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Casio’s Affordable New Dress Watch Has Serious Rolex Vibes

Not a complete dupe but the MTP-B146 gets a crucial update that draws undeniable comparisons.

Close-up of a gold Casio watch with a green dial showing the day "Monday.Casio
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Ethan Brehm

By Ethan Brehm

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If I could pick two watch brands that represented opposite ends of the monetary spectrum, it would have to be Casio and Rolex. While one is the de facto king of affordable timepieces, the other is arguably synonymous with luxury.

Nevertheless, it’s not uncommon for budget watch brands to borrow from their premium counterparts. This is never more clear than with Casio’s latest offering, a dress watch that’s just a few features away from being a solid Rolex dupe.

Two Casio wristwatches with stainless steel bands, one with a blue dial and one with a black dial, both showing day and date.
Casio updated its flagship dress watch with a cool day-of-the-week window at the top of the dial.
Casio

A small but crucial upgrade

Following up the MTP-B145 models from 2024, the MTP-B146 adds a day-of-the-week window at the top of the dial. This supplements the pre-existing date aperture next to the 3 o’clock marker, and actually further cements the timepiece’s status as a dress watch. 

Luckily, it doesn’t change much from its predecessor. The dimensions are nearly identical. You still have a 35mm diameter, except the lug-to-lug increases to 40.8mm (from 40mm) and the thickness gets a small bump to 8mm (from 7.4mm).

Gold metal Casio wristwatch with green dial showing day and date.
This only levels up the brand’s predecessor, the B145, while maintaining the minimalist charm.
Casio

Everything else, from the applied stick hour markers to the elongated sword hands, are identical to the model’s predecessor. Even the case’s thoughtful design returns, with brushed finishing against the polished bezel. Water resistance also stays at 50m.

Three Casio wristwatches with silver metal bands and black, blue, and white faces on a red surface with playing cards and upside-down glasses.
Although five variants were released overseas, only three came to the US, including the black and blue dial options. The all-silver (right) was left behind.
Casio

Fan service

The B146 actually debuted in early 2025 as a Casio Lab Showcase presentation. This is the brand’s experimental testing ground where fans can preview unreleased watches, take surveys and vote on which products should be officially launched in the US. For the B146, members were asked which of the five international variants they liked the best.

As a result, Casio landed on three colorways: stainless steel with either blue or black dials (MTP-B146D-2AV and MTP-B146D-1AV), and a gold variant with a green dial (MTP-B146G-3AV). The all-silver and all-gold options were left behind, for now at least. 

Two gold Casio wristwatches with green and gold faces on a green surface near a chessboard and playing cards.
The gold-and-green colorways also made the cut, but the all-gold (right) did not … for now, at least.
Casio

The gold is the standout here, bringing the best out of the minimalist matte dial. The only text shown is the Casio branding at the top, “WR 50M” at the bottom and “Japan Mov’t” underneath the minute track. Its remarkably stunning.

CasiRollie

While Casio is going for an ‘80s aesthetic with the B146, any Rolex aficionado might instantly draw comparisons between this and the luxury brand’s Day-Date model (which currently starts at a cool $50,000). Of course, there are several elements separating the two. 

Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date watch with blue dial, baguette diamond hour markers, fluted bezel, and silver metal bracelet.
As you can see, the B146 still has a long way to go to be a total Day-Date dupe, leaving out the fluted bezel, Oyster bracelet and cyclops date.
Rolex

Most obviously, the Casio omits the fluted bezel, cyclops date window and Oyster bracelet. The B146 gets a multi-row steel band instead. There’s also zero lume on the watch like there is on the hour markers and handset of the Day-Date.

Regardless, for $110, this is a pretty darn attractive quartz-powered dress watch.

Availability and pricing

All three versions of the MTP-B146 are available now from Casio’s US site. The two steel colorways are priced at $110 while the gold-toned variant is at $130.

About the Author: Ethan Brehm is an associate editor at Gear Patrol writing about footwear, watches, spirits, EDC and more. When he’s not shopping for his next G-Shock, he spends his time watching movies and planning a future road trip with his family. He firmly believes CDs sound better than vinyl.

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