#12 White Tiger from the West (西方白虎)

D V N O

Four capital letters
Printed in gold
'Cause details make the girls sweat even more
while they're shaking their belt
No need to ask my name
to figure out how cool I am

This article features my little golden treasure, the Gold Defender Frogman. It also features Susan, who has also a beautiful treasure. She owns a funny Jinchen Knight Cruiser 4-stroke motorcycle.

I got this Gold Defender Frogman from Leon in the US in November 2004. It is my 2nd Gold Defender Frogman. When I got this one, I noticed this one has the URL of the Japanese G-Shock website printed on the band. It was ascent on my other, that I purchased 5 month earlier from Boris of Seiko5ers in Hong Kong. Probably this one is a Japan domestic model, while the version I got from Boris is the overseas model.
"How do I look?" "Very good. I must say, I'm amazed""I'm a very stylish girl". (Breakfast at Tiffany's, 1961).
The Gold Defender series, released March 2002, combines street fashion with the ancient the spirits of the four Chines Constellations.
Every model features images of a spirit in gold accents (hence the name of the series). It is shown on the straps and the EL backlight.
The DW-056GM (the Azure Dragon from the East), DW-069GM (the Black tortoise intertwined with a snake from the North) and G-2300GM (Vermilion Phoenix of the South) are basically black models with gold accents.
The Frogman of this series, the GW-200GM-9JF is the eye catcher of the series. It represents the White Tiger from the West (西方白虎, also known as Byakko in Japan and, for Susan, Baekho in Korea).
The element white also represents the West. That's why the White tiger is the guardian from the West. The White Tiger also represents the Autumn season. It seems like a good watch for me as I am born in September. What gives a better as sitting in the back garden, enjoying the Indian summer with a beer in one hand, watching the red autumn sky as the sun sets.
The old Chinese believed the tiger was the king of the animals. The Legend tells that when a tiger is 500 years old, it's tail becomes white. The White Tiger must have been an old and wise animal.
The straps and the bezel of the Gold Defender Frogman has a special coating. It polarizes light, which gives the watch different color tones when viewed under different angles, varying from a greenish hue to gold.
It is similar to some metallic car paints. I think it's based on an optical phenomenon. The thickness of the layer is exact the wavelength (λ) of the desired color. When the viewing angle changes from 90º to another, the thickness changes, which also changes λ.The GW-200 is my favorite Frogman model. I like the Tough Solar feature, which reduces battery changes to a minimum. Also the capacity of the battery is enormous, so a full charged battery can make the watch run for many months. Since it has the Power Save function (display shut off after several hours not in use), it even runs longer on a full battery than the Raysman and the G-2300.
In the past liked the Frogman for it's size. A few years ago the size of a Frogman was huge compared to other watches. Nowadays in my country everybody wants to wear BIG watches. With BIG watches I mean that my Frogman in size looks somewhat average compared with those in size. Still I like the asymmetric design (Hi Merel!). It's also looking pretty thick. It makes the Frogman unique in the G-Shock line. Only the G-Lide GLX-100 and the Lungman have an asymmetric design too, but they don't look as good as the Frogman in my opinion.
Maybe I like dive watches. I already own an Orange Monster and love the look of a Tuna... Maybe I will buy a Russian submarine watch in the future. The kind with bars for the crystal, with the size of the palm of the hand. Oops, I forgot, it's 50 Gs.

" Idiot" ("The Idiots are Winning" 2006, James Holden)
Notice my giant Baby-G in the background.

The Gold Defender Frogman has a mat titanium screwback. The serial number reveals this Frogman is assembled in January 2002. My other Gold Defender Frogman is from December 2001.
The White Tiger is looking fierce and protective when the EL backlight is activated. It looks the West is well protected.
School's out. Time to show the Jincheng (after I heard many stories). Jincheng also makes motorcycles that look like the famous DAX model by Honda. Cool!
Thanks to Susan and Merel for helping with the photo's and the fun.