Best Minimalist Watch Under 100 Pounds? Timex Fairfield vs Casio Sapphire
(This page features affiliate links, for more information on them click here.)
Simple sophisticated style.
These pair are great budget options.
Today, I’ll be comparing two of the best budget minimalist watches, in this Timex vs Casio watch review. I’ve previously covered both the Timex Fairfield and the Casio LTP Sapphire in videos and liked both of them; I think they generally offer solid value for money. However, plenty of you have been asking me which is better Timex or Casio? So, in this post, I’ll be analysing each area of these minimalist watches to answer that question.
If you like the sound of these watches, I’ll have both of them linked for you throughout this article. Purchases made through those affiliate links help to support the work I do and are massively appreciated.
Size
This one is a bit of a two-sided coin. It really depends what you prefer and what size your wrist is. While both watches aren’t particularly thick, the Casio LTP is clearly much thinner.
At around 7mm in depth, it’s only about 2/3rds of the Timex Fairfield. This puts it on par with some of the slimmest watches that money can buy and works well for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it helps the watch to slip under sleeves more easily. It tends to sit well on skinny wrists like mine, proportionally it looks great from a side-on perspective. The Casio Sapphire only comes in this single 40mm size, which is generally a good size for average wrists, however if you’d like more choice, that’s where the Timex comes in.
With the Fairfield you essentially have two size variants to pick from. There’s the standard men’s version at 41mm in diameter, which is a fraction larger than the LTP Casio, but still a good average size. They also make a 37mm variant, which is often labelled as a unisex or women’s version.
These are identical to the men’s in every way, outside of the size. If you’re someone with thin wrists like me, I’d definitely recommend going for this watch size instead. It will look much more in proportion with your wrist and nobody will know or care that this is labelled a ‘unisex’ or ‘ladies’ watch anyway. That being said, both are still thicker than the Casio, so if you prioritise depth, the Casio might still be better for you; it depends what you find important.
strap - Casio vs Timex Watches
Overall, the straps that come with each of these watches are both pretty cheap; as you’d expect considering the cost. Both are made of similar genuine leather.
While both aren’t terrible and I have definitely seen worse on more expensive fashion watch brands, I’d say the Timex straps are slightly better. They feel a little more substantial and come with the quick release tabs, so you can easily and quickly change straps if you feel like it. You’ll also find a far greater range of strap options when buying a Timex Fairfield, including leather and fabric NATO’s, which you just won’t find with the Casio LTP. The Casio also lacks drilled lugs, so Timex definitely takes this one.
Case
Overall, I like the slight bulbous shape that you get with the Fairfield range; it does give the case some personality. That being said, it is only constructed of plated brass. Aesthetically it actually looks good quality and feels surprisingly good. It also has a stainless-steel back; however, it isn’t as good as the full stainless-steel case that you’ll find on the Casio. This watch is slim and solid and features a similar high-shine finish. This is going to be more durable over time, though I wouldn’t say either watch has super-high build quality. Nevertheless, they’re fairly decent for the price, Casio Sapphie takes this round.
Glass – Timex vs Casio
One of the key advantages held by the Casio LTP Sapphire is the glass. As their name indicates, these have a piece of flat sapphire crystal covering the dial. This is great to see at such a low price and puts it clearly above the Timex Fairfield range in this regard. This provides fantastic scratch protection. The Timex houses the more widely seen mineral glass. Whilst this isn’t as good as the Casio, it’s still completely fine considering the cost of the watch. If you’re able to pick one of these up towards the lower end of its price range, many similar watch brands will even be using acrylic crystal in their watches so it’s certainly not bad. It will provide some scratch protection, but won’t perform nearly as well as the Casio, so that takes the win in this category.
Movement
As you can imagine at this price point, both watches are powered by a low-cost quartz movement. The Casio contains a Japanese Miyota movement, whilst the Timex has some form of Timex manufactured movement, likely made in China or another Asian province. Unfortunately, the latter brand rarely makes movement information available, so it’s difficult to determine exactly how they compare. Realistically, both movements are accurate from my experience, though as you can imagine are basic. Occasionally, the second hands on these watches don’t perfectly hit the second markers, though for the price, it’s not unexpected.
There are a couple of things to note with these. The Fairfield has a rather loud tick, which is audible in quiet environments. If you’ve tried their Timex Weekend range before, you’ll already be familiar with this. They do make other versions though, like the sub-second variant; which are near-silent. The Casio isn’t so audible but does feature a rather short minute hand, which some of you picked up on in one of my recent videos. I’m unsure whether this is due to the movement not supporting anything longer, or simply a design decision. If this watch was £300, that would bother me, at this price though, I really couldn’t care less.
Price
As with many of these low-cost watches, I’d recommend buying from Amazon, as it is far less expensive compared to buying directly from the manufacturers. Generally, these are very comparatively priced. You’ll generally be able to pickup these watches for between £35-£75 in the UK, and similar internationally. Prices are always going to fluctuate based on time and model, but overall both these watches are incredibly affordable for everyone when available.
Unfortunately, there seems to be some difficulty in obtaining the Casio LTP at the moment. After the first review I made on this watch, they seemed to sell out pretty much everywhere and now some websites have this listed model as discontinued; especially those based in the US, as some of you pointed out in the comments. I have done a bit of digging with this one and it’s really bizarre. I can’t find any reference to this watch anywhere on the Casio USA website at all, it’s pretty difficult to get hold of from any third part seller there too.
Yet, here in the UK, this is still widely available from a variety of retailers; they’re back in stock on Amazon, you just have to click on the alternative retailer section. It’s also listed regularly on the Casio Europe website as part of their current line-up, rather than being in their dedicated discontinued section. So, I’m unsure exactly what to think. At least in Europe this doesn’t seem to be discontinued; maybe this model was European exclusive in the first place. It doesn’t help that there is barely any information about this Casio LTP to begin with and it’s an example of one of the real frustrations that I have with traditional watch brands. There’s no need to create messy confusion like this.
That being said, if you can get either of these watches for a good price, you’re golden. You’ll see a multitude of fashion brands charging double this for watches with equal or worse specifications, so they’re both good value comparatively.
Design
Both watches offer attractive, minimalist designs which are going to appeal to a lot of people. I’ve found it quite difficult to determine which is my favourite. Overall, I’d say it’s probably the Timex; it’s slightly more original, with its cylindrical hour markers and hands. I guess it’s also more minimal, without any sub-second hand.
One of my favourite features is also the Indiglo night-light. This is my favourite luminescence option and it’s really unrivalled at this price.
I still really like the look of the LTP, I think it offers a closer aesthetic to that offered by many fashion watch brands at the moment. To some that’s going to be great because you get that fashionable look but with better quality and for a lower price; however, that resemblance may put some people off. I think it’s less original but it still looks good.
Brand
Both of these brands have a good amount of horological history and reputation behind them. I’d say in this regard it’s up to you which you prefer.
Casio or Timex Which is Better?
And I’d say it’s the same when it comes to these two watches. I hate not providing a conclusive answer in a post like this, I really do. Honestly, I can’t choose between them, there’s things I like and dislike about each, however, whichever of these you go for, I’d be surprised if you were disappointed. I’ll have them both linked below if you want to pick one of them up.