From Sundials to Multi-functional Watches

　　It was probably around 3,000 years ago that people first began inventing ways to help themselves measure the time. Having observed that shadow move around trees as the sun moves across the sky, someone drew a circle and put a stick in the center. As the sun passed overhead, he marked even division on the circle as the shadow of the stick crossed it.

　　Then people could tell which part of the day it was by noticing which mark on the circle the shadow fell across. These circles were called "sundials".

　　A water clock was another way to tell time. A container had a line with a number beside it for every hour. It also had a tiny hole in the bottom. The container was filled with water that dripped through the hole. When the water level reached the first line, one hour had passed. Each time the water level fell to another line, one more hour has passed.

　　It was about 600 years ago that the first clock with the face and an hour hand was made. Watches came into use as soon as clocks were made small enough to be carried. Then in the last century came automatic watches, electric watches and quartz watches, etc.

　　It is interesting to review briefly the history of the clock and watch development. Now, people have some new conception about watches. They think that watches don't just tell you the time, they also make a statement about your personal style, and even your character. They reveal the taste, personal preferences and hobbies of the person that wear them.

　　Now we bring you the latest offerings from a famous Japanese watchmaker so you won't be behind the times.

　　Casio watches are mostly digital, a good choice for those who prefer to stay in the digital age.

　　The Forester series is designed to suit hikers: bands made of leather or cloth, outer shell in frosted metal. A watch of this type has an automatic lighting function. If you turn it 30 degrees in the dark, the light on the back of the dial will come on.

　　There is a series for women, too. Light colours and streamlined design add some feminine flavour to the stiff numbers of the range.

　　The Data Bank series is a great help to those with bad memories. You can store as many as 30 phone numbers in it, and set five alarms.

　　Another Casio offering is a Futurist series with square dials. Two in this range have a vibrating function in the place of an alarm so that their reminder won't go unnoticed even in noisy environment and you can avoid embarrassing noisy alarm calls on occasions requiring quiet.

　　Those in the Pela series are also named film watch, because they are super-thin. They have plenty of function: dial time, phone number memory and stopwatch.

　　Casio has announced its new wrist audio player has been launched to the market. MP3 music documents can be downloaded from the Internet, or CD through computer and then played on the new watch. This " first wrist audio player" will undoubtedly be equipment for the new generation.

　　Baby-G series offers an interesting feature —— fortune-telling. Your luck, health, personal relationships and everything can be divined through the piece's index.