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Timber What?

When I first started this blog, one of my objectives was to experience watches that were unique and less known. It’s great to own the classics, but life’s always a bit more fun when you inject your own bit of colour into it. Singapore gets a little cookie cutter at times and there’s no harm being a little different.

I was hence thoroughly intrigued when I chanced upon the Casio Timber Cruiser. Firstly, what even is a Timber Cruiser? And how did this charming time piece come to be? Why was no one talking about it?

The Investigation

Putting on my Sherlock Holmes hat, I embarked on what would be my greatest piece of horological investigative journalism yet:

Just kidding. I did the typical Google searches and didn’t find much (to my surprise). Seems like the general consensus is:

• It’s a Japan Domestic Model (JDM i.e released specifically for the Japanese market)
• It was released some time in the late 90s to early 2000s

Coming clearly from a different era and time of watch collecting, the history of this piece may have been lost to the internet, but it certainly hasn’t lost its charm, so here’s a closer look at this interesting piece of Casio history.

First Impressions

As far as first impressions go, the Casio Timber Cruiser TIC-100 delivers. I’d actually eyed this piece for quite a while, and when one at the right price finally appeared I pulled the trigger.

At a glance, the first aspect that jumps out is the overall military-esque design, with neo-vintage type fonts (technically they weren’t vintage back in the day) and pops of red from the main running seconds hand as well as sub-dial hands. It’s giving tool watch vibes, and the Timber Cruiser looks like it means business.

Of my next immediate interest was the digital display, integrated nicely into the 3 o’clock position. Depending on your preference, this can display a variety of useful information, such as the day/date or perhaps a second timezone while travelling. Ana-digi displays are such a Casio thing, and looking at this sure brings back memories of growing up in the late 90s to early 2000s when ana-digi watches were all the rage.

The Dial

Looking at the dial, there’s obviously a lot going on and it’s definitely a busy dial. Aside from the digital display, chronograph sub-dials are at 12 and 9 o’clock, while a 24-hour indicator sits at 6. A tachymeter runs along an angled chapter ring which sits raised above the main dial, helping to create a decent sense of depth.

Despite the busyness, overall dial legibility is maintained with the choice of white fonts against the black dial and the large, clean Arabic numerals marking out the hours.

Speaking of the indices, there’s something a little trippy about them. The numerals are cut out from the dial, and it seems that there’s a second plate of sorts underneath the main dial – kind of like a waffle dial. This gives the indices a constrasty pop and is quite eyecatching. While it looks like lume, the only lume is actually on the hands. The Timber Cruiser, as quoted from the Casio manual, relies instead on a special backlight, which “employs an electro-luminescent (EL) light, which loses its illuminating power after very long term use”

I suspect it works in the same fashion as Timex’s indiglo, and while the watch is likely over 20 years old, the EL light seems to continue functioning well and its a really unique look when it lights up in the dark.

I have no idea what the crystal is, but if I had to guess it seems to be mineral glass. Perhaps its old age, but my particular watch crystal seems a bit “faded” though it doesn’t look like a humidity issue. If you wanted to, you’d probably be able to get the crystal swapped out, though I was perfectly find with it so just something to look out for if you’re searching for your own piece.

The Case

While I liked the Timber Cruiser’s dial for its retro military aesthetic, the case was something I personally felt was a bit of a miss. While the watch doesn’t seem excessively large on paper, its cushion style case results in it wearing visually bigger than what it is. Case size measures 41.5mm (without crown and pusher, 48mm with both included), while lug to lug is approximately 46.3mm and thickness sits at 12.2mm. Lug width comes in at 20mm, allowing access to a wide range of straps. A simple screw down caseback with minimal decoration offers 20bar of water resistance.

The wrist shot above will give you a better sense of how the watch could possibly wear. Admittedly, I don’t have the largest of wrists (oh cry me a river, anyway its 16 inches), and I’ve always been a fan of smaller watches so I would have preferred it in a round case shape rather than the cushion case which was used. Perhaps these were trendy back then?

Operating the Watch

The Timber Cruiser is operated through its three pusher buttons, along with one crown and is powered by a Casio QW-1325 module. Hitting the pusher at 10 o’clock activates the backlight, while the pusher at 8 o’clock cycles the digital display through four different modes in the following order: Date > Timekeeping > Stopwatch > Alarm.

The digital functions are relatively similar to other digital watches, though there are a few interesting quirks special to the Timber Cruiser. To set the analog time, you need to pull out the crown when the running seconds hand is at 12 o’clock (it hacks). When the seconds on the digital display reaches 0, you push the crown back in to achieve a “sync” between the analog and digital times. Technically, nothing is stopping you from running 2 different timezones with the seconds off-beat from each other, but that’s like drinking Coca Cola from a Pepsi paper cup.

The pusher at 2 o’clock is used to operate the stopwatch, which can be started regardless of which mode you are in. Once activated, the sub-dial at 12 o’clock keeps track of the elapsed seconds while the sub-dial at 9 o’clock keeps track of elapsed minutes, up to an hour. To reset, hold down on the pusher, and unlike more modern quartz chronographs, the subdial hands will begin to spinning until the elapsed minutes sub-dial hand completes one full cycle around the sub-dial. I read online that this could possibly be due to this module having a basic stepper motor, which would advance the hands until the reference point is reached. Makes sense, given how this is from the late 90s.

Wearing the Watch

On wrist, the Timber Cruiser has a surprising amount of heft to it: not so much as to make it tiresome to wear, but enough to make you realise that it’s not a typical plastic resin ana-digi timepiece. The watch feels very solid in hand, and it having survived all these years is testament to its build quality.

While the original strap has since long vanished, I enjoy wearing it on various leather straps to give it a rugged yet casual look:

I’ve also tried it on a black nato strap to complete the military/tool watch vibe:

Pricing

You definitely won’t find this in shops today, and finding a piece of New Old Stock (NOS) is going to be quite rare. To be honest, I don’t have a good price reference on this, but I’ve seen examples in really good condition being sold for close to S$300 so that’s probably a useful upper bound. I would say it’s more of a collector’s pick than a daily beater, so a decision on value is probably going to be quite subjective.

Overall Thoughts

I’ve always been fascinated with how design has evolved over time, and I think the Timber Cruiser is somewhat of a living time machine, from an era that feels so close yet so far, what with the crazily fast pace of change in today’s world. It’s good fun to look at, and reminds me of simpler times with its nostalgic ana-digi display and unpretentious vibe. That said, it’s probably not going to be for everyone and is somewhat more of a niche pick; I for one would have wanted a smaller case. Nonetheless, I think it’ll sit well in a die-hard Casio collector’s vault or for anybody looking to relive a bit of that late 90s – turn of the millenium spirit.

Ultimately, I’m still left with one question.

What exactly is a Timber Cruiser?

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