New 2nd-gen Casio ring watch on its way with retro A168 styling in steel and gold

Casio's ring watch is getting a new generation after all. It is based on the A168 instead of the G-Shock design used previously. Casioblog reported on the CRW-002 recently — sales are expected to start in November. Also, this is Casio's fourth swing at the format, after the CRW-001, the G-Shock Nano DWN-5600 and the heart-rate CRW-H001.

Two versions are expected to be unveiled. The CRW-002D-1A is plain steel, and the CRW-002G-9A gets a gold IP coating. Both take the A168's case outline, the lettering layout on the dial, and, unusually, a textured finish that looks like that watch's bracelet.

Getting that texture onto something this small has to require effort. Casioblog says Casio used metal injection moulding, where fine steel powder is mixed with a binding polymer and injected into the mould. The case back and the ring body come out as a single piece. The bracelet pattern has been reproduced across it.

Sizing works exactly how it did before. The ring's inner diameter is 20 mm; two silicone inserts bring that down to 19 mm and 18 mm. Casioblog puts the circumference at around 63 mm and expects the overall dimensions to be close to the CRW-001's 25.2 × 19.5 × 6.2 mm.

The feature list is what you can fit in a module this size. There's dual time, a 60-minute stopwatch, an LED backlight, a calendar, 12- and 24-hour formats, and Time Flash, which blinks the light on the hour and at a time you set. Accuracy is ±30 seconds a month and the battery should last two years.

Also, Casioblog reports 30 m of water resistance, where Casio's own page for the CRW-001 says only "Water Resistant" with no depth attached — just something worth noting.

As for price, the source's insiders pin the CRW-002 at around $130. The CRW-001 currently sells for $135 on Casio's US store.

Buy the Casio A168WA-1 on Amazon.