Casio LED-20 – Restoration

The Casio LED-20 is part of a small family of rare LED watches from Casio’s early digital era. These models had a big LED panel below the LCD, which flashed red during alarms, stopwatch, or timer functions. Collectors love them today because they combine the look of early LCDs with the charm of LED signaling.

Alongside the LED-20, Casio also released the LED-10 and the LED-30. I’ve already restored an LED-30, which you can read about here: Casio LED-30 Restoration.

This LED-20 came to me in worn condition, but with some careful work I managed to bring it back to life and make it a great companion to the LED-30 in my collection.

What was the condition of the watch at the start?

When the Casio LED-20 arrived, it showed clear signs of heavy use:

• Scratched crystal and case – the front looked cloudy and dull.
• Broken lug – the strap could not be attached.
• Old polarizing film on the LCD, badly applied, giving the screen strange green and pink colors at certain angles.
• After some time, the watch even stopped working completely, which made me unsure if the module could be saved.

It didn’t look good, but since the LED-20 is a rare model, I knew it was worth the effort to try restoring it.

How did the restoration process go?

Step 1: Polishing the crystal and case

I started with the acrylic crystal. It had deep scratches, so I sanded it through different grits of sandpaper until the surface was even. After that, I polished it with paste until it was clear again. I also polished the case to remove smaller marks and bring back its shine.

Step 2: Fixing the polarizing film

The old polarizing film on the LCD was applied badly and made the screen look green and pink from different angles. I removed it completely and added a new film. This restored the natural display look and made the digits easy to read.

Step 3: Repairing the broken lug

One lug was broken, so I rebuilt it using baking soda and super glue. After the repair hardened, I shaped it with a file tool, sanded it smooth, and painted it black with nail polish. To finish, I gave it a matte look with fine sandpaper so it blended with the original case.

Step 4: Adding a strap

To complete the watch, I installed a Casio CA-56 strap (17mm). It fits the LED-20 perfectly and makes the watch wearable again.

Step 5: Fixing the module

At one point the watch stopped working. I fully disassembled it and cleaned all parts with isopropyl alcohol. After reassembly, the module worked again without any problems.

The result of the restoration

After all the work, the Casio LED-20 is finally back to life. The crystal is clear, the case looks sharp, and the broken lug repair turned out strong and almost invisible. The new polarizing film fixed the strange colors on the screen, and the module works perfectly after cleaning.

The new CA-56 strap fits great, so the watch can be worn again. And of course, the small LED panel below the LCD flashes bright red during alarms and stopwatch functions — the signature detail that makes this series so interesting for collectors.

For me, this became one of the best restorations in my collection. Now the LED-20 sits proudly next to my LED-30. Both models show how creative Casio was in mixing LCD technology with LED indicators.

Pictures don’t show everything. You can see the complete restoration process in my YouTube video here 👇

👉 What do you think? Do you prefer restoring these rare LED series watches, or do you focus more on classic LCD Casios?