New Casio watch celebrates 40 years of an iconic sci-fi franchise

It's time to mark 88 on your speedometers and set course for 1985, because the iconic Back to the Future franchise is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. It's doing so in style, too, with a commemorative watch produced in collaboration with Casio.

That takes the iconic calculator watch worn by Michael J Fox as Marty McFly and gives it a new lick of paint. The case, for example, is crafted from a silver-toned metal, rather than the black resin of the original.

Sitting above the digital display at the top of the watch face is the iconic OUTATIME licence plate, while the buttons of the calculator portion use the different coloured numbers from the DeLorean's time travelling display.

The nods to the franchise don't stop there, either. Flip over and you'll find an engraved case back, complete with a diagram of the iconic flux capacitor.

Moving from the case to the bracelet continues with the stainless steel theme. It looks much more premium than the resin straps found on other models, and utilises a similar buckle design to the A168 and similar models.

That buckle also houses the last of the commemorative touches. There, the Back to the Future logo can be found, with an engraving that will show on the rear of the watch strap when worn.

They say that kids are often more enamoured with the box it came in than the gift itself, and us big kids are no different. While the watch is cool, it comes in an exclusive packaging which is made to look like an old school VHS video tape. That's just dripping with retro cool, and seals the deal for this piece.

There's no word of any limited run, though don't expect a commemorative piece like this to be made forever. Priced at £115 (approx. €132 / US$153 / AU$236), this is a lot more expensive than the model it's based on. Still, any big Back to the Future fan will simply have to have one, and it's a wonderful ode to a cracking film franchise.