Good picture of a 3298 module in a Casio A168 (or any other Casio watch)?

[markrlondon]

I think I just bought a fake Casio A168. It's actually fairly well made but (I think) not quite right. The only way to be sure is to open it up and look at the module. Unfortunately, I don't think I've ever seen an actual 3298 module so if anyone here can please post a decent resolution picture of a known genuine Casio 3298 module then I'd be really grateful. I've looked on Google but not found any there that I can be absolutely certain are genuine!

My eyes aren't up to tackling the case back screws at this time of night but I'll post pictures of what I've got here tomorrow, complete with a list of the tells/issues. I'll let you know where I bought it too, although not until I am certain it's a fake.



P.S. I should add that (as far as I know) the real A168 may have one of two modules: Either the 1527 or the 3298. I'm interested in the 3298.

[matt]

[markrlondon]

^^^ Thanks. I did in fact find that one but it suffers from, as far as I can tell, being the only picture of a 3298 module on the Internet! I was kind of hoping that someone here might have a picture of their own which would give me greater confidence that I was looking at a genuine one, if you see what I mean. No matter, I'll proceed with what I've got.

I'll post pics of this one soon.

Thanks again for the reply and the Googling. :-)

[markrlondon]

Ok, I hope no one was holding their breath waiting for this. I've finally got around to it.

The watch I have is definitely a fake but it's a broadly good quality one. In and of its own right, it's a perfectly good watch.

I bought this on eBay and I'll be opening a dispute to get my money back. When the process is finished, I'll post full details here.

Picture appear below. I'd be very grateful for any comments. I'll post a follow up message to this one containing comments on tells.

N.B. The pictures that follow are all of a fake watch. Please keep this in mind.

I am going to post more pictures on my blog. I'll edit this post to include a link to the blog post.

[markrlondon]

I'll post a follow up message to this one containing comments on tells.

And here are the comments. First of all, comments about general quality:-

• In general, the watch appears to be well made for its price point. The head is plastic and the metal strap is black PVD stainless steel. The PVD on the strap is thin but not terribly so (it looks a lot better in person than in the photos). I could believe that this was a genuine Casio based upon overall external appearance.
• Functionality is fine. It all works. I don't have a genuine A168 or 3298 module to compare it with in terms of functionality but, as far as I can tell, it seems to work correctly.
• The engraving on the case back is of very good quality. However, without a genuine A168 to compare it with, I can't tell if the country of manufacture (claimed to be "Japan" on this one!) or "DH" (factory identifier I think?) are correct.

Now some comments on tells:-

• First and most egregiously obvious is the instructive labelling on the front of the watch: This indicates a Light button at the top right position but there is no button there! The Light button is also the Adjust button at the top left position. The button layout is correct for a 3298 module; it's the labelling that is wrong.
• As far as I can tell, no genuine Casio A168 module with this particular combination of inverse display, black dial, black case, and PVD bracelet actually exists. The model number that the eBay vendor quoted in his advert and the (different) model number on the supplied hang tag both refer to entirely different (genuine) A168 variants. (I will reveal the claimed model numbers after I have completed the eBay dispute).
• One very slight quality issue with the watch is that the bottom right button needs extra pressure to activate. This sometimes happens on old, worn out genuine Casios but never (in my experience) on a brand new one.
• The metal strap looks and feel good overall. The clasp appears to be the same quality as you'd expect to see on a genuine Casio. But the stamping of strap part numbers on the rear of the strap at the head ends is not as good as I would expect to see on a genuine Casio. The top one is stamped "S-532N" but the bottom horizontal line of the "2" is not there. The bottom one is stamped "S-481L" but the top half of the "8" is most not present. I don't have a genuine A168 so I don't know what markings should appear on the strap.
• The module is very clearly based closely on the genuine 3298 but is more cheaply/simply made. The metal parts have none of the Casio stamping on them seen on the genuine item. The plastic parts however actually have the same "3298" marking as the genuine item! The label over the battery is different to the genuine item. The battery in this fake appears to be a Maxell (real or fake I do not know) whereas, in my experience, Casio usually use Panasonic batteries.

All in all, I reckon this would persuade most people. Overall it looks the part, was cheap (but not unbelievably so), and does the job. I even considered keeping it... but now I know it's fake I just can't keep it.

I'll post another comment here when I have more news.

Any questions or comments, please feel free to reply.

[bond]

I believe they even have faked the usual test that's performed on the real one. It's the act of holding certain buttons for the display to read CASIo.

Sent from my ANE-LX1 using Tapatalk

[markrlondon]

I believe they even have faked the usual test that's performed on the real one. It's the act of holding certain buttons for the display to read CASIo.

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think that works on the (genuine) 3298 module in the A168.

To the best of my knowledge it only works on the 593 module as used in the F-91W. (It's a long press on the bottom right button on the 593 module).




** edit **
For the avoidance of doubt, it does not work on the fake 3298 module I have here.

[bond]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think that works on the (genuine) 3298 module in the A168.

To the best of my knowledge it only works on the 593 module as used in the F-91W. (It's a long press on the bottom right button on the 593 module).

To be honest you probably are more informed than me. I thought it was a generic test for all small moduled casio's on the lower end.

So the A164-WA it would work but not the or A163-WA?



Sent from my ANE-LX1 using Tapatalk

[markrlondon]

To be honest you probably are more informed than me. I thought it was a generic test for all small moduled casio's on the lower end.

So the A164-WA it would work but not the or A163-WA?

I wouldn't necessarily be too sure that I am better informed! I don't have that much practical experience with modern Casios.

As I understand it (from looking at the Casio Europe website) both the A163 and A164 have the 593 module, the same as the F-91W. So the A163, A164 and F-91W should all do the "CASIo" thing.

However, modules have been updated over the years and I know the F-91W has not always used the 593 module so older watches might behave differently. I don't actually know when "CASIo" was introduced.




( As an aside, genuine A168s can have slightly different screen layouts but both versions are listed as having the 3298 movement on the Casio Europe website. See for example the https://www.casio-europe.com/euro/pr...e/a168wa-1yes/ (normal display) and https://www.casio-europe.com/euro/pr...a168wegg-1bef/ (inverse display). Apart from one being normal and the other inverse, the two letter day position varies between the displays. As I recall, Casio usually/often use different module references for the normal and inverse display versions of a particular module but this is not reflected in the information on the Casio Europe website. )