Casio is digging into early-2000s nostalgia again, this time with three new Baby-G watches for the US market that would look right at home in a mall display window circa 2002. The BA110MC series comes in blue (BA-110MC-2A), purple (BA-110MC-6A) and white (BA-110MC-7A), each priced at $145 and sold through Casio’s US online store.
The main change is cosmetic. Instead of a matte finish, the case and strap get a glossy resin treatment, and metallic hour indexes stand out against the cooler body colours. It’s a deliberate nod to the Y2K look that has crept back into fashion, and Casio seems happy to treat its plastic-heavy past as a selling point.
Underneath the shine, very little has changed. The BA110MC keeps the analog-digital layout that BA-110 owners will recognise, with hands sitting over digital readouts on a single face. The case measures 46.3 x 43.4mm and 15.8mm thick. That is chunky for a line that launched in 1994 as the smaller companion to G-Shock. The all-resin build keeps the weight to 45 grams, and mineral glass covers the dial.
Durability is standard Baby-G: shock resistance and 100-metre water resistance, enough for swimming but not diving. The feature list is also familiar:
- World time covering 29 time zones and 48 cities, with a daylight saving toggle
- A 1/100-second stopwatch with split timing
- A 24-hour countdown timer
- Five daily alarms, one with snooze
- An hourly chime
The digital section shows the month, date and day. The analog hands step forward in 20-second jumps rather than sweeping smoothly, which may bother anyone used to a conventional quartz watch.
For low light, there is an amber LED backlight with afterglow and Neobrite-coated hands. Power comes from two SR726W batteries, which Casio estimates will last about two years. There is no solar charging, Bluetooth or step tracking, so anyone wanting the connected features of pricier G-Shock models will need to look elsewhere.
That makes the $145 price the real talking point. Casio is essentially charging for a new finish and colour palette on a platform it has sold for years, and whether that’s worth it depends on how much you care about the look. Casio has also recently released pastel G-Shocks and a Pop Mart Baby-G that doubles as a bag charm, so it is clearly treating its watches as fashion accessories first and tools second. Whether the glossy BA110MC becomes a nostalgic hit or a pricey repaint will likely depend on how long the Y2K revival lasts.
