Casio's new Edifice EFS-S660 stainless-steel chronographs launch in more markets

Casio's Edifice EFS-S660, released earlier this month, is now live on the company's Dutch, German and Spanish stores — it is priced at €199 in all three. However, none of them is selling it yet. Each listing carries a new badge and a notification signup instead of a buy button. Casio has published no concrete European release date alongside them.

As expected, the references drop the Japanese suffix. Where Casio Japan sells the EFS-S660D-1AJF and EFS-S660PB-1AJF, the European pages list them as EFS-S660D-1A and EFS-S660PB-1A. Other retailers in the region are also using an EF suffix.

Converting the two prices is less straightforward than it looks. The Japanese figure of ¥33,000 includes 10 percent consumption tax, while €199 includes VAT at 19 percent in Germany and 21 percent in Spain and the Netherlands. If we take tax out of both, it leaves roughly ¥30,000 against about €167 in Germany and €164 in Spain and the Netherlands. At current rates that is close to $195 and $192 respectively, against roughly $188 in Japan — that gap is much narrower than the €199 and ¥33,000 figures suggest.

Specifications-wise, Both references share a 45.3 by 38.3 by 11.6 mm case, sapphire crystal with internal anti-reflective coating, 100 m water resistance and Tough Solar charging, running Casio's caliber 5334 at plus or minus 20 seconds a month. The chronograph measures elapsed and split times to a twentieth of a second across 60 minutes.

The EFS-S660D-1A pairs a steel case and bracelet with blue chronograph hands at 129 grams. The EFS-S660PB-1A uses a resin strap, grey ion-plated case and black ion-plated bezel with red hands — that's why it drops to 71 grams. Only the PB carries Toyota Racing branding, from the partnership Casio announced in January.

Buy the Casio Edifice EFB-730D-7AV on Amazon.