amazing.  There's a few little issues, but it's mostly great.

STATS:

• Manufactuer: Casio Oceanus
• Model: OCW-T200S-1AJF
• Materials:
• Case: Stainless steel, titanium carbide treatment
• Bracelet: Stainless steel, titanium carbide treatment
• Crystal: Sapphire, flat, inner AR coating
• Movement: 5596
• Solar powered quartz
• Radio controlled
• Perpetual calendar
• Bluetooth connectivity
• Automatic hand alignment correction
• Date complication
• Dimensions:
• Case Size: 41.6mm
• Lug to Lug: 49.2mm
• Lug Width: 20mm
• Thickness: 11.0mm (including crystal)
• Weight: 119g (sized for 6.75in wrist)
• Water Resistance: 10atm/100m
• Crown: Push-pull
• Other:
• Sunburst dial
• Lumed hands and pips
• Signed crown
• Milled clasp
• Price: $450 +/-

WHAT I LIKE

There's two big things that blow me away on this watch, the overall quality, and the dial.  Let's talk quality first.

My camera doesn't do the finishing justice, but you can see just how sharp and crisp the transitions are between polished and brushed surfaces on the case.  Also look at the depth of that dial!

This is, by far, the most well finished and put together watch I've owned.  The polishing is a perfect mirror, the transitions between brushed and polished surfaces are razor sharp and crisp.  There's rumors that some of these Oceanus models are made in the same factory as Grand Seiko...I don't think that's true, why would Casio and Grand Seiko share a factory?  They each have own their own production facilities, they do completely different things, so that doesn't really make any sense, I think it's a myth that just keeps getting repeated.  Anyhow.  This watch is made on their "Premium Production Line" in Yamagata, Japan.  Only Casio's highest end models are made on this line, with this watch being one of, if not the, least expensive models to come off that line.  

The dial is a dark, dark blue with some sunburst effect.  In most lighting it looks black.  If you want to bring out the blue more, pair it with a dark blue strap (like the Barton Elite Silicone in dark navy).  There are a few other dial options as well, there's a light blue that comes on a bracelet (but appears to be going out of production), a medium blue that comes on a strap, a new grey dial that also comes on a strap, and an murdered out version with a black IP case and bracelet.  The indices are amazing.  The top has some very fine striations (which I wasn't really able to capture with my camera) and the sides are polished, and all the edges are razor sharp.  They appear to hover over the dial, like they're cantilevered off the chapter ring.  They are actually attached to the dial, but you have to look at a really shallow angle to see it.  The hands are crowned so they catch light and improve visibility, the date is nice and large, and the second hand hits every single marker exactly perfect.  I mean EXACTLY perfect.  There's minimal branding on the dial, no billboard of specs or features thankfully, and what little text is there for operation purposes is subtle and well done in my opinion.  

The final touch on the look is the blue AR coating on the underside of the crystal, it often shows up in the bevel around the edge of the crystal adding a very nice effect (you can see it in many of the pictures here).  The whole watch face is very anti-reflective really, which improves legibility in more lighting conditions.  There are lume pips outside each marker, and the hour/minute hands are lumed as well.  While there's not a lot of lume, what's there is very good, it glows blue and it will last all night.  The second hand is not lumed, but is a beautiful blue that matches the Oceanus wave logo (which is applied by the way) and the tip of the hand is white to make it stand out a bit more.

Depending on the lighting the dial can vary from black to dark grey to navy blue.

The movement is great as well.  It's one of Casio's Tough Solar movements, so it's solar powered, has an automatic hand realignment feature (as well as a manual realignment feature), has a perpetual calendar and is radio controlled.  You can very easily change the time zone as well without stopping the time keeping.  That's really all the features I want out of a three handed movement.

The movement also has Bluetooth.  You can download the Oceanus app to your smart phone, connect the watch, and then set the watch up through the app as well as sync the time on the watch.  Once the watch establishes a Bluetooth pairing it will automatically sync to your phone four times a day - that's excessive IMO.  It would be better if it worked like the radio sync where once it has a successful sync it doesn't do it again that day, but if it misses it will try a few times until it is successful.  You can also use the app to change time zones, and you can view the battery charge level on the app.  The battery charge level is really the only thing you can do on the app that you can't do on the watch itself.  

A navy blue strap pairs well with this dial and brings out the color.  The strap pictured is a BluShark 'knit weave.'

The Bluetooth feature is great if you don't live in range of an atomic radio signal.  It's also great in that you don't need to use the Bluetooth feature if you don't want to, it's not at all necessary to operate the watch.  Since I live in range of the radio signal from Colorado I don't use the Bluetooth because I don't want the app running on my phone all the time and I don't want the watch wasting battery looking for my phone four times a day, especially since I have a handful of watches so it's not always near my phone.

The bracelet is fine, but nothing spectacular.  I do appreciate that it's finishing matches the case, a detail often missed that really annoys me.  It's an oyster style bracelet that uses a pin and collar system (with captive collars unlike the Seiko Monster...) and has an all brushed finish.  It's easy to get a good fit since it comes with two half links, and has two microadjust on the clasp.  A quick adjust clasp would be a really nice addition.  All that said - the watch is very comfortable.  The bracelet doesn't pull hair, and the whole package is nice and light.  I appreciate how thin the case is as well.  Both the bracelet and case are treated with a titanium carbide surface hardening treatment and it appears to work well, my clasp has some desk diving marks on it but I've yet to scratch the case or bracelet after owning it for about seven months now.

That dial!

WHAT I DON'T LIKE

As much as I love the watch there are a few things I don't like about it.  Obviously it's a pain that they're only sold in Japan so you can't go look at one in person, you have to take a leap of faith and order it.  I don't understand why Casio wouldn't sell the Oceanus line here in the States, I think it would be huge.  Seems like they're leaving money on the table...

Anyhow.  The biggest gripe about the watch itself is the placement of the spring bars - they sit close to the case, and there's a very sharp edge on the case right behind the spring bars.  The edge is so sharp that when I put a silicone strap on the watch the case cut a scallop out of both sides of the strap.  I ended up taking mine to my WorkSharp knife sharpener (essentially a mini belt sander) and knocked that edge down so it wouldn't cut my straps any more.  I'm curious how the models that come on a strap get around this...

I took this pic after I filed the sharp edge down, but you can see the cut in the strap from the edge.  The actual cutting edge is out of view in this pic.  Due to the geometry of the watch there was no way to file back the cutting edge without also getting into the case back just a bit as you can see in this picture.  That little bit of material removed will not effect the water resistance or anything though.

Because the spring bars are close to the case not all straps look right.  For example, with a canvas Barton strap the lugs stick up past the strap a bit which is less than ideal.  The Barton Silicone Elite strap works great though, it matches the shape of the lugs and really makes the watch look more sporty, and if you go with the navy blue strap it really brings out the blue in the dial.

Nice full-sunlight view of the dial where you can see the sunburst effect.  You can also see the lugs sticking out past the thin canvas strap.

My one other nitpick is the clasp.  I wish it had a quick adjust feature, but I'm not surprised it doesn't.  Oceanus does make a quick adjust clasp actually that I think will fit, so I've got one ordered and will report back on that.  Besides the lack of quick adjust my other gripe is that the 6 o'clock side of the bracelet doesn't fit tightly up under the clasp, giving it a bit of a whale shark look and making it more prone to catch on stuff.  This problem is of course not at all unique to this watch, and calling it a 'problem' is a bit of a stretch anyhow.

I always prefer a screw down crown over a push/pull crown.  And lastly, I would love it even more if were scaled down to a 40mm or even a 39mm case with a lug to lug around 47mm.  That's just my scrawny wrist bias showing...

SUMMARY

If you like the styling and the size works for you, pick one of these up.  It's light, comfortable, has a great grab and go quartz movement you'll never have to worry about, and it's just plain beautiful.  The finishing work on the case really is head and shoulders above everything else at this price point and even better than some things at two or three times this price.  For ~$450 this thing is simply amazing and every watch collector should have one IMO.  I'm excited to see what other variants are offered as time marches along.  A white dial could be interesting...

View the product page on the Oceanus website here.