Hello everyone, and welcome to another of my reviews. In this article, I’ll review the Automatic Cassette from the Hong Kong watch microbrand TACS.
Best known for its retro camera-inspired watch, TACS just released another throwback timepiece, this time inspired by the iconic cassette of yesteryear. For the Gen Zs reading this, the cassette was the predominant media format of the 80s, before being largely made redundant by CDs in 90s. Given the anachronistic nature of mechanical watches, a cassette-inspired timepiece seems thematically appropriate. Let’s see if it’s any good.
TACS – the Brand
I previously covered the brand story of TACS in my previous review of the film-inspired AVL II. You can read the article here if you haven’t already done so. I also reviewed the newer ATL here, the Mask Player Automatic here, and the Architecture here.
TACS Automatic Cassette – Build Quality
The specifications of the Automatic Cassette are ok for its price.
Firstly, the TACS Automatic Cassette uses a flat K1 glass. While not as durable as sapphire, K1 glass is still substantially more scratch-resistant than regular mineral glass. There’s also anti-reflective coating applied on the underside of the glass, preventing the bulk of nasty reflections. Still, for a ~S$600+ watch, I would have expected sapphire crystal. The Automatic Cassette also has a water resistance rating of 100M, making it robust enough for a variety of everyday activities that don’t involve prolonged submersion in water.
The TACS Automatic Cassette is powered by the Seiko NH70A movement, which is essentially a skeletonised variant of the workhorse Seiko NH35A movement. Some quick specifications: the movement beats at 21600 vibrations per hour, has 42 hours of power reserve, contains 24 jewels, and is hacking. I’m a fan of the Seiko NH70A movement, and greatly prefer it to the Miyota 82S0 movement of the Architecture. The movement is partially obscured by the cassette artwork on the case back, but as the Seiko NH70A is a workhorse movement (without much decoration), I don’t mind it that much.
The TACS Automatic Cassette comes on a vegetable-tanned Italian leather strap, which feels decent on the wrist. Still, it’s not full-grain leather, so it won’t patina over time.
All in all, the Automatic Cassette has satisfactory specifications. My main complaint is the lack of a sapphire crystal, which should be a default at this price point.
TACS Automatic Cassette – Design
As with most TACS watches, the strength of the Automatic Cassette is in its design.
The TACS team has done a great job at mimicking the design of the cassette. Firstly, the dial has been skeletonised as an ode to the trademark spools of the cassette – the inspiration is obvious even to a cursory glance. Secondly, the distinctive play, pause and stop buttons of the cassette are also present on the dial, with the honeycomb upper section of the dial replicating the speaker grills of a cassette player. And as always, TACS’ motto, “Unique is Simple”, is engraved on the rehaut of the dial.
Together, the dial is striking. Its monochrome colour scheme reflects the utilitarian nature of the cassette in the 80s, though an orange second hand provides a pop of contrast. The dial also has differing textures – honeycomb on the top, skeletonised in the middle, brushed on the bottom – and possesses good depth. It’s a dial that’s full of details and is bound to be a conversation starter.
The details extend to the case side as well as the crown is intentionally designed to resemble a volume knob, with replicas of the auxiliary in and out plugs beside it. TACS has gone all out with its homage to the cassette – this is definitely a maximalist take.
Unfortunately, this “more is more” approach applies to the Automatic Cassette’s dimensions as well. The watch is 45mm wide and 13mm thick, making it quite chunky on the wrist. If you’re a fan of bigger watches (think Panerai), then this will be up your alley. Otherwise, the Automatic Cassette might be too big for those with smaller wrists – my wrist is 6.5 inches, and it’s at the maximum of what I deem comfortable.
That being said, the Automatic Cassette does a great job of capturing the aesthetic and spirit of the iconic cassette – it’s clear the team poured over the details.
Conclusion – so the TACS Automatic Cassette “shiok” or not?
If you’re looking for an automatic, cassette-inspired watch, then the TACS Automatic Cassette fits the bill nicely. In fact, it’s the only automatic watch that resembles a cassette, at least to my knowledge. I’ve also learnt that the cassette still has a large cult following – the cassette culture reddit community has over 100K members. To these fans, this might just be the dream watch (provided they have a largish wrist).
Those interested in purchasing the TACS Automatic Cassette can use the promo code “WAHSOSHIOK” upon checkout to enjoy 15% off all TACS watches store-wide. After the discount, the Automatic Cassette can be had for US$501/~S$677. While that’s not exactly cheap, the Automatic Cassette is a unique watch – and it doesn’t burn a hole in the pocket. As the icing on the cake, the timepieces also come in nice packaging (which includes a faux cassette), making it great as a gift for cassette enthusiasts.
View the TACS Automatic Cassette here.
View the rest of TACS’ watches here.
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P.P.P.P.S Shiok is a common word Singaporeans use to express admiration or approval. As of 2016, you can find the definition of the word in the Oxford English Dictionary.
