Watchmaker Casio announced at CES 2018 that it will be creating a special white version of its Pro Trek smartwatch on a limited run. The color is going to be based off crystalline fluorite, which naturally occurs in a semi-clear white color with patterned infusions of other colors across the spectrum. Given that no renders or pictures were released alongside the announcement and no physical specimen was at CES, it’s not a big logical leap to assume that Casio will either be using actual crystalline fluorite in these watches, which it notes in its press release are sometimes used in activewear, or will at least create a process that imitates the stone, creating unique watches. The special edition Pro Trek smartwatch will bear the model number WSD-F20WE, and when the watches become available this spring, only 1,800 of them will be out worldwide.
As an aside, Casio also announced a new watch display for its Pro Trek lineup. This new display, called “Journey,” displays a map of the user’s current surroundings behind the watch face, along with indicators for up to three destinations that coincide with the user’s Google Calendar schedule or a separate, manually loaded itinerary. The best part of Journey is that it will show users a guide to the next destination on the schedule, somewhat akin to a dedicated GPS navigation app or the guiding HUD in some open world and adventure video games.
As a refresher, Casio’s Pro Trek smartwatch range is made to closely mimic rugged watches made for outdoor use, but provide most of the features one would typically associate with a smartwatch. It integrates a GPS system, along with a wealth of sensors, to help a user keep their bearings out in the wilderness. The durable watch looks the part, but behind its touchscreen display, it runs Android Wear 2.0 on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 2100 platform. It has 4GB of internal storage, and 512MB of RAM. The watch comes with a formidable feature set, including a waterproof microphone, and roughly 9 hours of battery life with constant GPS at 1 second refresh intervals, or more than a day without any GPS usage.