This is an Edifice Atomic Worldtimer that we photographed in 2012. A cool watch that felt well-made and featured ultra-precise atomic radio-controlled timekeeping. The conundrum with Edifice is that if G-Shock’s upscale collection is MR-G, and Casio’s premium collection is Oceanus, where does Edifice fit?

This is not an issue exclusive to Casio. Too many watch brands have too many brands.

As a marketing-heavy company like Casio knows all too well, even huge budgets run out. Having to market five brands versus four reduces the total reach of each brand. Moreover, when you look at Edifice and Oceanus, they do differ, but not enough to need two separate brands, in my opinion.

Oceanus could easily absorb Edifice, and the two brands could pool resources and become less of an afterthought than they currently are. Make Oceanus and MR-G the flagships, build them into more widely recognizable brands, which they’re not right now, and consumers will have more reason to consider them.