New Casio digital watches with rare feature coming soon

Casio will shortly launch a new diver-style digital watch, the AE-1700H. Rumors about this model began earlier this year, when some images of these three products were leaked.

Now, Casio has officially confirmed the AE-1700H watches, listing them on its international website. The models are the AE-1700H-1AV (black, black bezel, positive display), the AE-1700H-1A2V (black, blue/red bezel, positive display), and the AE-1700H-1BV (black, black/gold bezel, negative display). Each has a design similar to a Pro Trek, with a round digital display and a timer bezel. They have resin and aluminum casing, measuring 54.9 x 47.3 x 14.3 mm (~2.2 x 1.9 x 0.6 inches) and are accompanied by a resin strap.

The Casio AE-1700H supports dual time zones, with a daylight saving mode. There are standard features like a 1/100th second stopwatch, a countdown timer and three multifunctional alarms. A more unusual tool listed on the product page is Fishing time, as seen on a limited number of older watches like the WS1200H-3AV (curr. $34.99 at Amazon). This function indicates the best date and time for fishing, on a scale with four levels. The data is based on the moon phase and moon position, which are believed to affect fish activity. These watches are also water resistant to 100 m and should run for around 10 years on the included battery.

Rumors suggest that the Casio AE-1700H-1AV, AE-1700H-1A2V and AE-1700H-1BV watches could retail for around $60 each, though Casio has yet to officially announce the pricing and release date of this model.