It's October 21, 2015. Marty McFly and Doc Brown step out of a time-traveling DeLorean into a future full of hoverboards, self-lacing sneakers, and flying cars. Also, unbeknownst to the writers of Back to the Future Part II, they've just landed on my actual birthday, and predicted my Chicago Cubs would win a World Series in my lifetime. A movie that nails my birthday and my baseball team in the same scene doesn't just become a favorite; it becomes personal. Great Scott, indeed.
So when Casio announced a Back to the Future collaboration for the film's 40th anniversary, I had to have one. Big thanks to Worn & Wound for hooking me up with it. I'm a scientist by trade who also happens to love skateboarding, cars, and clocks and watches, so this collab hits basically every box I've got. And Marty wears a Casio calculator watch throughout the trilogy, so a Casio x Back to the Future collab wasn't optional. It was inevitable. Where we're going, we're definitely wearing this watch.
The CA-500WEBF-1A is Casio's tribute to the calculator watch Marty wears on screen, reworked with DeLorean styling instead of the black resin case from the films. It launched around Back to the Future Day (October 21) in the UK and EU, with the US release following on October 27, 2025, at $120.
Case on the Casio x Back to the Future
The CA-500WEBF-1A is built on the CA-500 platform, the same calculator-watch chassis Casio has used since the 1980s, now finished in a chrome-plated resin case with a single-link stainless steel bracelet standing in for the DeLorean's brushed metal panels. It measures 34.4mm wide, 43.2mm long, and 8.2mm thick, and weighs just 53 grams. That's tiny by modern standards, and that's exactly the point. This isn't a watch trying to compete with a dive watch or a chronograph on wrist presence; it's a faithful shrink-ray version of what Marty actually wore, no plutonium required.
If you've never worn a Casio calculator watch, you should. They're small, light, and stupidly easy to live with day to day. You forget it's there until you need it, and then you remember why people loved these things in the first place.
The bracelet is a bit of a hair puller, not unbearable, but noticeable if you've got a hairy wrist like mine. That's the one knock on an otherwise excellent package, and it's a common complaint across this whole style of Casio, so it's not unique to the collab.
The best detail on the whole watch is on the case back: a flux capacitor engraved into the steel. I promise I hadn't hit my head on the toilet before I noticed it, and no, I didn't need 1.21 gigawatts to see it clearly. It's a genuinely clever piece of design, subtle enough that it reads as a watch back until you actually look, and it's the kind of detail that rewards someone who takes the watch off and turns it over out of curiosity.
Yes, this can fit straps
The Casio CA-500s can take straps, which is great news, especially since the bracelet is a hair puller sometimes. This looks great on the black, red, or green. The TQ18 straps from StrapHabit fit perfectly. The red is the winner for me, personally. Since the Timex Q straps have a flare out, kind of like the CA-500s, it's perfect. They also fit other Casios with this style case, as seen in my review of the Pacman Casio. The only thing to note, when removing the bracelet on the CA-500, the pins have no collars. You must up the push hole on the case, and make sure the springbar does not go flying. Ask how I know...
Dial on the Casio x Back to the Future
The "dial" keeps the classic CA-500 digital layout but reworks the color scheme to echo the DeLorean's time circuit displays and taillights. "OUTATIME since 1985" sits across the top, a direct nod to the DeLorean's license plate, and the button colors underneath borrow from the reds, ambers, and blues of Doc Brown's dashboard. All that's missing is a "Destination Time" readout.
It's a restrained execution. You won't clock this as a movie tie-in from across the room, which I actually appreciate. The reference is there for people who know, not shouted at everyone else. That's a tough balance to strike with licensed watches in general; most collabs either bury the source material under a logo or barely acknowledge it at all. This one threads the needle.
Movement & Features
Underneath the DeLorean theming, this is a fully functional CA-series calculator watch: a quartz movement, an 8-digit calculator with basic arithmetic functions, dual time, a stopwatch, a multi-function alarm, and a full auto calendar. Water resistance is rated for daily wear, and battery life runs into the years, standard for this class of Casio. No Mr. Fusion needed to keep it running.
None of this is groundbreaking. It doesn't need to be. The calculator function alone is what made the original CA-500 a novelty in the 1980s, and it's still a fun party trick on a watch in 2026. There's something almost quaint about doing arithmetic on your wrist in an era where your phone can do the same thing faster, but that's part of the charm. This watch isn't trying to be efficient. It's trying to be fun.
Packaging and the Back to the Future Collab
The watch ships in a box styled like a vintage VHS cassette, right down to the Back to the Future logo treatment. It's a great idea and a fun unboxing moment, though I do wish the construction were sturdier. It feels like a thicker card stock rather than something built to survive years of handling, and I'd love for a box this cool to actually hold up long term as a display piece, not just for one trip down memory lane.
Casio and Amblin/Universal clearly put real care into the details here: the flux capacitor case back, the Back to the Future logo stamped into the clasp, the time circuit color language on the dial. None of it feels like a slapped-on license. It feels like a watch someone who actually loves the film designed, right down to choices you'd only notice if you're the kind of person who'd notice them.
Final Thoughts
The CA-500WEBF-1A is pure nostalgic fun for an era I wasn't even alive in. 1985 came and went well before I was around, but this watch still feels like a genuine piece of that world, filtered through a movie that means a lot to me personally. Marty's calculator watch, a flux capacitor on the case back, and a release date built around Back to the Future Day: it's hard not to love.
I highly recommend picking one up if you can find it. It's been sold out since Back to the Future Day last year (my birthday, which you'll never forget now!), but units pop up periodically on the secondary market. Just don't overpay by a lot when you find one. At $120 retail, this is one of the more affordable ways to own a genuinely well-made piece of movie history, and that math stops making sense the moment resellers start adding a few hundred dollars on top. Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads. But we do need a reasonably priced watch.
Specifications
Brand: Casio
Model: CA-500WEBF-1A
Release Date: October 21, 2025 (UK/EU); October 27, 2025 (US)
MSRP: $120 USD / £115 GBP / €119 EUR Case Size: 34.4mm (width) x 43.2mm (length) x 8.2mm (thickness)
Weight: 53g
Case Material: Chrome-plated resin
Strap: Single-link stainless steel bracelet
Color: Silver case and bracelet
Dial: Digital, DeLorean time circuit-inspired color scheme, "OUTATIME since 1985" branding
Display: Digital
Movement: Quartz
Water Resistance: Standard daily wear rating
Functions: 8-digit calculator, dual time, stopwatch, multi-function alarm, full auto calendar