Today, I will review the Farr+Swit Retro Digital Mix Tape Vol. 1, which is a very long name for a small digital watch. It is a piece I would not have expected to love, and yet, I do. In fact, I think this little gem is one of the best releases of 2024. To understand why, I must first take you on a trip to the 1980s. I promise I’ll be brief.
My kids have come of age in a world without much physical media. Nearly all of their entertainment exists only in digital format. Music, in particular, is a thing that appears from thin air, either via satellite transmission or an internet signal. But such was not always the case. Back in the day, way before streaming, digital files, or compact discs, we purchased recordings on vinyl. They had amazing cover art and liner notes and sounded lovely, but you couldn’t listen to them in your car, at the park, or while walking down the street. If you wanted music to go, it had to be in your tape deck.
Cassettes didn’t deliver the highest quality sound, but they were convenient, and you could record them yourself. For years, one of my prized possessions was a Blondie concert from The King Biscuit Flower Hour that I taped off the radio when I was 12. When not engaged in broadcast piracy, we painstakingly curated playlists of our favorite songs. These mix tapes were widely shared and often introduced us to new music that was not played on our local radio stations. They were the soundtracks of friendships, parties, young love, and road trips, all on fragile ribbons of magnetic tape wound in plastic boxes.
While younger than the creaky old Time Bum, Farr+Swits designers also had fond memories of the cassette years. They already had one foray into ’80s pop culture with the neon vector graphic Vice Edition Chronographs when the Mix Tape concept came into focus. The overall shape would recall that of a cassette; it would be digital because that was the high-tech look of the time; the plastic case and fun colors would harken back to the original Swatch Watches, and above all, it wouldn’t take itself too seriously.
The Retro Digital Mix Tape’s boxy case is 35mm wide, 38mm long, and a wafer-thin 8.5mm thick. Why so diminutive? Because watches used to be small. This was partially just the fashion of the time, but I firmly believe it is also because unless you ordered your digital watch from The Sharper Image catalog, you picked it out in person at a real-live brick-and-mortar store. Nobody knew or cared how many millimeters wide their watch was; we just tried on the watches we liked at the Macy’s counter and bought what worked for us.
As far as I’m concerned, the Farr+Swit is just right for my 6.75″ wrist, and with its plastic construction, it’s light enough that I could easily forget I was wearing it.
Inside is a three-button digital module with an LCD display showing time, day, and date. Pressing the lower left button cycles through the alarm, stopwatch, and settings functions that can be adjusted with the right button. The top button is for the bright blue illumination.
It does not say who made the module because it honestly does not matter. You won’t need to even think about it until you need to pop in a new CR2016 battery. It won’t be hard to access; simply remove the four screws from the engraved case back. While it is hardly a diver, the Retro Digital will handle 50m of water pressure, which is probably more than the original Swatch I wore to the pool every day during the summer of my senior year.
Under its plastic crystal, the Mix Tape’s face bears a close resemblance to a cassette’s adhesive label, complete with a hand-written brand and model name. Now, I must tell you a little bit about mix tape aesthetics. Most basic cassettes were solid black or white plastic. If you bought a higher-quality tape, the magnetic recording surface was allegedly better, but truth be told, teenaged Time Bum didn’t know a single person with the equipment or the ear to tell the difference. What we were really paying for was a cassette with a higher-quality appearance. In the late 80’s, when Maxell updated the plain black case and gold paper label of the XLII tape with a smoked case and fine gold printing, I thought it was sharp as hell.
The Farr+Swit Clear takes its inspiration from the Memorex DBS, which had a clear case, and the brightly colored, Memphis School-inspired geometric graphics that were so pervasive in that decade. It was just the thing for that pop and synth mix you were bringing to the beach. Yes, there was a breed of music nerd who cared about such things, and I was one of them.
The Mix Tape’s strap is a very slim and very retro resin unit that is 18mm inside the lugs, flares to meet the edges of the case, and then tapers to its metal buckle. Unlike the plastic straps on similarly priced Casios, it is quite pliable. If you want to get fancy, it is easy enough to find a suitable leather or FKM strap in the same style. I’d be inclined to leave it alone to keep the spirit of the watch. The clear model gets a similarly clear strap; the blue case gets a black one.
There we have it. It seems like a rather simple formula, doesn’t it? After all, we’ve all seen plastic digitals, but the Farr+Swit Retro Digital Mix Tape Vol. 1 is something special. I love it when a watch can evoke emotion, when every element of its design reinforces a theme, place, or point in time. Farr+Swit has accomplished that, and they did it at an absolute bargain price. One Retro Digital is $34.99, a set of two is $59.99, and, as of this writing, if you spend $350 or more on the site, they will throw one in for free.
The Farr+Swit Retro Digital Mix Tape Vol. 1 is a fun watch and a practical knockabout. It is cheap enough for an impulse buy, small enough that your kid can wear it, and clever enough that you’ll want one too. Depending on your age, the Mix Tape Vol. 1 is either a nostalgic paean to your youth or a retro curiosity from the days when music was analog and watches were digital.
However it strikes you, I recommend you go for it. Buy the watch, strap it on, then dig deep into your music archives, find a song you absolutely loved when you were a high school sophomore, and totally rock out. You’ll thank me later.
Farr+Swit Retro Digital Mix Tape Vol. 1 is available now at farrandswit.com, and keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming B-side Editions.
