August 2008 marks a special date for Casio G-Shock. That month Casio decided to bring out series of unusual colors and color schemes under the "Crazy Colors" series flag. A good choice, this first series, launched worldwide, was a huge success. Specially the Dw-6900CS models became a common phenomena on the streets worldwide. These models were produced in large numbers, and even now, more than 6 years later, you can still find them old stock in shops, specially this white version.
I spend a morning looking for this photo, I took in Spain at STW BCN 2009, discovering only 2 of the first Crazy Colors were in the picture..
While I was taking some pics during a quiet hour at the labs, while Teun walked in and made these pictures of me. I love taking pics of peaople taking pics.
Uuhhrrr...
The Crazy Colors collection of August 2008 consisted of a black/ green, pink/silver this white/blue/green DW-6900CS and a black/orange and an cadmium yellow/blue DW-5600CS. At the time of release I was thrilled by the pink DW-6900CS.
Actually, this white model was the last one of these DW-6900CS I added to my collection. I think most readers know I am quite hesitant to buying bloo G-Shocks, but this watch looks pretty OK to me. The base color of this model is white and I love the poisonous green display. The LCS reflector is a mirror, which makes the digits a mirror too, so technically we can call this a negative display (the liquid crystal is green). Under normal circumstances, the digits are darker than the liquid crystal, so it looks like a normal display.
The first person I saw wearing this watch was professional French kite surfer Bastien Bollard. He is or was sponsored by G-Shock and therefore G-Shocks ended up also in his photoshoots. I think this model must have been, like the black/green DW-6900CS "Zombie Slayer", a very long produced popular model. Even here in Zeeland, far from the big cities, you can spot one, once in a while, though G-Popularity has moved to the XL models (mainly GA-100, GA-110, GA-200) over the years. As some collectors name G-Shock models after known people wearing them, like the white DW-6900NB is better known as the "Eminem", i persistently name this watch the "Bastien Bollard".
Although I have seen this model in many shops before, I was surprised to see this one in a large department store in the city center of Goes ("oe" is in Dutch pronounced like the English "oo" as in "goose"). We were just looking for school stuff for Bram and maybe some clothes and I didn't expect a small range of Gs. Years ago I spotted a basic DW-5600 for €100,- there, while you could buy those in the US for around $40 everywhere. A good reason not to pay much attention to their watch collection. I couldn't help passing the display with mainly black XL G-Shock models, so this one was standing our. Then I noticed the price tag. A typical DW-6900 cost usually around €109. in The Netherlands. I would have doubt maybe at a price of €75 and €50 would have been a real tempting good price so I couldn't totally resist this €39 price tag… While Eva and Bram were still looking at the school stuff department, I asked the shop lady if I could see the watch. After a short inspection (I think I was the first ever asked to see it, as it was brand new) I bought this watch. As I planned this model for a long time, you can’t really say it was an impulse buy, but it was a rather unexpected and fast buy.
As you might expect of a department store, not really specialized in G-Shock watches, I the watch in a random box, with a random sticker. As this is a more or less basic model, I don’t really mind. This should rather be a watch to wear than to keep mint in my collection. This watch is being watch flashing at the seashore in summer. The white resin of the strap and bezel have a glossy finish, which is great, because white G-Shocks can become dirty very fast. Even colored and dark clothing can “bleed” through. Glossy models have clearly less problems with dirt and bleeding.
The DW-6900 is a basic G-Shock model. Not much have changed since the introduction in 1995. The old 1289 module has been replaced some years ago by the 3230 module. This proofs this model was produced much later than the initial release date and is probably the reason you can still find them in shops, like the the black/green DW-6900CS "Zombie Slayer" or even maybe together. According GPS (G-Shock Perfect Search) the Mat Dial series of July 2011were the first models that came with the new 3230 module, so it isn't that new anymore after almost 4 years. The only upgrade is the calendar, which now doesn't stop anymore at December 31 2039, but in December 2099. Well, I don't think I will be around to see that happen. If I make it to the time the calendar of an old G-Shock ends, I will be 73 years old. I wonder if I will still be collecting Gs then.
So, back on topic, what do you find on a regular DW-6900. First of all there is regular time keeping. I love the graphic lay-out of the "Triple Eyed Devil". Above the regular display the eyes represent the time moving along. The two small eyes for the seconds, the big evil one for the 10-seconds. The display itself displays the day and date in the upper part of the and the time in the lower part. The digits in the lower part are bigger and bolder, so you easily can see what the most important digits are.
When you leave the Timekeeping Mode you find the Alarm Mode. This model does have one Alarm and a Hourly Chime. Probably quite revolutionary in 1995, the Alarm can not only be set to a Daily Alarm, but also on a Date Alarm. when a date is set, the Alarm will only chime at the programmed time on that specific date. As you can leave a digit in the date blanc, you can also make a 1-Day alarm, so that the Alarm will only chime at that programmed day of the month (for instance handy for those who celebrate Seiko 5 day every month) or only at that time during a whole month as the day is left blanc when programmed as a 1-Month Alarm.
Furthermore you find a 24 Hour Countdown Timer Mode and a 24 Hour Stopwatch Mode. In both cases it is actually a 23:59'59" version, but if you program the Countdown Timer to 0:00'00" the Countdown time will be exact 24 hour. Same thing for the Stopwatch, if you stop the time exactly 1 second after 23:59'59", the display will show 0:00'00". For me close enough for to 24 hour (In Europe we use also 24 hour notation, 12 o'clock Midnight is both called 24:00 and 00:00, though last version is the most logic and used version. A cool and handy feature is that the time still is displayed when the Countdown Timer or the Stopwatch is displayed and in use.
As I wrote in the beginning, I actually wanted this model in my collection, but never came to it. It looks quite cheerful and it looks good for the summer. I paid a real low price for it, but expect normally to pay a normal price of a basic DW-6900 for it. I think it will sell usually for €99,- in Europe and €75.- will already be a good price. Replace the € for a US$ and I think the amounts will be around the same. The DW-6900CS models were made in huge numbers. Specially this white and the black "Zombie Slayer" were very popular. This means these models are even now still easy to find. If you look good you can find those for real low prices, as you can see. You can consider any price below €50 or $50 a good price. I'm happy with mine. I haven't taken it out of the box to wear yet, as I wanted to make this article first. This means that I plan to enjoy this G-Shock this summer. Yeah!
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