The Duro, or how Casio accidentally made a cult watch
By Kenji Watanabe, Osaka ยท
Some watches become famous for reasons the maker never planned. The MDV-106 was a modest diver from Casio's catalogue, and then the internet decided it was the best 50-dollar watch in existence. I mostly agree, with conditions.
The good part is the steel case and steel bezel, 200 m of water resistance, a screw-down crown, and a Module 2784 quartz that asks for nothing. For a watch at 50 to 70 dollars, that is a strange amount of real hardware.
The conditions. The case is 44.2 mm wide and 12.1 mm thick, so on my wrist it looks like a proper dive watch, not a dress watch pretending. The resin strap is stiff and smells of resin for a while. The mineral crystal will collect marks. The bezel action is loose compared with a Seiko, which is not surprising.
For a first diver, a swimming watch, or a watch you can lend to a nephew at the beach, it is hard to beat. If you already own a Seiko 5 Sports and want an upgrade, this is not the direction.