Five Of Our Favourite Modern Digital Display Watches

Mechanical watches might be the beating heart of the enthusiast world, but there's a certain kind of joy that comes with strapping on a digital tool watch and getting on with your day. Yet for all the microbrands making vintage divers and classic time-only dress watches, the humble digital display remains a relatively rare find on today’s market. 

Of course, the bulletproof ubiquity of Casio’s G-Shock means that most microbrands don’t even attempt to challenge the Japanese giant, but there are a few names that have released exciting digital tool watches in recent years. RZE, which we recently featured at length, is one name, but that got me thinking about the other unsung heroes in the category of digital watches. From bargain retro fun to another Japanese giant, here are a few of our favourites.

The Regulus from Nixon was a source of inspiration for Huiy Tang’s RZA UTD-8000, with the square-ish design developed alongside US Special Operations. It uses a custom LCD module in a protective PU jacket with Poron foam padding, all of which is cased inside a TR-90 case (Nixon's name for a flexible thermoplastic material that’s also used in glasses). For US$200, you'll get a massive 46mm case with 100m water resistance and a five-year battery, dual chronographs and a silent mode.

Chicago-based Farr + Swit operates at the fun end of the spectrum, with the Retro Digital series using translucent cases in candy colours and reverse-negative LCDs on the B-Side variants. They are available for around US$35 to US$69, with a steel limited edition that recently dropped and is still available. Farr + Swit's expansion into digi-cool is proof that the digital revival is expanding, and while you'll find unmistakable design cues from the classic F-91W, the tongue-in-cheek cassette-tape displays and function-packed, yet affordable aspects are relatively rare to find.

Autodromo might be debated on its inclusion here, but their Group C is likely to appeal to plenty of enthusiasts (and to founding editor Jamie Weiss, known for his predilection for fast cars). It is inspired by the fire-breathing endurance racers of the mythical Turbo era, and even though its main display features two analogue hands, at 6 o'clock you'll find a small digital screen. It’s a relatively unusual example of one of the raciest microbrand watches that features a digital display for less than $1,000, and if that wasn’t enough, the case is crafted from aluminium and comes paired with a FKM rubber strap.

Besides the small number of brands trying their luck against the Japanese stalwarts, there's no getting around the significance of Timex, the obvious other affordable giant. The Ironman built an entire interface philosophy around runners and triathletes, with Indiglo remaining one of the most recognisable backlight solutions in watchmaking. The 8-Lap OG might have "Triathlon" printed on its display, but it offers a reliable, rugged outdoor option for under A$200, and if you wanted something a little more unusual, Timex Japan drops some pretty sweet limited editions from time to time, so there's a collector's rabbit hole to dive into.

Seiko never really kept going after its early LCD-screened watches in the 1970s and ‘80s, but the watchmaker surprised us all last year by releasing a vintage reissue of the relatively niche Rotocal. Starting at A$795, the collection sits in a higher price bracket than most of the other watches I’ve mentioned, but it does form a part of the same strong Japanese electronic lineage that G-Shock shares. 

It takes a wholly unique form of tactile functionality, with the grippable bezel being a rotatable switch that changes modes, with the function in use being the one at 12 o'clock. It comes with a useful 100m water resistance and a whole host of classic functions, cementing it as a genuinely novel take on octagonal-themed sports watches, which are still one of the hottest things around.