50 Gs

G-Shock #5: My Missing MR-G

2012-01-29T09:57:00.000+01:00

I pretty much love the classic metal MR-G series, that were introduced in 1996. In the past years I have found several of these models for affordable prices. At their release they were pretty expensive. At that time a MR-G model costed around €400, which would probably more than double now if you convert that price to the nowadays market (it was almost about my monthly income around that time).

From Left to right: MRG-100, MRG-110, MRG-210 and MRG-120.

It’s not that I do not like the new MR-G models. Frankly I do like most, specially the MRG-7000 models and higher (to me the MRG-2000 and -3000 series looked a little too much like the higher end metal G-Shocks and hence not really worth the price tag of €1000.- or higher).

I think the current MR-G line has a totally different target group than mine. They are, with my spending pattern, not even close to affordable to me, but if you, as a consumer, are looking for a high end watch in the same category as the Omega Speedmaster, etc, this might be a reasonable series to look at too. Maybe I might find some in about 15 years for a than affordable price. As I will be approaching my 60 life year, it might be that my interest might have migrated to the higher end watches and that my spending spree might have been slowed down.

Today’s MR-G model is the MRG-110-7, released November 1996. I was highly convinced that I owned this watch, when my friend Neil offered me one last year. A quick look at my website G-Peopleland learned me I was wrong. There was a hiatus. I bought a MRG-100 earlier from him, and also I bought a MRG-210. There was my mistake. The MRG-210, released November 1997) has also a square case. The MRG-210 has more functions and 5 button (one 5th light button) operation, while the MRG-110 has only a 4 button operation.

In function I think the MRG-110 is more made for me. Despite it’s Telememo, ID data and vital statistics, the MRG-210 only has a Stopwatch, where the MRG-110 has a Stopwatch function and a Countdown Timer function. The upper right button is the light button, so the Split function in Stopwatch models done by the Adjust button (upper left). Not the ideal position for this function, but you probably get used to this pretty fast if you need this function often.

DW-8900, photo's by Jan (dschaen81 of the SCWF)

The MRG-110 shares the same module as the MRG-100, module1569. The MRG-100 is by the way released outside Japan as DW-8900. The only difference is the plastic face plate part, which is white in the Japanese version and gray in the overseas version. At the MRG-110 the plastic part of the faceplate is also white. Personally I love this color design. It is a nice contrast to the full metal case and also it makes the text pretty clear. The texts indicate if certain functions are toggled on. Then toggled on a horizontal black bar digit appears under the text. There is an indicator for the Alarm function, the Hourly Chime, the Split function in Stopwatch Mode and the Auto Repeat function in the Countdown Timer Mode. This last function might not easy to find. If you are in Adjust Mode of the Count Down Timer (the digits are flashing), press the upper right button and you will see the Auto Repeat indicator appear (or disappear if it was activated).

The MR-G feels quite heavy. Some may see this as a disadvantage, but from a lot classic 90‘s MR-G owners I learned that most people like the way you can feel the quality back in the weight of the watch. Pessimists can always complain that you walk skewed to the left when you wear such a watch, but we are talking a watch that weights about 150 grams here.

The weight of a MR-G watch is mainly the result of the use of solid links in the bracelet. The bracelet can easily be resized by driving out a split pin and taking out the link. You need the proper tools of course.

The finish of the watch is from what I know brushed stainless steel. It looks pretty nice, but you you can also see the wear of the watch easily, as you can see on my photo’s. I bought this watch used, so I knew what to expect. While wearing, I think the condition of this more than 15 years old watch is very good.

Classic MR-G models wear very comfortable, because of the hard rubber back protector. This allows a space between the back of the watch and the wrist. As there are no ventilation holes, I recommend to take the watch of at night as there is no ventilation.

As the newer MR-G models are far from affordable for me and I think for a lot of G-Shock enthusiasts, the classic MR-G series are a nice alternative. For me a price under €300 can be considered affordable, but I normally use the definition of the Poor Mans Watch Forum (PMWF), who state that an affordable watch is priced lower than $1000.-. Classic MR-G models of the 90’s can be found regularly for sale on watch forums and eBay. They are also often priced very wallet friendly. You often find them under €100.-. I bought this MR-G together with my GWS-900-4JR Speedpass. I am not sure what I paid for the two, but I got this one for far under €100, rather think around $70.-. For that price I think it is totally worth for what you get.

If you are interested in buying a MRG-110 or another classic MR-G model, keep in mind these models are slightly smaller than the usual basic G-Shocks of that time (and quite smaller than the current X-Large models). Although my preference goes to the larger G-Shocks, I still love these little gems with their unique full metal look and their heavy and quality feel.

G-Shock #4: Black X Gold

2012-01-22T00:30:00.000+01:00

After saving up money for more than a year, I finally had saved enough to buy my dream laptop. It is a 15" MacBook Pro. This article was still written on my old slow laptop, but the photo's were edited on my new Mac in CS5.5 and I also composed this on .

The Black x Gold series have been around since December2009, but the second release in June 2011 had probably more impact than the first release. While the AWG-100BC-1AJF, GW-2000BGD-1AJF and GW-2310-1JF could be the gold tone basic version of their model, most of the 5 released models of June 2011 have more blinging accents. Only the GXW-56GB-1JF looks more like a gold tone basic model. Also the GW-9300GB-1JF does not have much gold accents. These last two mentioned models were released in the US as Non-Atomic models (GW-56GGB-1 and G-9300GB-1).The GD-100GB, the today featured GA-110GB and the GDF-100GB are real blingy models. Outside Japan these models are known as the Garish Black series. Hence the code GB bind the model number. I even think Garish Black covers the overall look of this series better

Most G-Shocks have a part above the display that focus you on the used parts of the display, which I refer to as the “face plate”. On the last three mentioned models this face plate is mirror gold. The use of a gold mirror faceplate is not new. In February 2010 Casio released a new series of Crazy Colors (called Mirror Face series in the US), the pretty popular black DW-6900CB also had a mirror gold face. In fact it could easily blend in the Black x Gold series as the color scheme is practically the same.

Intermezzo: Above I mentioned gold tone basic models. Maybe I need to explain a little further. Until not that long ago, Casio released often besides their normal black version a second black version in yellow tones. The normal black version has the usual red and white lettering and the blue Water Resistant text and a blue/green display The second black version has a red/yellow color scheme with only the Casio logo in white and a gold/green display. The first basic model is often referred to as the silver model (while it’s just plain black), while the second version is referred to as the gold model. Often both versions were available at the release, but the availability of the silver tone was about 10 times higher than the gold tone. This is probably because the gold versions were more loved by Asian people. Some models were in Japan only released in the gold version, like the DW-6600 and DW-6900.

The so called "Gold Version" of the DW-6900.

Normally I prefer silver metal, for that reason I also love the MR-G models, but after I got a Precious Hearts model of 2006 I was pretty sure gold wasn’t a that bad color and with the 25th Anniversary models I was convinced gold could be looking great on a G.

Often when a series of models is released in a wide variety of colors I somehow try to get the colored versions first. Black is just ehm.. well, just black. This Black x Gold series are different. First of all the black resin is glossy, but we have seen that before. It’s the gold mirror parts that scream out for attention. When I saw this series announced I thought immediately, I should get the GA-110GB. Frankly also the GD-100GB and the GDF-100 GB look very nice to me. It’s that I have to make choices, but also I would have bought them all three.

The GA-110GB is probably the most blingy model of this series. All dial parts and markers are metallic gold and so are large parts of the hands. Personally I think this is a flashy watch to be seen with. Frankly the functionality of the analog timekeeping is maybe even worse than the monochrome Hyper Colors models. Note that I do not want to write this as a negative remark actually. The dial also has a digital display, which under normal circumstances shows time perfectly. No, the blend of the dial and the hands are actually giving the watch a kind of sophisticated look, which makes people curious.

Meeting at my house, January 4th, with from left to right: Ernie Romers (owner Watch-U-Seek), me, Tribe125 and DragonJade (who prefers to remain incognito)

Two weeks ago I had a meeting with Tribe125, former G-Shock Forum moderator on WatchUSeek and DragonJade, one of my co-moderators on the G-Shock forum. Our meeting point in front of the Antwerp Cathedral. By coincidence I ran into them at the side of the cathedral. I wanted to check time, but the sun had already set for about half an hour. I noticed my watch looked great, but it was almost impossible to read time in such bad light and weather conditions (there was quite some water pouring down from the sky.

I am not sure what attracts me most on this watch. Maybe it is the high contrast between the gold and black parts. I think the most interesting for me is the sophisticated look of the dial, with all its layers.

For the functions on this watch, I rather refer you to the Dee & Ricky model that I reviewed recently on 50 Gs. I think it’s enough if I say the watch has a Stopwatch function with Tachymeter, a Countdown Timer, World Time and an Alarm function. The only downside of the functioning of the watch, and I have mentioned that before, is that the mode button is standard silent and can’t also turned on. If you are used to G-Shocks it first feels like your watch is defect.

Like the other GA-110 reviewed here, this watch also has an amber LED backlight. Where I think this backlight does not real right to the previous reviewed models (my pink Hyper Colors shows bit boring brown/grey dial), it works out very nice with this Black x Gold display. With a bit of luck you can even read time (well, I maybe exaggerate a little here).

At “Shock The World Amsterdam” I met an employee of the Casio watch division and we have discussed about Casio watches since then. One of the first questions he asked me was why I bought so many G-Shocks overseas. In the past I had a good excuse to say these models were simply not available in the Netherlands. Well, since a few years things have changed drastically. G-shocks have become more expensive in East Asia (specially in Hong Kong), G-Shocks are relative cheap in the US, but the customs and specially the TNT postal service try to make from every good buy a very expensive one. For storing a package for almost a week before handing over a package to the customs they charge shamelessly €17.-, while the 20% tax has still to be added. You don’t have to be surprised when your $80.- watch with $20.- shipping ends up with an extra bill of around €35.- for customs and duties. I once had to pay at the door over €20.- for tax and duties for a $20.- watch, which appeared also to be the wrong watch sent from the seller.

The employee of Casio pointed me to some great Dutch G-Shock Trend Shops. Since shipping in my country is often free of charge, it became pretty interesting to buy G-Shocks here in my own country last year. I was lurking for this model for a long time. I knew “I Love Sneakerz” had one on their website, but when I finally decided to buy this model, it was just sold. Also no luck at Gorilli. Hmmm, I felt a little panic coming up. I contacted the account manager of Casio. He told me the watch was not available anymore, but he had seen one that morning in Amsterdam at Ace Trends Shop of Ace Jewelers and he gave me the internet address. I couldn’t find the watch directly on their website, so I tried out the “Live Chat”. I was helped within seconds. The watch was in store and a special page was made for me so I could buy this watch easily. Next working day (I ordered it Friday, but the postal service does not deliver insured packages on Saturday, so it was delivered Monday) the package was delivered perfectly. I had to say, I was amazed about the looks. I think I felt the same way when I opened the DW-6900CB-1. The black and gold color combination is just awesome. I have called it a blingy watch, but there is a good balance between the shiny gold and the black resin. Normally I would keep such a watch for my collection, but I couldn’t help myself by strapping on this watch.

I paid the full price for this watch. I think it was €129.-. After I bought this watch, I was contacted by one of the employees of Ace, who I happen to know, who told me that members of WatchUSeek can use a discount code (Ace Jewelers is also one of the sponsors of WatchUSeek). Well, it’s a little pity, but hey, I finally got a watch I was lurking at for a long time. That’s probably most important for me.

G-Shock #3: Speedpass

2012-01-15T13:40:00.000+01:00

Today’s G-Shock is quite a special model. It’s the GWS-900 Speedpass. This model is equipped with a chip. With this chip it is possible to pay at Esso and Mobil gas stations in Japan. Speedpass can be used by approximately 10000 gas stations worldwide, though I think most of these gas stations will be located in Japan and the USA. Frankly, before I had ever heard of this model, I never heard about this payment system.

The chip is located at above the display. It’s invisible, but when you want to pay with a registered Speedpass G-Shock, you need to hold the top of the watch at the chip reader of the pump. It works pretty much as using an unmanned gas station, where you commonly use your bank pass or credit card.

The G-Shock Speedpass is probably pretty much comparable with the Swatch Snowpass, which is used to pay for access to lifts and slopes in popular ski resorts around the world.

The technique used for these chips is called RFID, Radio Frequency ID. Every chip has an unique code. This code must be linked to a credit card. In the box there is a brochure (in Japanese of course…) where you can order a Speedpass credit card. As the details are all in Japanese, I can’t really make up if this credit card is really needed for this system, or that an existing credit card would work too. I think it would not be necessary to have more than one credit card. The number of the chip is laser engraved on the back of this G-Shock (for this model: A04018293).

Only this GS-900 version was released in October 2004. Normally a Speedpass keychain is used at Speedpass pumps. A watch is of course a welcome idea, when you wear your watch every day. A collector like me would be a hopeless case with just one Speedpass model. It would restrict me of wearing only one watch while driving a car. For me a key chain would be a much better solution, but for those who just have one watch, this is a good alternative. And frankly, this is a very nice looking watch. It is made in a for me favorite colors.

Although the model number GWS-900 suggests this is a (2-band) Waveceptor model, it’s actually just a Tough Solar model. It has the 2654 module. You can find this module also on the MTG-901 and MTG-911, the non Atomic versions of the MTG-900 and MTG-910. Also the 2800 has a similar or the same module. The case looks unique to me, but looks a bit like the G-3011 model with the small almost square light button.

The construction of the case, bezel and back is also pretty unique. It’s not unique that the side of a G-Shocks case consist of an upper and a bottom part, but I think I cannot remember that I know a model where the metal back is also part of the side of the case. The brushed stainless steel contrasts beautifully with the red resin of the bezel.

The 26554 module has some interesting features. Scrolling through the functions while pressing the Mode button, you’ll will find the Telememo, Worldtime, Countdown Timer, Alarm and the Stopwatch mode.

The Telememo mode is something you won’t find on a G-Shock nowadays. Before mobile phones were common used, the Telememo function was a way to store your most important telephone number. This model can store up to 30 sets of names with telephone numbers. Well, that were those days. Nowadays I can add unlimited contacts in my phone and it’s not rare to have three phone numbers available for a contact. This does not say it was an useless function, but nowadays this function is pretty obsolete.

The Worldtime Function is, compared to newer G-Shock models, less extensive, but sufficient enough as most current G-Shock models have several cities in the same time zone. This G-Shock can display 27 cities in 29 time zones.

The Countdown Timer is pretty extensive, but the downside is that the total Count Down time is only 60 minutes. On the other side it is possible to program the Countdown Timer with a Reset Timer and Auto Repeat. If Auto-Repeat is turned off the watch starts displaying Elapsed Time mode after the target time is reached. Also the Countdown Timer has a Progress Beeper, which notifies you at certain times during the Count Down progress. Personally I think a 60 minute Count Down is rather short. Just to annoy me, the Elapsed Time has a capacity of 99 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds.

I think it’s a bit strange the Alarm Mode is placed between the Countdown Timer Mode and the Stopwatch Mode. The watch can be set to 5 alarms and of course you can turn the Hourly Chime on and off.

The easy to use Stopwatch function has the unusual capacity of 99 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds. It’s a simple function with split timing, which speaks for itself.

The watch is equipped with a Full Auto Illuminator. This means you can activate the EL backlight in the dark with a simple twist of the wrist. When the EL is activated, the Speedpass logo is revealed.

The GWS-900 is solar powered. The watch contains the CTL1616 battery, which was the usual battery used in the G-Shocks of that time and if I’m correct it is still used in new Tough Solar G-Shocks.

The display of the watch is surrounded by a black metal ring, which is part of the bezel. It does not only look good, but it also adds to the Tough look of the watch. The black parts in the display are the solar cells. The ellipse eye in the upper left corner is the battery status indicator. It has quite a big display and so the time digits are unusual bug. Pretty good display for people with older eyes or bad sight. The display shows also the year, day of the week and the date. I couldn’t find it in the manual, but with the Power Save function turned on, I think the watch can store enough energy for running about 6 to 9 months without light. Best is not to drain the battery completely, so feed it light from time to time.

The GWS-900 comes in quite a big special cardboard box. It has, besides the usual Casio and G-Shock logo also the Speedpass logo printed big on it. The box has this big dimensions because of the papers packed with it. The papers are all in Japanese, so I have to guess where they are for. I think there is a folder to sign up for a Synergy Credit Card. A second folder can be used to activate the account for the chip. I think a small, credit card size plasticized paper has to be stored in your wallet as it has emergency numbers if you have questions or problems with your Speedpass.

As every chip in the Speedpass is unique, the system seems pretty safe for fraud, though a group of students of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland were able to crack the algorithm used by the RFID chip. Since then users were often asked to enter their postal code when using the Speedpass.

Although there has been experimented with it in the Chicago area, it is not possible to pay with your Speedpass in shops or (fast food) restaurants. This would be handy, especially when traveling long distance over the highway.

The look of this watch is typical for the models released around 2002/2003. The design make this watch actually look a bit beefier The red color makes this watch pretty attractive, though I can’t use the Speedpass function in my country. As a G-Shock collector I would not use this watch as a paying method, simply because I change watches regularly. If it was possible to have and use a Speedpass key-chain, I could imagine myself to get one, though with the current gas prices in Europe, it’s pretty lucrative to tank gas at the un-manned gas stations as you sometimes can get up to 10 – 12 cent discount per liter gas. I’m just a simple educational assistant and an avid G-Shock collector, so if I can save money on fuel, this means directly more money for G-Shocks.

I bought this model from a good friend of me in Chicago. Frankly I forgot what I paid for this model. Probably between $100 and $200, but it came in a lot and it really was a friend’s price. I would not be surprised such a model would cost you more. I pretty much like this model as it is pretty unique in the G-Shock line-up. I think there is maybe a similarity with the forthcoming Bluetooth G-Shocks (GB-6900), though instead with a payment system these forthcoming models make a wireless connection with your mobile phone. I do not know exactly when the Bluetooth models are released, but I heard from a trustworthy source the watch will be launched in Europe this summer.

G-Shock #2: Friday 13th, Time for another Jason!

2012-01-13T00:00:00.000+01:00

Actually I almost forgot. Yesterday a girl told me she celebrated her 13th birthday on Friday 13th. I thought that was funny. As she will be 18 in few months I began thinking. "When will it be Friday 13 again?". "Tomorrow sir", she answered. It was immediately in my head. I should try to do a 50 Gs article in record time （笑）.

my little plastic bag that hold my G-Shock's I bought in Japan, December 2010

The original Jason was the DW-001. It was supposed to be a concept model that not was intend to be produced. We have to thank a famous Japanese rock star for this. When he saw this concept model lying on a desk at the Casio headquarters in Tokyo, he said told this watch was looking awesome and that Casio should take it in production. Well, it was released in November 1994.

The DW-001 was the first model in the Nexax (ネグザクス) series. In English these models were called "Capsule" models, the look "Capsule Though". The bezel is not only protecting the front, it also protects the back. The case is in fact completely covered in resin protection (except for the display of course). The DW-001 was succeeded by the DW-002, DW-003 and DW-004 with a similar "Capsule" protective structure.

The watch was soon after the released named Jason, after the character Jason Voorhees from the teenage horror movie series Friday 13th. In these movies Jason is a brutal killer, wearing an ice-hockey mask. With a little fantasy you can see the resemblance between an ice-hockey mask and the look of the DW-001 and G-001.

The look of the Jason can be explained by a special feature on the DW-001, the Thermometer function. Under the holes in the part under the display there was a thermo sensor. Also the DW-001 had a Sunrise and Sunset function. Frankly I would love to see this function to return on future G-Shock models, even though there is a 5 minute accuracy.

The DW-001 was probably not produced for a long time. It's not easy to find a DW-001 in good condition now, but this was also in the past. When I got my first and only DW-001 more than 10 years ago, I had never seen such a model before and frankly, I haven't seen a DW-001 for a long time after that. Also I got quite some requests from Japan if I want to sell my DW-001. If you know me more closely, you should know I do not sell G-Shocks from my collection.

I think it was somewhere in 2008 when rumors appeared about a release of new Jason models. I read about this on several G-Shock weblogs (one of them is my blog friend FUMI, who now is pausing his weblog, because of his marriage).

In September 2010 Casio finally released the re-issue, the G-001. The G-001 does not have the thermometer function, so the holes under the display are closed on this model. Some G-Shock collectors regret the loss of the Thermometer function, but a thermometer function on a watch only functions accurate when a watch is not worn. The absence of the thermo sensor is the reason the holes under the display are closed.

The G-001 can be considdered a basic model, so you find basic functions on this moel. It has a Worldtime function with 48 cities and 29 time zones, a 24 hour Stopwatch, a 24 hour Countdown Timer and an alarm function with three alarms (one is snooze alarm) and a hourly chime.

The model featured here in this article is the G-001B-1JF, released November 2010. It was the first G-Shock I bought during my visit in Japan, together with a G-7900MS-3JF. It was bought in a Yodobashi store in Shinjuku. The suggested retail price of this G-001B was ¥13500. As the big electronics chains are average about 10% under this price I probably paid ¥11000 to ¥11500 for this model. This model has a very nice thick (artificial?) leather strap, which is actually pretty comfortable. The comfort is also provided by the wrist keepers. A few days later we had a G-Shock meeting near Nakano. I noticed Oyaji, a watch blogger and architect, was wearing the same watch. Pretty cool!

photo by Bernard Vercouteren

As I really like the look of the 90's G-Shock models, you can imagine I am quite a fan of this model. Although released about a year ago, this model is still available if you look good on eBay or other sales platforms. It won't leave a big hole in your wallet as most prices I found for the G-001 models were under €100.-.

G-Shock #1: My new Silver Party G, DW-6900CB-8

2012-01-08T11:09:00.000+01:00

First of all, before I forget: My best wishes for the 2012 to all of you and yours. All kind of festivities around Christmas and New Year kept me pretty occupied since I wrote the last articles for 50 Gs. I had so many things going on that I was every time surprised that people were giving me New Years wishes when I met them. The year started well for me. On the day of New Years Eve the postman brought me two G-Shocks (the #39 and #40 of 2011), together with my new cool illuminated keyboard. Last week two good friends, one is also a G-Shock Forum moderator on WatchUSeek, the other recently retired his moderator duties on the G-Shock Forum after many years. We spend a great time in Antwerp and Middelburg, of course talking about watches, but of course also about life in general, as there is of course more to life than only G-Shocks.

I want to do a short review about my 40th G-Shock, that I bought in 2011 and was the watch I wore on New Year’s Eve. It’s the DW-6900CB-8DS. It’s actually the second of this model in my collection, the first one had the complete model number DW-6900CB-8DR. On the outside the watch looks exactly the same, but it’s from a total other batch. I think it’s pretty recent produced in the China DH plant, instead of the Thailand Y plant.

The DW-6900CB models were part of the Crazy Colors series. These models were released in February, 2010. It looks like this model has been made for more than a year, as it was still very easy to get. I actually got it from a special sale from the Dutch watch on-line store Kish. The last two days of the year they had 5 G-Shock models on sale for their newsletter subscribers, and this was one of them. The sale was only for December 30 and 31, so I ordered this watch, together with a DW-6900CB-1CU, the black with gold version of the same series, just after midnight on December 30. I was very lucky it already arrived on the day of New Year’s Eve (here called “Old Year”).

Also the blackmodel was made in the China DH plant. It’s a little strange that the letters in the suffixes differ. You might expect both DS or CU. A closer look at the tags shows that the black model was made for the US market (it refers to www.g-shock.com) , while my silver model was not. I think the silver version is a bit the forgotten model of the DW-6900CB series as I have seen many owners of the blue, red and black model, but can’t actually remember someone having this model. Probably most owners of this model are women as the color scheme look pretty feminine.

The color scheme on this watch sounds quite remarkable to me, but I think it works out great. It’s probably not really a good office watch for during a serious conference, but I think it has a kind of festive look. That was probably the reason I picked this watch to wear on New Year’s Eve.

We plum display before. It is a very nice color, though in dim light it’s not always good readable, but hey, you wanted a cool looking watch! The face plate is a silver mirror. This makes the watch look pretty interesting as the mirror adapt to the environmental light. In a dark room (I’m writing in a pretty dark room now, with only a small desk light here) this plate looks black. In bright sunlight it looks silver. If this is your only G-Shock, it is great that the looks change under different light conditions.

I very much like the pink ring at the edge of the crystal. I wish that a contrasting color was used more often on DW-6900 models. I’m not sure what to think of the white light button. Maybe a metal button or a silver plastic button would have been better, though, in general, I’m a fan of white light buttons. Secretly I am thinking about a mod with a DW-6900FS-4 bezel and strap (although they are probably very hard to get).

The resin strap and bezel differ a bit from the other models in the DW-6900CB series. While the other three models have a shiny finish, this model has a sparkling silver finish. The silver finish is a film, brought on a light gray resin. This film is pretty tough, but probably after very long wear, it might wear off at the place where the buckle meets the strap. I wouldn’t worry too much on this. A little bit wabi can’t damage a G-Shock look. The pink strap keeper is a nice plus on this model.

This model has the 1289 module, while the other DW-6900CB I got on Old Year has the new 3230 module. Probably Casio didn’t have the plum 3230 yet, or had plenty 1289s left from other models. This means that this watch keeps the day and date until the end of 2039 (if I’ll ever make it, with my ADHD lifestyle, I’ll be 73 then). The new 3230 model works well until 2099. Well, the chance is small that even Bram (July 21, 2000) might see that happen.

Photos above and below are taken by Bram on the way to a Lego workshop last Saturday.

As I have reviewed a DW-6900 model here many times, and probably will do many times, I think I don’t have to explain the functions on this watch. The DW-6900 has a daily alarm, a 24 hour Countdown Timer and a 24 hour Stopwatch on board. Casio considers this the round basic G-Shock, as the DW-5600 and derived models are considered the square basic model. This explains why there are so many different 5600 and 6900 models. No problem for me as I very much like the 6900 design.

Although this model was first released almost two years ago, it is still easy to find globally. A search on eBay learns me that you can find all the models of this series easy in the USA for around $80.- and in Europe for around €99.-. I was lucky that I could buy this one for €69.- including shipping in within The Netherlands.

Intermezzo #45: Greetings from G-Peopleland!

2011-12-24T01:30:00.000+01:00

Yeah! I made it! The article about the Revman last week was the last G-Shock article for 2011. Earlier this year I have been in doubt if I could go on for a next 50 models or would do a sabbatical year and start in 2013 totally over again. Although I have over 500 G-Shocks (next year I might even break through the 600 barrier), I have quite a lot of models double (one for the collection, one for wearing fun). Also there are of course special models from different series that are based on the same basic model. There have been quite a few DW-6900’s passed in the past years.

According the post list of 50 Gs, 270 articles were written since January 2008. Most of them were from my hand, but there are also, of course, the articles of guests. I hope I can invite some of these guest to do an article next year (I think Martback and I had still something in the pipeline). 2013 is a special year for G-Shock, but I expect that, like in 2007, the first 30^th Anniversary models will appear in the dawn of the celebration in 2012. Next year II will probably grab back a few times to models that have already passed the revue on 50. I think that will be not such a problem. I think G-Shock got gained a lot of new fans last year who not only like to read about the newest models, but also like to learn about the long history of G-Shock models.

I’m of course curious what models I will buy in 2012. I have bought only 39 G-Shocks this year, but If you keep in mind that under these G-Shocks were a MR-G Frogman, a Revman and an unused Men In Yellow Frogman, you probably can imagine I didn’t had too much funds to buy more G-Shocks. On my wanted list are the Matte Dial series models (I only have the pink version), the forthcoming red Blue Tooth model and maybe the metal GW-3500 Sky Cockpit model. Let’s see if I can acquire these next year, and review them here of course.

So did other interesting things happen in G-Peopleland? I have always my eyes open on interesting T-Shirts and music. 2011 was the year I finally found the LP “Go Weird”by the Wibbley Brothers from 1982. I had been looking for this album since its release, but I live a bit in the outback here and back in those days there was only the wireless . I hope Ronnie and Terrie Wibbley will release this album also on CD in the near future.

I still haven’t bought the new album of Justice, but I very much liked the first single of the album, “Audio, Video, Disco”. Since I saw someone referring to this song (and Justice’s French pronunciation of the title) as “Oreoooooo, Oreooooo, Oreoooo, Video, Disco” the song only excist as such in my head. Again a great video by SoMe.

My Friend Hilde from Delft passed me this video last week. I have to be honest that I would use computers to get this effect, but it’s much greater to see this visually. It reminds me to the scratcher of our band. He also could scratch faster than his shadow.

For those who follow my Japanese weblog (well, nowadays the texts are normally both in Japanese as in English), you probably have seen I got a big Lego Millennium Falcon from Saint Nicolas earlier this month. A week ago, after I had finished my 50th 50 Gs article, I had finally time to build this spaceship. Of course I had a timer and a camera pointed on me building this set and I made a Stop Motion movie of the building process. Now I see that moustache... I'm glad I got rid of it a few weeks ago, ha ha.

This autumn my friends at Kiks TYO made a collaboration Tee with the urban fashion shop Gorilli in Rotterdam. I read the Gorilli blog from time to time, who come up with nice items from time to time. Unfortunately I couldn’t go to the Nigel Sylvester release party a few months ago at Gorilli, because I would have liked to be there very much. Well, I also had missed a meeting with Dee and Ricky in Amsterdam last week.

Also from Kiks TYO I got a very nice Duck Camo thermo lined Hoody. I might be ordering their Landscape Logo and 44Klash collab shirt in the near future. I also keep an eye open to their Lucky Package deals. These package deals will be sold on their website around New Year. It’s a great way to add some new shirts to your collection.

Well, that’s enough text for this year I guess. From G-Peopleland I wish you all a Happy Christmas and a G-Reat New Year. À bientôt!

G-Shock #50: …and the Beast!

2011-12-18T00:43:00.000+01:00

In the box I got begin October from my friend Neil was not only the MR-G Frogman. That day was a great high for me, because it contained another grail watch that I thought I never would have. It was the MR-G Revman. Only three models Revman were released. Two in July 1999 and one in December 1999. The Revman of December 1999 is a little different from the black model of 1997 (only the name REVMAN was white in 1997 and red in 1999). Around 2003/2004 I have seen several Revman on eBay at a BIN price of $250.- at a Hong Kong based seller. I think the model I saw was probably the 1999 model.

I was a bit surprised when I opened the box of this watch (it is actually not the original box). I expected the standard black version (either the 1999 or 1999 version), but it was actually the blue dial version. Cool, I didn’t even know there was a blue dial version, until I checked G-Shock Perfect Search (GPS).

The fact I didn’t knew about this model, while I have seen this model several times before, indicates that this version is probably much rarer than the basic black version. Not that the basic black version looks bad, the red accents on top of the dial look great in my opinion, but the blue dial looks great too.

A little bummer was that the watch was dead on arrival. Little bigger became my bummer when I found out I didn’t had the SR-920W and SR-621SW battery I needed to revive it again. Well, I could choose two ways to obtain these batteries, order on-line and wait 10 – 14 days or jump on my bicycle and go to a hardware store. Well I went for the second option. Unfortunately the hardware store in Koudekerke did only have the SR-920W. While cycling back, I suddenly remembered there was a store for parts of household apparatus in Middelburg too. I might try my luck there. About 25 minutes later I stepped out of this store with the last SR-621SW battery they had in stock. Well, that’s exactly enough, there I only needed one.

It was not a big deal replacing the batteries. It is a similar operation as with the Gaussman and a Giez GS-300 model. The back plate can easily be removed. The battery locks are a bit small, but with the proper tools it must not be a problem. I opened them actually with my smallest watch screwdriver instead of with the usual sharp poins tweezer (which I typically found back after the locks were opened).

Maybe the title of this article is a bit misleading. It might suggest it is not a beautiful looking model. No that’s not it, but compared to the MR-G Frogman that was reviewed last week, this watch looks totally different. Where the Frogman looks al streamlined with beautiful curves, this Revman looks more edgy and sturdy. I think it might even look tougher. The first thing that came to my mind when I first saw a Revman was that it looks like a Medieval shield for a knight. There are raised minute marks at the 5 minute markers on this shield shaped part of the bezel (except for the 15 and 45 minutes marker). Also the button guards look very solid. Actually the buttons look like they are part of the bezel. First time I had to try them. They push easy but solid.

Like other MR-G models the bracelet is made of solid links. I think it’s unique that these links are thicker in the center than at the sides. It perfectly fits with the bezel design of the watch and probably add extra on the medieval idea I have about the design of this watch.

The Revman was the first MR-G model that had no screwback. Instead it has a pretty solid titanium back plate attached to the case with 4 screws. The screws also hold two plastic “wrist guards”. The plastic feels a bit rubberish. I think it has a similar function as the rubber ring that you find on the metal screwback MR-G models that were released before this model. They probably serve two functions. The first is to secure the watch comfortable on the wrist. The other is probably to allow a little ventilation under the watch, preventing irritation. One of the guards has G-SHOCK printed on it, the other shows MR-G.

Very special is the image on the back. It show a Frill-necked Lizard (Chlamydosaurus Kingii). This lizard is mainly found in North Australia and New Guinea. I do not know if this lizard is fast, but in the image on the back it’s walking with a car tire. I think the lizard is chosen, because it lives in a tough environment and the car tire was chosen, because this watch was aimed for car racing sports.

I was curious about the meaning of Chlamydosaurus, so I went to my colleague who is a classical language teacher. Chlamydo- or Chlamyd- means mantle, cape or cloak. Chlamydosaurus can thus be translated to "Mantle Lizard" or "Caped lizard". I think this name suits this animal well. In case you want to know where the name of the STD chlamydia comes from. This disease remains often stealth or cloaked if a woman is infected.

It’s not a coincidence the above mentioned battery change is similar to that of the Giez GS-300. The Revman has the 1798 module, which has the similar functions and looks of the 2301 module, found on the GS-300 Giez model. I can’t remember what batteries went into my Giez, but I won’t be surprised if they were the same as I installed in my Revman.

During the photoshoot, Eva brought me this delicious pumpkin cake...

I did not know where exactly the name Revman came from, until I watched an episode of "Top Gear" yesterday. It's probably clear if English is your first language and you are into cars, but I'm not too much into cars and English is not my first language. "Rev" is short for "Revolutions per Minute". Special on the 1798 module is the Stopwatch function that can be both used as a Single Stopwatch and as a Dual Stopwatch. You can reach the Stopwatch Mode when push and hold the MODE button (lower left). Frankly the Dual Stopwatch is not an easy mode to operate. I have tried it a few times and found it hard to stop. The time is reset when one of the upper buttons is pressed for several seconds. There is no stop button in this mode. The single stopwatch uses both digital displays wisely. The above section shows the Lap Time, while the section below shows the total time.

When you are back in Timekeeping Mode you can scroll through the Result Mode, Dual Time Mode, Alarm Mode and Hand Set (H-Set) Mode. In Result Mode you can review the 5 best laps in the Stopwatch Mode (both for the Single and Dual Stopwatch). You can also input the length of a lap. The manual says in kilometers, but in other units, you get the results in those units per hour. It’s not really easy to explain how it works. I suggest read the manual of the 1798 manual if you own a Revman and want to use these functions. You can program the Dual Time in hours and minutes, independent of the time in Timekeeping mode. The seconds are synchronized with the Timekeeping Mode. It works well, if you are visiting a country or state in a different time zone. I think it is not even a problem with traveling through more time zones as you can easily set a new time. The Alarm Mode has just one daily alarm and a hourly chime, which can be both toggled on and off. Finally there is the H-Set mode. In this mode you can adjust the hands of the analog time with the digital time. You will notice you have to do this when you have changed a battery and the digital time has started from 12:00:00. Your hand would probably not have stopped exactly at this time. Unfortunately the hands cannot be synchronized with the digital time. As the minute hand moves every 20 seconds, the minute hand sets itself as the hand is stopped at the minute as the seconds have passed 20 and 40 seconds.

Getting yourself a Revman now is probably much harder than it was 10 years ago, when it was relative easy to find one and the price was, compared to the original suggested retail price of 70000 (now $900, €690), very friendly. I have seen them for around $250 on eBay from Hong Kong sellers. For that price you would have gotten the more usual basic black version, which also looks very good. Nowadays it’s not easy to find one, especially in good condition as steel and titanium bracelets reveal the first signs of wear easily. On probably the busiest watch sales corners, the WatchUSeek Sales Forum, I could only find 4 or 5 Revman, that have changed owner since 2008 and this Revman showed here is one of them. Nowadays you might expect to pay between $300 and $600 for a Revman. At the moment I can find one Revman at Yahoo Auctions Japan. The price is a firm 45000 yen, which is $575 or €445, without fees and shipping.

G-Shock #49: The beauty…

2011-12-11T01:00:00.000+01:00

It’s G-Shock number 49 of this year. It was not an easy year for me to find a newsubject every week, but again I managed to find 50 G-Shocks for the fourthyear in row. The last two articles this year can be seen as twin articles. Thetitle already indicates there will be a follow up and I think these two watcheshave both similarities, but are also a bit the opposite of each other. This week part 1: "The Beauty..." Of course, beautyis a personal thing. Still I think that most readers here will consider today’s special G-Shock model as a very elegant andtough watch.

The MR-G series appeared on the market on July 1996. The first MRG-1 had a titanium casewith a resin bezel. This quite unique G-Shock style returned in 1998 in the stainlesssteel DW-9200K I.C.E.R.C. models. The first full metal MR-G model appeared inNovember 1996. These MRG-100 and MRG-110 were the start of full metal MR-G models range.Although different designs, the MRG line was very recognizable. G-Shock had, until July 1996, an all resinlook. Even the vintage DW-5000C to DW-5600C, which all have a stainless steelcase, looked “plastic”, because of the resin bezel. Probably due to the factthat the case is also the bezel on these models, these MR-G models wereslightly smaller than the average ‘90s G-Shock.Most models have a part of the bezel screwed into the case at the frontside. I’m not sure if this is only cosmetic, but it gives the watch a ruggedtough look, though the metal case and bracelet make the watch also look elegantenough for daily use at the office and formal meetings. An exceptions in thisdesign are the MRG-1100 Frogman and the MRG-1200 Revman. Both these models missthe 4 screws on the front.

When I started collecting, the MR-G series looked too expensive for me. Also I was more interested in the biggerresin late ‘90s models, like the DW-003 and DW-004. My first MR-G was a MRG-121. It’s still one ofmy all time favorites, due to the fact it’s completely complementary to mostG-Shock’s that I have. It can only show analog time and the only extra is anelectroluminescent backlight. Around 2003 some MRG-1200 Revman models were on eBay.The price was a firm $250 BIN. That price was back in those days incredible high. Ihad bought the GW-203K-4 models for around $200.- each, which was at that timeabout the maximum I could afford on a watch. If you would compare it withpresent prices, it’s a bit like the new Frogman models. They are just above myG-Shock budget, while maybe in 10 years $700 or higher are suddenly affordablefor these higher end models. In 2001 the MR-G line was stopped, but in November2003 Casio started a completely new MR-G line in the high segment of G-Shock,with ditto prices. Still new models in the MR-G line are released.

Today’sarticle is about probably the most elegant model of the MR-G series. Severaltimes someone offered me this model, but I knew I couldn’t afford it. They were just tooexpensive for me. Suddenly at the end of the summer vacation (2011) I was chatting a bit withmy good friend Neil in Chicago about watches and prices. He told me he wasthinking of selling his Frogman. Good thing was that he wasn’t in a hurry, so Icould save up money. I got this Frogman for a great friend’s price, because Ibought also another G-Shock (and later even the Men In Yellow Frogman, asfeatured about a month ago).

The MR-GFrogman is not only a different in design to the regular MR-G models, it is infact the only Master of G model in the MR-G line. It was released in June 1999.The official suggested retail price was quite hefty, ¥70000, insteadof the usual ¥23000 for a Frogman. Even most MR-Gmodels were under ¥50000.

The MR-G Frogman has the2036 module, which has the same functions as the 2016 module, which you find onthe DW-9900 Frogman and DW-9950 Seaman.

Like theregular Frogman models, it has an asymmetric shape, where the case is attachedshifted to the right of the center on the bracelet. According the descriptionof the watch, this is done to provide more comfort and easier access to thebuttons with gloves under water. The clasp has a special expansion piece,which, when deployed gives you an extra 20 mm length of the strap, so that itwill easy fit over a wet suit.

The difference between the DW-9900 and MRG-1100 is the way the displays aredivided. While the DW-9900 has the day and date in the upper display, theMRG-1100 has only the day in the upper display, while the date is above thetime in the lower display, like on the GW-200 Frogman. A difference between theregular Frogman models and this MR-G Frogman is that the displays are notseparated with square angles, but with more organic formed shapes. Actuallythat makes this watch look different than most G-Shock models (curved shapes inthe display are also found on some G-Lide models). The eye in the upper rightpart of the display acts as a kind of hour hand, like on most Frogman models.Only on the new GWF-1000, GF-1000 and GF-8250 models, the eye functions like on mostG-Shock models, as a seconds hand.

Pretty unique is also the location of the text of the button functions. Normally youfind the functions on the button guards, but on the MRG-1100 the text is edgedin the upper protection ring around the display. Unique is that the order of the modes is also printed o this protection ring.Under this protection ring there is a blue ring. It looks like this ring can screwed outof the bezel with a special tool, as there are 5 notches, a bit similar to the6 notches you’ll find on the back of the watch. The notches on the screwbackare larger and deeper than on usualFrogman models. On the back of the watch a diving Frog is engraved. The frog isholding something in his hands, but I can’t really make out what it is. Maybe it’s a kind of diver’s transportdevice.

So, what’son board this MR-G Frogman. While pushing the mode button you find thefollowing modes: Time Keeping Mode, Site Mode, Identification Mode, Alarm Mode, Countdown Mode and Stopwatch Mode. This watch is designed for diving, sothere is a Dive Time Measurement on board too. You can reach this mode by press andhold the Mode button. This Mode shows you the dive start time, the current timeand the dive time. You have to start and stop this timer manually. When stoppedyou can view your dive data in the Log Data. To view the Log Data you have to returnto Time Keeping mode and press and hold the lower right button. This log showsthe time your dive started, the dive duration and the elapsed time after thedive . The log can only show the data of the latest dive. A new dive willautomatically overwrite the old Log Data.

Some old G-Shock models had the possibility to program a second time (sometimescompletely independent of the first time). Most new models have a World Time functionswith over 40 cities. This MR-G Frogman has a Site Mode, which is better than asecond time, but not as good as a World Time. Default it has10 Diving Sitesprogrammed and Japan is (of course) set as Home Site (GMT +9). Of course thethought is great. I live near a popular diving site, the Easter Scheldt(Oosterschelde), but you won’t find that site on the watch. Well, if I livenear a dive site, there must be lots of popular dive sites on this globe. Ithink a normal World Time would have been better, than 10 dive sites. What youhave to do if your time zone is not in the list of the 10 dive sites, you haveto choose one of these sites andreprogram that site. It’s quiet funny, as you can input your own sit, hometown, or even your name. Ifyou have changed the site to the site or city you desire, you have to set thatsite as Home Site when programming Time Keeping Mode.A Home Site can't be changed, but you can choose one of the 10 sites as Home Site.

The Identification Mode is a kind of small emergency notebook. It can store our name,credit card number, emergency number, passport number and blood type. PersonalI do not know if it is wise to store your credit card number in your watchmemory, but your name, emergency number and your blood type might be valuableinformation. Now hope when you are in an emergency, rescue workers notice you wear such a watch. You can input 16 characters in the upper display (Text Area) and10 ciphers in the number area. Inputting characters is quite “hard core oldschool” as my students probably would say. You have to scroll through all theletters, numbers and symbols for each text area space. That’s quite differentfrom the modern touch screen age.

About the other functions I can be much shorter. The Alarm Mode has three alarms and ahourly chime, which all can be turned on and off of course. The Stopwatch Modeand the Countdown Timer are both the 24hour type. Nothing wrong with that. The Countdown Timer also has an AutoRepeat function.

The MR-GFrogman has the nice greenish color backlight, not the typical blue backlightwhich is typical of this MR-G Generation line (1996-2001). The watch has anAuto Light Switch on board. When you have activated this function, the electroluminescentbacklight lights up when your arm is, when hold parallel to the ground, twistedtowards you for about 40 degrees. This means in practice the movement you makewhen looking at the time. Of course the Auto Backlight function can drain a lotof battery power. To avoid too much loss of battery energy, the Auto Backlightfunction is turned off automatically after six hours.

I think the MR-G Frogman was in 1999 the best G-Shock possible, combining both a high end series and the most prestigiousMaster of G model into a elegant total titanium watch. I do not know thenumbers this watch was made in, but about a year ago I heard from SpanishG-Shock Friends that they had bought several MRG-1100’s in a shop in Andorrafor a good price, more than 10 years after the release. Maybe the numberproduced wasn’t that high, but the price would have made this watch a prettyexclusive G-Shock item. It might probably not surprise you that the price Ipaid, although it was a good friend’s price, was still quite hefty. This watchis nowadays pretty hard to find. If you want one, expect to pay around $450 -$550 for one in a good condition.

G-Shock #48: Dee and Ricky 2

2011-12-04T01:35:00.000+01:00

In July 2010 Casio released a collaboration model with the designer duo and twins Dee and Ricky Jackson. About a year ago I have written an article about this GA-110DR-1ACR model. In July or August I was confidently informed by Casio that a new white Dee and Ricky collaboration model was coming up. In September this news leaked out early on a Hong Kong based weblog. From that time on, there were a lot of speculations. Was it really coming? Will it be as popular as the first Dee and Ricky? Well, the watch is officially about two or three weeks out now, so it might be premature to say anything about that.

What I noticed is that the first models that were offered on internet auction sites were priced 2 to 3 times the retail price. When I tried to get one, two of these were sold in front of my nose at a sneaker shop, while I was trying to order one. At the same time I saw them for sale at $400.- in my country, ready to ship worldwide, shipping not included. I think it’s a shame that people do not buy this watch for their love, but just to make easy money and so also create an artificial rareness, by buying complete stocks of departments stores and fashion shops.

I was a bit late noticing that this model was already out in The Netherlands. On November 21stI called I Love Sneakerz for the Parra model and en passant asked if they knew about the Dee and Ricky release date. They told this watch was already out for a week. Although 6 were ordered, they only got 2. One had already been sold. Unfortunately the last one was just sold before, I could buy it, on-line when they checked the inventory. The shop owner told me they wanted more of this model on stock, so they might get a 2nd delivery.

A second batch of the Dee and Ricky model was delivered at stores last Friday (December 2). This probably means that Casio made more than enough of this model for everyone who loves this model and want to buy it for the retail. The retail price of €130 in Europe is quite fair, while the retail price in Japan is much higher, ¥18000 (somewhere around €160 - €170). This week the US retail price has been shown on the website of Casio US, it’s $130 (€100).

Also with this release a Dee and Ricky G-Shock commercial was released. No Lego this time. The commercial was shot in Paris. A classic Roman statue creates the illusion it’s shot in the Louvre, but I don’t think the Parisians would have been happy with the end. Luckily a G-Shock isn’t easily destroyed.

While it looks like Dee and Ricky have left their Lego designs of the past and have been designing other colorful accessories, the color scheme seem still taken from the famous color scheme of Lego bricks, and why shouldn’t they. Lego seems to be still growing in popularity for both kids and grownups. Actually Lego has the past years been actively promoting themselves for adults with exclusive sets. A lot of dads discover their love for Lego again as their children start playing with the bricks. There is even a term for adults with a love for Lego bricks, AFOL, the abbreviation of Adult Fan Of Lego. I don’t want to admit to loud, as my primal love is at G-Shock, but I consider myself a small AFOL as well.

The big difference between the last years Dee and Ricky model is the strap and bezel color, which is now white instead of black. Actually all black parts on the first model are now replaced by white parts. The yellow, blue, green and red details of the watch are not really changed. Even the lettering on the bezel have the same color scheme. It was hard for me to find a real difference in colors, but I actually can only find one. On the small Speed Dial of the Tachymeter on the 9 o´clock position, the center is now blue, instead of yellow. Now I have found that difference, I think yellow would have been better, as blue is pretty dominant on the dial.

The Dee and Ricky G-Shock is based on the analog GA-110 models, which together with the GD-100, GA-100 and the GA-120 models are considered the X-Large models of G-Shocks. It looks like these X-Large models are pretty popular. Even in The Netherlands these models show up in the streets and even students of me ask where they can get these models, or as a student a few days ago said: “Sorry, I don’t want a digital one like you have, but a big analog one”.

The GA-111DR is equipped with a 5146 module. The watch does not only have analog time, but two of the three parts on the dial are digital displays. The upper display is a normal (positive) display, the lower display is a negative display. The dial itself a design with several layers, which creates depth in the watch. The parts between the hour markers look a little bit like the studded Lego bricks, although they have only 3 studs diagonal on them. The combination of the white resin of the bezel and the blue accents somehow gives the watch, in my opinion, a somewhat marine look, like the Middle Sea Race Raysman. Of course there are also the yellow and red accents, but blue is in definitively in the majority.

The hands and the Speed dial have an industrial design. They seem to have been miniaturized from the cog wheels of Modern Times (1936) or derived from the “Made In Detroit” logo, which could be found on late 80’s and early ‘90s Techno 12”-es from the capital of Techno music. This industrial look give boost the tough look of this G-Shock model.

Like the first Dee and Ricky model, the buttons are in red and blue, giving a playful edge on the watch. The Dee and Ricky text logo is printed on the strap, while the heads logo is engraved on the back. There is a small difference in the heads logo with the first release. It appears that Ricky now has a moustache.

The GA-110DR has the more or less the basic functions on board. A 24 hours Stopwatch, a 24 hour Countdown Timer, 48 cities World Time function and an Alarm function with 4 normal daily alarms, a snooze alarm and a hourly signal. Personally I miss the button beeps. The only sound you can get out of the watch are alarm sounds. Even the Stopwatch operates in complete silence.

Special is the Speed function in Stopwatch mode. You can specify a distance between 1.0 and 99.0 units. It does not really matter what these units are. Speed is expressed in units per hour. So, if you set a distance of “1” and measure 60 seconds, it shows a speed of 60 units per hour. If a unit is a Kilometer, than it is in kmph, if it is one mile, than it is in mph, etc. The Speed Dial can show up to a speed of 100. Indicators in the top display show 100 units and there is even a 1000 units indicator. You can measure speed up to 1998 (units per hour). It all seems not that simple and actually after reading the manual, I still think it’s not easy, but if you need this function, I think you can work with it. I think this function might be good for car racing and other speed sports.

Since the news of the second Dee and Ricky model was out, it was a lot discussed on the G-Shock forum on WatchUSeek and on Facebook. A lot of people contacted me where to get one from and where I got mine. Well, I got one from the I Love Sneakerz, the on-line store of Unknown in Alkmaar, and another one confidential source (was it an early Saint Nicolas present?). I know the shop I bout one in still has another one, but several other shops in The Netherlands like Ace, Gorilli and Concrete probably have this watch in stock. This probably means you might find them in similar stores in Europe too.

The watch is also already out in Japan. My friend FUMI had bought two on November 12. An official party with Dee and Ricky is on December 5 somewhere in Tokyo. Coming week they will promote this watch in Paris (according their twitter accounts). In the UK the watch will be presented on December 16 (G-Shock East), so if you are in London, you might go to the release party (starts at 16:00). For the US there is not a release date yet, but it might be soon known, as it is scheduled for mid or end December. The watch might not be for everyone, but white straps and bezel makes the watch stand out great. The bright colored accents make this watch look very playful. Maybe not a watch for serious work meetings, but great for going out to a party, bar or club, holidays or visiting art exhibitions, etcetera, etcetera.

G-Shock #47: It’s time to Party with the G-Shock x Parra

2011-11-27T00:03:00.000+01:00

I today’s article I present you the second Dutch Collaboration model with G-Shock. I was in doubt if I would buy the OntFront x G-Shock collaboration model. It would have been easy for me as I live in the Netherlands and a simple phone call would have helped me further, but frankly I was not too fond of a snake pattern and also, because of it very limited character, it was also very expensive.

I was very happily surprised Casio came up with a second Dutch collaboration and this time with a worldwide known artist. Let’s hope Casio does more Dutch collaborations in the future.

Somewhere in September a Hong Kong based blogger published pages from a Fall/Winter catalog of Casio. These kind of catalogs are only for internal use of Casio personnel, like brand managers and sales managers. From time to time images of such a catalog leaks out a few days before the official news, but this was quite an early leak. I sometimes get a little inside info from Casio, so I knew there was a new collaboration Dee & Ricky model coming in November, but to my surprise also a collaboration model with Dutch artist Parra was shown.

This week the Parra was released in The Netherlands and I am actually proud the second Dutch collaboration model is with Parra.

Last three photo's were taken at the Japan Release Party in Beams T's Harajuku store, December 18, 2011. Copyright photo's by MyNavi.jp.

As I was on route with a touring car full of students, I called a known sneaker shop for this model, though it had still to be delivered to the shop. A few hours later I got the conformation it arrived and so I got this one quick. I do not think I had seen this model in the flesh on-line, so it might be that the Parra collaboration is launched in my country first.

Piet Parra is the artist name of Piet Janssen (1976). He’s a graphic designer, illustrator and musician in the band LeLe. He designed sneakers for Vans, Etnies, Converse and Nike.

The name Parra is derived from Paranoid. A friend of him called him that way as a kind of Surinam joke. Actually his real name is bit funny. There is probably no plainer Dutch name than this. Piet (pronounced Pete) is a typical old Dutch name (I actually can’t remember I have had a student by that name) and Janssen is about the most common Dutch surname. According Parra, his atist name was also not a wise name to choose for an international artist, as in the US he is called Pera and in Japan Palla.

In Amsterdam he is known for his trademark hand drawn posters for clubs and parties. Also he has a clothing line with mainly T-Shirts with his colorful drawings. Often his artwork shows a hybrid between human like organisms with bird heads and hand drawn letters and ciphers. Returning items in his illustrations are curvaceous woman like creatures with texts. His colors are always saturated. Often these creatures are blue or hard pink. Other returning colors are red, white and orange. Not strange we find these colors back on his G-Shock.

The human like creatures in his paintings all have beaks like birds. It’s a way to make them look all generic. It draws the attention of the viewer direct to their posture and brings the focus on the texts. Somehow his drawings remind me to a favorite cartoon figure of me from the 60’s and 70’s. As a child I could dream away in the colorful world of Coco Bill, created by Benito Jacovitti, with salami sausages on feet and animals with über flexible legs in impossible positions.

Parra has a clothing line, called Rockwell. He started his own clothing line because he could not find a good place for T-Shirts, so he decided to start his own shop. His shirts are well known in the club scene. It is a bit like the Dadara Tees in the 90’s. I was a big fan of Dadara and had many shirts of this artist.

A Dadara baby.

Frankly I have always wanted to have a Rockwell Tee, but never got to buying one. I rather have a black shirt and most cool graphics are printed on white shirts. As I am a wild guy, that’s why I need G-Shocks, but I can’t keep a white shirt white for a long time (that’s why I always hope for black photo shirts of Kiks TYO). I think the first Rockwell shirt I wanted was an CD cover of Teenage Bad Girl’s Cocotte.

Last year I managed to get a beautiful Parra glas, which were sold in limited edition with four bottles of Duvel. It was a favorite glass for a while, but unfortunately it broke a few months later. Definitively not G-Shock proof.

Lele is the band of Piet Parra, Rimer London and Faberyayo. I think it is in The Netherlands best known for the hilaric video clip for their single “Skinny Jeans” which was released in 2007. This video does not only feature LeLe singer Faberyayo, but also Sanne Vogel, a comedian who likes to flirt with her curvaceous body. Personally I think she looks much better than the bones warehouses I see on the catwalk on Fashion TV (we got digital TV recently). I do not quite understand what fashion designers like about those skin on bones models.

Faberyayo is in the Netherlands and Belgium well know as one of the rappers of De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig ("The youth of today", a Dutch expression often used by elderly people in the Netherlands to talk about youth behavious, often forgeting their behaviour in their youth). Rimer London also works solo. About a year ago he released the single "Love Dagger" with Cata Pirata. Not sure if the succes was internationally, but this great song is pretty much worth listening.

So let’s have a look at the watch. First the watch is packed in a custom designed cardboard package with random Parra letters and his autograph. I pretty much like this kind of packaging. The cardboard packaging make me think this watch was not aimed for the US market, as they get the usual tins. Japanese releases get this kind of package. For me as a collector it is a bit more practical as I can stack a lot more watches in a crate than the huge tins. The use of black letter on a white underground marks Parra’s latest trend to use only black and white.

The watch itself is, in contrary of the box, is an explosion of colors. The straps are pink and red, while the strap keeper is orange. You might think I won’t like the baby blue bezel, but in the explosion of colors I think it looks nice, especially with the orange faceplate. The black rectangle line you normally see on DW-5600 models is replaced with a pink rectangle, which has not much contrast to the orange background. Of course the trademark Parra autograph comes back at the bottom of the display. The Parra signature is also engraved at the back. As a nice plus, you get a beaked woman figure in the backlight, which, in my opinion, makes this Parra signature model complete.

This DW-5600PR model features the new 3229 module. Casio recently put new modules in their DW-5600 and DW-6900 models, which have a automatic calendar function that goes on until December 31 2099. The old modules stopped on December 31 2039. There is for now still a long time to go until 2039, luckily.

The functions on a DW-5600 are just the basic functions you need on a watch, without fringes. A basic Alarm function with hourly chime, a 24 hour Countdown Timer and a 24 hour Stopwatch function. The Alarm time can be set as daily (default), or on a date, or on a day on the month or for a whole month, depending how you program the date.

I think there was not much time between the manufacturing of this watch and the release. Usually the watch is set to a certain time zone (usually GMT+9), but it looks the watch was not set after the battery was installed. When I got it the date showed January 29, which probably meant the watch was assembled on October 25 (I received this watch on November 23).

For a collaboration model, this model is not very expensive. The usual shop price is €120 here ($160), which is only €20.- more than a basic G-Shock. I think the extra €20.- you pay for this model is worth all the money. I would say strap it on when you go clubbing. The watch is available in The Netherlands already, but I think it will be available in Japan and the rest of Europe soon. I’m not sure if this model is available for the US, but time will learn. These kind of collaborations are usually not made in small numbers (think around 5000 pieces), so for now it should not be a real problem to get yours. Mine was bought at I Love Sneakerz, the Dutch on-line version of Unknown, the sneaker shop of Alkmaar.

G-Shock #46: Men In Yellow Frogman

2011-11-20T13:15:00.004+01:00

For this article I had taken over 150 photo's on different occasions. Most are taken from my good old Men In Yellow Frogman, that I got in July 2007.I also added some old photo's I had taken not long after I got this fantastic Frogman for my Japanese weblog, like the one above. Also you will see photo's of my GF-8250-9JF, which is derived from this M.I.Y. model, for comparison. I hope you enjoy reading and watching this article.

I already wrote an article about this model in 2008. At that time the Men In Colors series was about to be revived again, but now not only several new Men In Colors series and spin-off models were released, also a year ago Casio released the GF-8250-9JF as a tribute model. The GF-8250 was actually not the only tribute model. In 1999 Casio released a bunch tribute Frogman models, one of them was the DW-8250YU-9T. These tribute models can be recognized by the cipher 99 under the frog in the backlight. I think these tribute models were pretty rare as I can’t really remember I have seen one of these.

When I started collecting G-Shocks the Men In Yellow (MIY) series draw me like strong magnet. I managed to get a M.I.Y. Riseman and a M.I.Y. Gausman pretty easily somewhere in 2004. If I’m correct I found those in Australia for a good price. The MIY Frogman was for me a big dream. Frankly never thought I would own one. The prices for this model, though not very rare, were already pretty expensive at that time. An asking price of over $300.- was not unusual, while in the US the GW-200TC (Triple Crown of Surfing models) were available in high numbers for prices around $180 to $200 in 2005.

I got my first Men In Yellow Frogman by complete surprise. A friend of me from in Australia, Kim Patterson, who had a website called “Casio Vintage Digital LCD Watches” and was a great source of vintage Casio’s, mailed me he had this Frogman model. He was more into the vintage square models, but he was curious how these big Master Of G model was in real. He had bought this Frogman for a nice price, but he found that this model was too big for his arms and, although he liked the yellow color, he thought the color did not match his skin tone. He wrote me he wanted to sell the watch for me. If I’m correct he asked $125.- for this watch, so I immediately mailed back if he was sure and did not make a typo. He told me he had bought this watch from an Australian seller, who bought this watch in Japan a long time ago. He had paid a similar price for this Frogman and he didn’t want to make a huge profit when selling it to me. Well, no need to say that about a week later I got this watch. A huge favorite in my collection.

The Frogman had been worn obviously, although it was in very good shape when got it in 2007. I was not too fond of the DW-8200 Frogman at first. The DW-8250Y-9T model convinced me that the DW-8200 series can look very good. In the first years I got this watch I have worn it quite some time, especially in summer. I think it’s a great beach watch, nice to be seen with and of course the Frogman is the G-Shock model that is made for swimming and diving in sea, with the 200 meter water resistant ISO certification. Interesting detail on the face of every Frogman is that the water resistance is shown in meters, while on most other JP Domestic G-Shock models this is often shown in Bar (usually 20 Bar). Still I wanted a mint or almost mint MIY Frogman, complete with the box that is unique for the first Men In Colors series models.

I had been looking for a good looking MIY Frogman in 2008 and 2009, but this model was quite wanted. Even for a spare strap or bezel prices over $100.- were more usual than an exception, so I stopped searching. You can imagine how I felt when Casio announced to release a tribute model, the now pretty well known GF-8250-9. I so very much liked this model, that I bought a second while I was shopping in the Big Camera shop of Kyoto. I pretty much forgot my search for a genuine Men In Yellow Frogman.

As it often goes in my collection, I always find what I am not looking for. I pretty much like these kind of surprises. My friend Neil from Chicago (I must have mentioned his name a number of times in articles here before and this will probably not be the last time) contacted me about one or two years ago for some info. He was planning to sell some of his collection pieces and thinking of some other to sell. He wanted to have some pricing advice. As good as I could I tried to help him, although I think he knows the market better than I do. I just buy G-Shocks, while he sells from time to time too (and then sometimes regret and buy the same model again). He was telling me he was thinking about selling his Men In Yellow Frogman, although, he thought it was one of his top pieces. We happen to have both a weakness for yellow G-Shocks (yellow Frogman, yellow Raysman, etc). I told him as he was planning to sell his Men In Yellow Frogman, he should contact me first.

Well, at the end of the summer Neil mailed me that he was planning to sell his MIY Frogman. He also had a spare strap and bezel. I was especially interested in the extra spare parts as they are very had to get and prices for these parts are sky high. As always Neil made a friend’s price for this combo, though It took me some time to gather enough funds together to pay this watch. Although it was still quite an amount of money, I totally do not regret I did it. The watch is in pristine state and the spare parts are great. He even gave me a used spare bezel without screws. Not sure what to do with it, but in a worst case scenario, I think I can glue these screws from a broken bezel back with Poly Urethane glue (I use it to glue things here at the lab, quite a good glue).

So what does Men In Yellow stand for. In 1997 Casio released the Men In Black series. The models in this series were all Master of G models. They were obviously inspired by the Men In Black motion picture, which was released in the same year. Also almost all Master of G models (only exceptions are the Codename and Codename Cipher) have a name ending on the name Man. The Men In Yellow series was the second in the range of Men In Color series, released in March 1998 and from then on several Men In Color series were released until 2000. It looked like Casio discontinued the Man In Color series and eventually the Master of G name. There was a moment (I think around 2005/2006) I was not even sure the Master of G name realy had existed or was something I made up. You could nowhere find this name on internet anymore. The revival of the Master of G range, starting with the new G-9000 and GW-9000 Mudman in 2006 was the beginning of the revival of the Master in Color series. In 2008 Casio came back with the fantastic Master In Rescue Orange (MIRO) with a Mudman, Gulfman and a Riseman. Several new Man In Color series has been released since. Secretly I am hoping Casio will release a Men In Yellow II series, including a Frogman, Riseman, Mudman and Gulfman. From all these series, I still thing the Men In Yellow series were the strongest. Although yellow is a bright color, it seems that you can wear it anytime.

The DW-8250 models are stainless steel variations of the titanium DW-8200 models. Only two 1997 W.C.C.S. models , this model and the 1999 tribute model have this model number. Frankly I have no idea why the DW-8250 model was introduced. It might sound that the use of stainless steel would be worse than the use of titanium, but my Frogman still looks clean and shiny, while it had been submerged in the sea several times. It’s pretty clear that Casio used a very high grade Stainless Steel for the production of this model. The watch feels, like the vintage classic screwback square models (DW-5000C – DW-5600C), pretty heavy, although almost 114 grams is not really too heavy. A funny detail is that the GF-8250 and the new GWF-1000 have about the same weight. The regular titanium DW-8200 Frogman weights 87.5 gram and a regular basic G-Shock weighs around 55 - 70 grams as you can see in some examples below.

The DW-8250Y-9T has the 1294 module. The module is the motor of a G-Shock and contains the LCD display and the, the quartz crystal and microprocessor that regulates the different functions of a G-Shock. The 1294 module has relative simple functions. Besides timekeeping (pretty important for every watch), you’ll find a 24 hour Stopwatch function, a 24 hour Countdown Timer and an Alarm function with three independent alarms and a hourly chime when you scroll through the functions with the MODE button.

A bit hidden, but for a Frogman as a dive watch an important function, is the Dive Timer function. It is a kind of special Stopwatch function for timing dives. You get to the Dive Timer by push and holding the MODE button for about 2 seconds. When you start a dive you can still se the time in the upper display. In the lower display you can see the duration of the dive and above it the time you started diving. There is no depth sensor on this watch, so you have to start the Dive Timer manually. You can’t accidentally stop the Dive Timer. To prevent accidentally stopping the timer, you have to press and hold the START-STOP button (lower right) for about 2 seconds. A long beep sounds as the Dive Timer is stopped. In normal Timekeeping Mode you can see the data of the last dive while you press and hold the lower right button (LOG DATA). It also shows the latest dive data when the Dive Timer is reset. It does not display the Dive Timer when it is running. You must probably use the Frogman in Dive Timer mode while diving.

A Man In Yellow Frogman is, like most Men In Yellow models, hard to find these days. The series were not very rare for a long time. When I bought this watch, I could have bought another MIY Frogman for around $300 . I do not know if there is still a high interest in this older model, since Casio released the GF-8250-9 model in 2010, which has a similar look, but is Tough Solar, has extra functions and most important of all, is relative cheap. A GF-8250-9 can nowadays easily found for a price around €225.- or maybe cheaper, while I paid a full 34000 yen (around €320.-) for this model. If you are a collector of older G-Shock models, this is one of the must have models. If you do not care for this older models, I would say go for a GF-8250-9. They are still pretty easy to find nowadays. Another thing to think about is that the DW-8250Y-9T is already 13 years old. Although the bezel of my Frogman still looks OK, it is not sure for how long the resin will hold, especially when worn often. Casio used the Triple 10 Criteria for their watches. One of the criteria is that the watch can survive easily 10 years. Well, this is not a real problem, but after around 20 – 25 years the plastic parts might crumble or break (so called “resin rot”). Casio uses Poly Urethane, which is about the toughest kind of polymer for plastic watches, but even this polymer has a maximum lifetime. Probably an extra reason to choose a GF-8250 above a genuine Men In Yellow Frogman. I haven’t looked around fr a Men In Yellow Frogman recently, but expect to pay around $250 - $300 for a used version, like the one I sometimes wear or $400.- or more for a mint version in box with papers.

I like to thank Bernard for the beach location tip for the beach shots and Richel for the tire profile tracks on the beach tip.

G-Shock #45: Matte Pink

2011-11-13T10:35:00.002+01:00

In July 2011 Casio released a series of 4 DW-6900SN models, under the name Mat Dial series. They came in 4 color ways, in black, white, turquoise and this model in pink. Compared with earlier pink 6900 models, this model ass a bit more paler pink.

Normally new models are first released outside Japan in East Asia, but this time Casio distributed this watch directly in the US and Europe after the release. Actually, this which seems to be hard to find in Hong Kong and Singapore, suggesting it wasn’t officially released there or only in small numbers.

Normally I try to find a good bargain to obtain a model, but for this model I had to look in my own country. The prices I could find on-line started from €89.- in the US (retail price in Japan is ¥12000, which is about €110). In Europe I could find this watch for €99.- excluding shipping, which is the suggested retail price here. An on-line sneaker store in The Netherlands had this watch for €99.- including shipping. Although in the US this model was cheaper, the risk of being taxed by the customs is very high. Not only the 20% tax would make it quite more expensive, also the unreasonable standard TNT charge of €17.- for handling costs and holding it for 4 to 5 days makes it very unattractive to buy this watch in the US. No need to say, I checked all options and just found that it was best to order from the sneaker store. Best thing is that my G-Shock arrived a day later.

When this series were announced, I was thinking about buying the whole series, as I sometimes like to have a complete set in my collection if I like a series. Normally I am not too fond of blue tones, but the turquoise model looks pretty good. The white model looks very special, because the white face plate has a red circle on the outside, making this watch look a bit the outsider of this series, but looks very good. Maybe only the black models looks a bit dull, just because it’s black with a negative display. Well, the lemon green G-SHOCK lettering is pretty cool. It would match well with my mountain bike.

I am curious why this series was called Mat Dial series. First of all, it’s a digital model, so actually there is no dial, but simply a face plate and the displays. More specific, there is one display and a faceplate that covers some parts of the display. I think with dial Casio means the face plate. It has indeed a matte finish, but this is usual for DW-6900 models. I looks deeper black than a standard DW-6900, but the solar panels on the G-6900 and GW-6900 are also deep black.

The dial is the similar plum red as found on earlier Crazy Colors models and GW-6900F I reviewed here a few weeks ago. As the watch draws attention, I showed the watch yesterday to one of my students. She very much liked the color (she has a fraction darker skin tone than I have and the watch looked indeed great on her wrist), but she commented on the display. It has a great color, but it’s pretty hard reading time.

While on the outside the watch looks like a typical model in the huge DW-6900 range, there were two things that draw my attention on the back of this watch. First of all there is a new module number. Instead of the classic 1289 module, this watch comes with the new 3230 module. At first glance there is no difference between the classic 1289 module and this 3230 module. The difference is in the programming of the date. The classic 1289 module was programmed until December 31 2039. This sounded very far away in 1994, but it’s now “only” 28 years to go. The new calendar is programmed until December 31, 2099. Well, maybe Casio will update that module again in about 70 years. A good chance I won’t experience that.

Another interesting thing found on the back is that the watch is assembled in China DH. Well, there are a lot more DW-6600’s and DW-6900 made in China, but I have never heard of a production plant called DH. Actually it is the first time I see that a production plant is marked with two letters, instead of one.

It seems pink is not a color for everyone. I must say I very much like the color tone of this watch. It made me even think in finding a second pink Riseman, which is in a similar tone. Sometimes pink is regarded as a non masculine color in Western culture, but in fact, in history pink was THE masculine color (baby-blue was considered feminine). Personally I think this watch is a good uni-sex model. Wearing this pink model as a man probably consciously or unconsciously show you are a strong personality, as some men don’t like to wear pink because they are afraid what other people think of them, while I think who you are is more important to what people think of you.

This model is released in Japan as the Mat Dial series, but in Europe and the US it was part of the basic models of the 2011 Autumn/Winter Collection. I think and hope that this series will be available for a longer time as they look pretty good. In availability I think this model is produced in similar numbers as the Crazy Colors series and the Metallic Colors series. As mentioned above, it’s hard to find a bargain outside the US. Prices vary around €99.- in Europe to €130 in East Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore). My Facebook friend Louis bought this model is a store in Puerto Rice for around $60.- in a US webshop, which only shops to the US and Puerto Rico. If it’s worth buying for you is something you have to decide for yourself. I am pretty content with this watch and plan to wear it quite often. I hope my article and photo’s might help you if you are interested in purchasing this model or another model of this series.

G-Shock #44: Back 2 Basics

2011-11-06T09:38:00.012+01:00

“He who doesn’t honor the small, isn’t worth the tall”

(free translation of a well know Dutch expression).

In all the fuzz about new models you sometimes forget the basic and underrated models. For instance, since August lot’s of collectors are talking about the new Dee & Ricky model. Now it is finally announced and probably available, nobody thinks about the new GA-110FC-1 Hyper Colors model, which comes out at the same time. I even think it looks better than the Dee & Ricky. Or the new Parra. Somehow it seems there are not many sneaker lovers, clubbers and fashion freaks among G-Shock collectors. If Casio wouldn’t have brought us the first Dee & Ricky, I probably would never heard of these relative unknown designers. Parra in contrary has already build up a big name worldwide in designing Rockwell clothing, cool video clips and sneakers for Vans and Nike. I heard from someone at Casio there is a big demand for the Parra model at the moment. Not that I like the R&D design. I am a big Lego fan. I discovered that there is an abbreviation for this. I seem to be an AFOL, Adult Fan Of Lego.

Back to the subject of this week. Sometimes there is so much candy out there, that you forget that even basic models can be very nice. This week’s article is about the DW-002J-9. Somehow, I never had bought this model, although it is a very easy to find model, even now, 13 years after the first release in November 1994.

I saw this watch probably for the first time in 2001 on the German eBay auctionsite. You could have a slightly used model for as much as DM15 – DM20. ( €7.50 - €10.-). Well, those days are over, but this models is sold in such big numbers, that you can easily find one for below €40.- in Germany.

I always had a bit biased thought about this model. The color combination looked a bit strange to me at that time. Gray looked a bit strange and Casio did not used this egg yellow (I believe the right description is Cadmium Yellow). In the past 10 years I have been tempted to buy this model many times. 10 years ago I was not acquainted with the DW-002 models. Maybe I would have bought this model much earlier if I had one of these in my hands. From the “Capsule Though” or “Nexax” models, the DW-002 has probably the hugest look.

I think it was around 2003 when I visited the small town Domburg, in the north of our island Walcheren. There was one jeweler that sold G-Shocks, and this models was one of the models on display. Maybe I was tempted, though the price of €125.- was quite steep, as you bear in mind that this watch could probably found new in Germany for €40 - €50.- new at that time. Somehow this model lost my interest after this model. I started looking on eBay internationally and there was simply too much candy in world largest candy store.

In March 2010 my blog friend FUMI published a post, showing his then recent acquired DW-002J-9. I think I even shamed myself not having this easily to obtain model in my collection. I bought many pretty expensive G-Shocks over the years, but forgot about the basic models like the DW-002, DW-003 and DW-004, that started my collectors interest.

In March 2010 my blog friend FUMI published a post, showing his then recent acquired DW-002J-9. As you can see in my comment I woke up and thought I should get this model. Still it took me a while to set me to find one. This summer I thought it was time to hunt one down. I thought this model would be more or less rare now, but to my big surprise I had the chance to bid on three of these DW-002 models. Also other DW-002’s were on auction and I noticed there was a bid on one of these by a bidder from Texas. A quick pm via WUS learned my suspicion was right. It was Tsip85 looking for spare parts for one of his DW-002s. I do not remember with what bid I won this auction, but it was not much. I think the total price including shipping to The Netherlands was around €27.-. A few days later the package was delivered at the door and to my surprise it was in very good shape.

Where the DW-001 has a quite odd shape, probably because it actually was directly derived from a prototype, the DW-002 looked like what would probably be, the first “normal” looking watch in the “Nexax” range. Like the then new DW-6600 and DW-6900 models, this model had also 5 buttons. The 5th button below the display is primary only used to operate the electroluminescent backlight.

The case is , like the other “Nexax” models, covered unusual. Instead of a bezel that covers the side and the top of the case, these models has a kind of upper and lower bezel where the lower bezel also covers the back of the watch. Striking detail on the DW-002 is that the lower bezel has a bigger diameter than the upper bezel. This comes also back in the button design. The buttons stick out a little more on the lower half of the case than the upper part, where they seem to accentuate the difference in bezel diameter. At first it looks unusual, but I actually like this look. It is probably mostly optical illusion, but it gives the watch it’s huge look.

The straps on this model is quite comfortable. The comfort is also the result of the wrist positioning protectors on the back. The buckle is made of polyurethane. Although you might think a plastic buckle isn’t as strong as a metal buckle, I have only come across one broken plastic buckle. It was on a DW-6900H model. I’m not sure what happened, but the watch was sent in an envelope without protection of bubblewrap. I guess the stamp machine must have crunched it somewhere at a post distribution plant. In that case I had used a donor G-Shock and put a metal buckle on that strap. Under normal circumstances the plastic buckle will hold out perfectly.

The DW-002 is a pretty basic watch, and since it was a 1994 release, do not expect too much of the functions on board. This model uses the 1299 module. Later DW-002 versions have the typical triple eye 1289 module, which is used in many DW-6900 version (note: although most models do, not all DW-6900 models use the 1289 module). This model features a daily Alarm function with Hourly Chime, with both can activated separately, a 59’59” minutes Countdown Timer and a 24 hour Stopwatch. Unusual is that you can’t start the Countdown Timer function when it is set to 00’00”. Most other G-Shocks I know start from the longest possible program capacity in his function, hence this is not a 60 minutes Countdown Timer. You can switch between 24 hour and 12 timekeeping by pushing the lower right button. The watch also has a Flash function. When an alarm sounds (not when scrolling through the different modes) the EL backlight lights up too when this function is activated. You can activate and deactivate this function by push and hold the upper right button for about 2 seconds. When you are used to modern G-Shocks, you might have noticed that if you scroll through the different modes, the button tone is different when you enter the Time Keeping Mode. Unfortunately this module is that old that this feature is not implemented yet. A nice detail is that when the EL backlight lights up a giant red G is visible. Some people think this might disrupt your view of the time, but it hardly does on this model when viewed under a normal angle.

I think the DW-002 is a pretty cool model. If Casio is planning to do a revival of a classic model after the revival of the DW-001, I wouldn’t mind to see a G-002 based on the classic DW-002. At the moment I was seriously looking for this model, I found three of this exact model on auction in Germany. You can easily obtain them for a fun price and I actually think that is what these watches are. They are fun to own and fun to wear. Of course 13 years after the release the watch might look dated or maybe in contrary look futuristic. I think these DW-002 models are fun to have and to wear. I can pretty much recommend not only to look for the big releases, but sometimes let your light shine on these, sometimes forgotten, basic models.

This DW-002 has a unusual use of three color tints on its upper bezel. The mail color of the watch is gray, while the accents are in Cadmium yellow. The upper and lower part on the bezel are in black. A color that also comes back in the notches of the buttons.

G-Shock 43: Playset part 3: Come and play with us!

2011-10-30T17:56:00.003+01:00

Today´s article is a delayed article. Originally the photo would be taken by Luis Manuel, a student from Puerto Rico, who has built up an amazing nice collection of G-Shocks. Unfortunately he had not managed to gt a camera in time. Well, it's his 23rd birthday today, so this article is for you Luis. A pity we can't enjoy Puerto Rican scenery. This article is about the GD-100PS-3ER model (in Japan released under the model number GD-100PS-3JR). This set of the “G-Shock Man Box” series comes with a vinyl G-Man figure, designed by Shiro nakano.

Shiro Nakano is one of the three designers of “play set products”(note the absence of capitals), a group of designers that design both for their own brand as for other, mostly Japanese, brands. Shiro Nakano has also designed for Hobby:tech’s Quolomo brand (Hobby:tech is also the founder of Kiks TYO).

In 2008 the first G-Shock Man (G-Man) was presented. Giant G-Shock Men, inspired on the GW-5600 and DW-6900 model, showed up at the entrances of the “Shock The World” parties worldwide. These G-Shock Men always attract a lot of attention to the visitors of these parties.

Small versions of these G-Shock men, including an AW-500 and GW-5500 version showed up at Casio dealers. First in Japan, but later worldwide. Although these figures were wanted by G-Shock fans all over the world, they were not for sale.

My DW-6900 and GW-5600 G-Man figures. These are normally only used for display purposes at shops of official Casio Dealers.
Luckily in 2009 Casio released the first G-Shock Man Box, based on the purple “Crazy Colors” DW-6900CC-6JR. The DW-6900SW-6ER (SW stands for “Shock The World Limited”) was sold as a limited edition, but many were given away in the goodie bag for special guests (mainly press) on the “Shock The World” parties in 2009. It differs from the “Crazy Colors” model in its gold metallic light button and the special engraved numbered back.

In March 2010 a new G-Shock Man Box was released, this time a GA-110F model. Unfortunately I had no funds for this model, but this multicolored model looked great. The third G-Shock Man box was released in April 2011. This time Casio used the GD-100 (X-Large) model. In the LED backlight the logo of “play set products” becomes visible, while in the first two boxes the name of the designers are absent. I think that Shiro Nakano wanted to advertise his designer company too, which I can understand as the first two boxes were very popular, but there was no referral to “play set products”, while it could have been done on the DW-6900SW too.

The G-Man Boxes models come, as the name already suggests, in a clear presentation box. Although the watch and the box look very cool, I wished the show box had a skeleton of cardboard. In the past Casio releqased more special models, like the DW-8150 Techno models and the Lover Collection models in similar clear plastic boxes. Unfortunately these plastic damage easily when they are opened. Once they are a little damaged, it’s very good possible that the box or other plastic supporting parts of the box break or tear open. I had a 1997 Lovers Collection box that came n a great presentation box, but at the moment only the outer part is more or less showable. A cardboard skeleton presentation box, like is found on the 2004 I.C.E.R.C. Frogman, would probably sustain the life of the box drastically. On the other side, Casio makes watches to be worn and not to be collected, the way I do. Inside the presentation box, there is a little cardboard box to store the G-Man in.

The 2011 G-Shock Man box is again a great model. This time Shiro Nakano used different shapes of khaki, which makes the watch and the G-Man look a bit military. Also the greenish/amber display give the watch a kind of army look. When I saw the first photo of this model, I showed this to my 11 year old son. He’s very fond of army stuff. We have a very wild garden and all children in the neighborhood like to play war here, for some reason. No surprise that he was very enthusiastic when I showed this photo.

It was probably no surprise too that Casio and play set used this GD-100 model as base for their collaboration. With the GA-100 and GA-110 releases Casio showed the come-back of the big G-Shock models. With the GD-100 G-Shock heavily promotes these “X-Large models”.

The display of the GD-100 is divided in three parts. The upper part is a kind of info display. In Timekeeping Mode it shows day and date, in other modes it shows in which mode you are in. In the middle there are three Alarm indicators and 2 “graphic areas”, which animate elapsed time, like a seconds hand does on an analog watch. The bottom party is the time display.

The GD-100PS is uses the 3263 module. Besides time keeping, you’ll find 4 other modes on this model. The first mode is the World Time mode. The watch can show you time in 31 time zones of 48 cities around the world. A cool feature is that you can quickly switch between 4 preset time zones in Time Keeping mode. The base time keeping time zone and 3 “temporarily” time zones. Ideal for people who travel a lot around the world.

This watch has 5 alarms on board. The alarms works with the operating time zone the watch is in. All alarms can be set as a daily alarm or a onetime alarm. That last feature looks pretty handy to me. Also there is a hourly chime on board and also the button function can be muted (is done from Time Keeping Mode).

Like most new G-Shocks, the GD-100PS has also a 24 hour Stopwatch function and a 24 hour Countdown Timer on board. For most activities more than sufficient.

Like the other X-Large models, the display is lighted with two bright LEDs. The3 LEDs light up the complete display, which is very well readable in the dark. When you are in Setting screen of the Time Keeping Mode, you can choose the duration time of the illumination and you can toggle the Flash mode on and off. This function makes the watch illuminate when an alarm sounds (not at button tones). You can also set the watch to Auto-Illumination. In this mode an internal switch detect when you tilt the watch for about 40 degrees, which is the about the same position you hold your wrist and watch when you look what time it is. The Illumination time can be set between 1.5 seconds and 3 seconds. Personally I always find 1.5 seconds too short to read proper time. For me 2 seconds is about sufficient, so with 3 seconds you have plenty of time to read time.

I think the GD-100 in general is a great watch. The GD-100GD has been plenty available worldwide and if you look good you might even find one for a good price. It was released in Europe at the end of July, when this box was already available worldwide for several months. I bought mine in the Netherlands at a sneaker shop. I paid €150.- for it, which is about the same price as the original price in Japan, ¥16500. Actually I recently saw this watch is still available in the Netherlands. I do not know how limited this model is, but I think the emission was about the same as the first G-Shock Man box, which consisted of 5000 numbered pieces. Well, it’s limited, but not extreme limited. Like I often tell to Luis: If you like this model and an afford it, just buy it. Frankly, I like the watch, but it would for me not have been a disaster if I had not bought this model. I actually bought it, because my son Bram liked it most. If you like the special color scheme, it’s a great model with a lot of features.

EDIT by Alan from New York (a huge GD-100 fan): A few items worth mentioning about the playset and GD-100 in general. The buckle is an attractive anodized black, also shared with the "military" GD-100. Adding to the feel of the military look, the tricolor green maintains the childlike playfulness, as does the distinctive red "D" button. The "D" button also allows you to scroll between the four Local time presets, one at a time or continuously. The Local time can also be swapped by pushing the "B" and "C" buttons simultaneously.

Intermezzo#44: No G today, but my love hasn't gone away.

2011-10-23T13:08:00.002+02:00

It has been a very busy week for me in Middelburg. Of course a lot of work in the last week for the Autumn Vacation at school, but I was also away a lot. I tried to start an article a few times this week, but I never got further than a white sheet in Word, as there was every time something going on that needed my attention. There is one article still in reserve, but I still haven't received the photo's yet. Normally when there is not much time, I write my article on Sunday, like last week's article, but today I'm occupied.

I'm preparing for the Blind Beer Tasting Contest of South Netherlands today (The winner goes to the National Finale on November 13). Fist of all, I took a good brunch. I had a great simple omelet in the Ardennes this summer. Just salt and fresh crunched pepper and some toast.

Well, I do not make a big chance. On the list of beers there are only a few beers I know well and in those categories there are at least pairs of to to confuse you more. You get a sample of beer in each category. I think I am having a big party if I only taste one beer right. In 2007 I was 3rd, with an amazing 3 beers out of 8. You should try it yourself. It's a lot harder than it sounds. I also caught a big cold Friday. I need my nose a little too, as smell is an important part of tasting well. Check the list bellow and wish me luck.

I thought I wear this. Probably the most wrong T-Shirt in my closet (next to the "Hello Titty" shirt I got for my birthday). I do not know if I am going to post a G-Shock article this week, but I'll be present next Sunday I'll guess. Until then, enjoy the new video : Audio, Video, Disco". of Justice, that's spinning around my head the past two weeks. I had a good laugh at one of the comments on this video: "oreooooo, oreoooooo, oreooooooooooo, video, discooooo". Now I'm hungry again...

G-Shock #42: LONDON

2011-10-16T18:24:00.007+02:00

Just a short one today. I planned another article, but I have not received the photo's for that article yet. This is the DW-620 London. It's a remarkable G-Shock from the DW-500 and DW-600 range. It's a G-Shock with Baby-G DNA.

I'm small, but tough too!

The DW-500 and DW-600 series models can be seen as the forefathers of the Baby-G models. It already started with the release of the DW-500C-1 in March 1988. For the Japanese market, the DW-5600C was relatively a large watch. For people with small wrists, Casio developed a smaller version of the DW-5600C, which became the DW-500C. It had similar functions as the DW-5600, but no light. Therefore it had only three buttons.Since the DW-500C was smaller than a regular G-Shock, it was nicknamed "Baby-G". The water resistance is 100 meter, instead of the standard 200m

This DW-500C model became very popular when a yellow version was released in August 1993. This classic yellow model was very sought after in the Japanese collectors world. In December 1994 Casio released 9 variants on the DW-500C model, the DW-520. These models have all a protection bar. That same month Casio releases a load of DW-600 variants (DW-600, DW-610, DW-620, DW-630, DW-640 and DW-650). All these model have in common that the water resistance is "only" 100 meter and that they are relative small. Also all models, except this DW-620 models, had the metal display protection bars.

While the DW-500 and DW-520 variants were only available in Japan, a lot of DW-600 variants were sold world wide. The DW-640 series were even quite popular in Germany I think, as I could still find them a lot on eBay about 10 years ago and occasionally you still can find them second hand for a friendly price.

The DW-600 series were produced for only a short period. In May 1995 all these variants were re-released under the new Baby-G sub-brand. The DW-620 models were now released as BG-120L models. The text SHOCK RESIST was replaced by LONDON.

I never found why the DW-620 and BG-120L were called London. The Japanese text I found in "Green Arrow Graffiti" Vol. 4 (one of my favorite G-Shock resource mooks) did not clear this mystery up. Seiya Kobayashi-san (an excellent recourse for Japan Domestic watches) helped me translated the product description from 1994:

"Rounded case design. The display shows an animated dancer. London edition. EL back light, Alarm function & Chronograph function, this watch has all necessary functions. 100m Water Resistance." (a big thank you to Seiya-san!).

Indeed, the DW-620 has a rounded case design, but actually all DW-600 variations has a round case. The DW-500 model variations compared to the DW-600 variations are like the 5600 variations compared to 6900 variations.

Compared with the later Baby-G models, this model looks a little different, as the case is rounded rectangular, while most Baby-G models are either round or square shaped. The most striking part of this watch are the three colored eyes. These eyes (color marks) are only to be used with the Countdown Timer function. From left to right it shows "Finish", "5 Min" and "Start". Also the EL Backlight is used to in the Countdown Timer function. When the timer is started (when programmed longer than 5 minutes), only the green mark (Start) is visible. Also a beep sounds and the EL lights up for a second. When the 5 minute mark is reached, the yellow mark is visible, the EL lights up for a second and a beep sounds. When the target time is reached the red mark becomes visible, the alarms sounds for 10 seconds and the EL backlight lights up for 2 seconds. When the alarm sounds stops, all three color marks become visible. The capacity of the Countdown alarm is only 60 minutes, but hey, this watch is almost 18 years old!

The DW-620 also has a 24 hour Stopwatch and an alarm function on board. It uses the 1419 module, which is still viewable in Casio's Manual Archive. The manual reveals that it works similar to the 1416 module. The 1416 module was a common module on 90's Baby-G models.

Above: DW-620 on a 5.5" wrist

DW-620 on a 7.2" wrist.

Another striking part of the display is the Animation area. In normal timekeeping mode a giant G rotates around it's vertical axis. When in other modes it shows the mode it's in when not used and when used in Coutdown Timer and Stopwatch mode, it shows a "Time Elapse animation".

When the light is used or when a Countdown Timer has reached the target time it shows a dancing figure. Specially the dancing figure will be a known feature among Baby-G owners. Well, it seems it was first on a G-Shock first, but on a G-Shock with Baby-G DNA.

I do not know if the DW-620 was a very popular model. I stumbled upon this watch by accident in Spain in June 2006. It was sold on my friend Adan's website/webshop G-Stock. I do not know exactly what I have paid for it, but it was probably a friend's price as I also bought another G-Shock (maybe €100.- for two). I also have no clue what it's worth, as I never saw a collector looking for this model. Clearly the DW-640 and DW-650 models were sold in much bigger numbers. If you might find one in like new condition now you can expect a price varying in a big range, from €30.- to maybe €75.-.

G-Shock #41: Cold Ice Plum

2011-10-09T21:46:00.002+02:00

I had planned a special collaboration article today, but due to a nasty flu, I have set the deadline for a little later. I have spend most of the time resting in bed, but got some time to smash some words together on my laptop screen for a small 50 Gs article. Maybe a small article, but this watch has grown already to a favorite of the moment.

In May 2011 Casio released this GW-6900F model. It was not really linked to any series, but it is mentioned in the line of the “Fire Package 2011” AGW-101F and the AWG-500F (also released May 2011). It might be that originally the GW-6900F and the AWG-500F would have been originally planned under the “Fire Package” series.

Fact is that I loved this white model, as soon as I spotted it on the May 2011 release list. For in summer I think a white G-Shock is a perfect eye catcher. Also I think that white is a good alternative for black watches (as white and black are officially no colors), as they do not stand out as much as bright colored models but can make a nice accent.

What makes this 6900 model more appearing to me than other whites are the purple/red accents and display. You find a similar display on the GW-6900CC models (in metallic purple and glossy black). I always tried to describe the color as fuchsia red, but I read reviews of people mentioning this color as plum. I’m probably the last who would argue this description. Plum it is.

I think it was in 1996, when I bought a very nice looking Trek mountain bike. I was not a real expensive model, but my budget was also very tight then. I have no photo’s of this bike, but when I saw it in the showroom I was sold. The color was called “Cold Ice Plum”. It was best described as a kind of reddish metallic purple that looks like ice has condensed on it. For several years this bike brought me everywhere I liked to go. Unfortunately, on April 4th, 2001 (I was wearing my 13th G-Shock) I got parted from my bike in a pretty rough way. While on the way to school, I had a frontal collision with a car. While I was thrown over the car, my bike was catapulted away and ended about 15 meters further against a little building. Mountain bikes are made to survive hard hits, but the steel construction of my bike was no match to the force of the collision.

The plum display is pretty cool, but the digits are a bit dark. The digits are good readable when worn on your arm, but when taken off, the digits fade fast to dark when viewed under different angles. It’s a feature you often encounter on negative displays. You can clearly see that the face plate is also houses the solar panels.

The white resin of the straps and bezel have a glossy finish. The strap keeper is matte and looks a little more gray, though this can also be because it’s not shiny. I expect that the glossy finish also acts a bit as a protection layer. I’m planning to wear this watch often, so we can see if a glossy white band will get dirty.

I’m curious how long this model will be available. It is presented like a basic model. Will this model gain the popularity as the DW-6900FS? I bought mine in the US, but it might be available in Europe too in the near future. Like I wrote above, white is an easy color, as you can combine it with everything and it’s less prominent then a bright colored watch.

The GW-6900F-8 is easily available in Japan and the US. It is pretty friendly priced in the US. I don’t know exactly what was paid for this watch, but it must have been around $100 - $110. A similar model would cost at least €120 - €130 in Europe. A problem for us Europeans is that the postal custom duties and the import tax discourage you to buy these watches from the US. Luckily it was sent as a birthday present to me by a friend in the US and the package stayed just under the radar. You can also order one in Japan, but with the suggested retail price of ¥21000, it´s probably hard to find one under $200-/€150 shipped to your door.

You can see that the plum display color is actually a filter. When looked at the display on the side, you'll notice the EL backlight is actually not plum, but green.

Intermezzo #43: G-Shock Truck and some other promational gifts.

2011-10-09T21:42:00.002+02:00

My son Bram showed a lot of interest in the big truck that was on top of my desk. I won this truck in an auction many years ago. I think it cost me over DM30.- (€15.-). That was at that time quite a high price (as €15.- now does not sound anymore as a lot of money). I also had bid on a G-Shock Porsche model (also 1:87), but I was outbid over DM30.-. It is a pity, because it would have been a great set together. The truck and the Porsche were probably used at watch expositions, but I frankly have no real clue who made this truck and why. It is probably the only model of this truck that exists.

Since I have to take photo's for the next 50 Gs article, I decided to take it out of the box and take some pics. I also gathered some other G-Shock gifts that I got. I think the MR-G Zippo is really cool. Enjoy my pics.

G-Shock #40: Salva Mea, Rescue G, My Marathon G for 2011.

2011-10-01T12:00:00.008+02:00

In October 1997 Casio started the Men In Color series with the legendary Men In Black series, named after the movie. These series all contained Master of G models and had, of course, all the color scheme of the series. Only the Men In Navy Khaki series had two color schemes, the Frogman, Gulfman and Wademan were navy, the Gaussman, Mudman and Wademan were Khaki.

Until May 2000 Casio continued this series with the Men In Yellow, Men In Smoke, Men In Black II, Men In Navy Khaki and the Men In White Gray series. After this last series it looked like the Men In Colors series were discontinued. Actually, after the release of the Antman, it also looked like the Master of G line was discontinued. Even worse. When I did a search on Master of G, somewhere in 2005 or 2006, the only reference you could find was on my website G-Peopleland. You don’t feel very confident if the only reference material is from your own hand.

Things changed in 2006. As a complete surprise Casio revived the Mudman, as well as the name Master of G. In 2007 also the Gulfman was revived, followed by the Riseman in 2008 and the GWF-1000 Frogman in 2010. Recently a totally new designed GW-9300 Mudman was released. As it has a Compass function, it would maybe have been a good idea to launch it as Wademan, like the old Wademan.

As all Master of G models, except the Codename and Codename Cipher, have their names ending on –man, it is easy to explain why special series of Master of G models in a particular color scheme were called the Men In Color series, where, in a particular series "color" is replaced by the color scheme.

In September 2008 Casio released the Men In Rescue Orange series. The revival of the Man In Colors series. I think it was an immediate success. The series contained the then revived atomic Master of G models, the GW-9010R-4JF Mudman (then a new updated Mudman version), the GW-9100R-4JF Gulfman and the GW-9200R-4JF Riseman.

Like the name of the series suggests, the orange colors tribute rescue workers and lifeguards. It is also shown in the EL Backlight, which shows a rescue axe as used by firemen.

I have a good friend who was, together with his wife, a lifeguard for a long time. Sometimes we went to parties in clubs in Rotterdam or Belgium with other lifeguards in the early nineties. Still, once a year, my friend is the coordinator for the communications and safety of the Coastal Marathon (Kustmarathon), held on the first Saturday in October. For several years (I think it’s the 6th time already, this year) I am the bike rider that marks the “last runner”. I carry a sign “Bezemfiets”, which means something like “Broom Bike”, maybe better known the “Red Lantern”. During the marathon I also have contact with my friend and the lifeguards on route. In case of emergency I can have medical assistance or an AED within a minute (often within seconds). Since large parts of the route is over narrow paths in forests and the dunes, only a mountain bike can follow the runners along the route.

Casio released soon after the Men In Rescue Orange series (M.I.R.O.) an overseas series with the same models, but then the non-atomic versions. Although these are still Master of G models (a Mudman, Gulfman and this Riseman), Casio choose the name Rescue-G for this series. Also released Casio a basic GW-M5600R-1JF around the same time. As all the M.I.R.O. and Rescue-G models got an R behind the base model number, this model was frequently referred to as a M.I.R.O. model, although it was actually a “basic” model in black with an orange display and orange accents. A neat looking watch though.

From the three Rescue-G models, the Riseman looks closest to the M.I.R.O. models as the non-atomic Riseman looks pretty close like the atomic Riseman. Only the red text “MULTIBAND 6” on top of the display is replaced by the white text “FULL AUTO EL LIGHT”. The Receive Indicator on the atomic version is relative small and located left from the date line. The Rescue-G Riseman actually uses the same display as the M.I.R.O. version. If you recall the test display on the G-9200R, it shows the Receive Indicator too.

As the bezel and straps are exactly the same, a difference is found on the back. Of course not only the lack of the “W” in the model number, but the G-9200R shows a dragon etched in the case back. This indicates this Riseman is an “Overseas Model” (where overseas must be interpreted as seen from the Japane market). The M.I.R.O. version, which was a Japan Domestic model, shows a flying squirrel. Frankly I think one symbol for the Riseman would have been more clear, but I think both symbols look good. Of course the flying squirrel matches best to the Riseman’s nature.

The Rescue-G Riseman has exact the same functions as the M.I.R.O. function, except for the Atomic Time receiving function. I don’t think this has to be a big problem. While I’m writing this, it’s about two weeks ago that I received this watch and it is only 3 seconds fast. With about 6 seconds a month, I think this watch has a pretty good timekeeping performance, without the Atomic Time feature. As I work on a school, it’s pretty well needed to have the correct time for class switches. In fact, since a few weeks I check the school’s clock that gives the signals, as I was getting tired to use two different time keepings, as the school clock sometimes was two or three minutes offset.

The strongest feature on the Riseman is the barometric sensor. This sensor is very sensitive and therefore it can be also used as an Altimeter. Barometric altimeters are considered the most accurate altimeters available. There is one small disadvantage, as the barometric pressure varies in time, you have to set your altimeter, before using it. On a normal day, the barometric pressure does not fluctuate much. While climbing or ascending, barometric pressure changes are only height dependant, so barometric fluctuations can be used to calculate your ascent and descent. The accuracy of the altimeter depends on the weather conditions. If there is a rough weather change, like storm, rain and thunder, this will affect the barometric pressure and also the altimeter accuracy. I have used Riseman altimeters several times on vacation and they seem very reliable, when you correct daily for the barometric variation.

The Riseman also has a thermo sensor. This sensor registers the temperature of the watch. Also this sensor is very accurate, though, the temperature of the environment can only be measured when the watch is taken off and left for about 20 minutes. This seems like a unhandy function of this watch, but in fact the thermo sensor has an important purpose. I already wrote above the barometric sensor is very sensitive. Unfortunately, good barometric sensors are not only sensitive for air pressure, but also for temperature. If one knows the characteristics of the barometric sensor, the effect of the temperature on this sensor can be eliminated when the temperature is known. This is the reason why there is always a thermometer function on every good quality ABC watch (ABC watches have an Altimeter, Barometer, Compass function, like the in the Casio ProTrek series and on Suunto watches).

The Altimeter has also a recorder function. When the recorder is started (it’s a sort of independent stopwatch function) the recorder calculated the maximum and minimum height and the total ascent and descent. You can also store 20 readings manually into the recorder memory. It does not store automatic readings though, like on the old classic DW-9100 Riseman, which had 50 memory slots. Also the temperature is not stored.

Other functions on board this Riseman are a 33 city & 29 Time Zone World Time, a 24 hour Countdown Timer, a 24 hour Stopwatch function and 5 alarms (one is a snooze alarm) with a hourly chime.

I think this Riseman is a pretty complete watch. I think an owner of this watch has probably checked already if it is worth to pay about $100.- extra for the Atomic Time Function. Frankly I love the Atomic Time function as your watch always gives the right time (if you live close enough to one of the 6 public transmitters), but $100 for this function is quite an extra price. A good thing that Tough Solar power, World Time and a Countdown Timer is added to the function of the new Riseman. On the downside, I regret the only 20 slots on the recorder, which records altitude only and the data has to be input manually. I think for most users of this watch this is only a minor point.

I have two of these Risemans. I paid a very good price for my first one in 2008 (or early 2009). I think it cost me around $130. The one featured in this article (bought from the same seller actually) had a much heavier price. If I recall right I paid $200 for this watch. I bought it in East Asia and it might look like a big price difference, but in the past months both the Euro as the US Dollar has lost some value, compared to Asian currencies. I had wished for buying this Riseman already when it was released. Maybe I should have bought it earlier, as the price was much lower. Still, I do not regret buying this Riseman.

G-Shock #39: Space 1999 - 2005

2011-09-25T00:49:00.005+02:00

In October 2005 Casio launched the G-8000 models. It’s probably the most futuristic designed model in whe whole G-Shock line. Together with the G-8100 and G-011 models, these were called the C3 or C-cubed models. The similarity in design can’t be denied for the G-8100 models, but I think the metal G-011 models are more “down to Earth”.

In Europe the G-8000 models were marketed as “freerunner’s watches”. In Germany this series is therefore sometimes called the “Freerunning Kollektion”. Free running (can also be spelt freerunning) is a kind of acrobatic sport, that uses the city and urban obstacles as playground to move from one location to the other, while performing tricks ay each obstacle. All you need is a human body and a pair of good shoes. This G-Shock model was called “Wall Runner” in Germany, named after a wallrunner’s trick (which isn’t new as I remember this trick was also performed in a Rick Ashley video).

Personally I think the G-8000 model looks like it is coming straight from a 60’s or 70’s science fiction series. I do not know why, but I associate this model always with “Space 1999”. I was always fascinated by this series, which aired in The Netherlands in 1978. As a 12 year old boy I tried to reconstruct Moonbase Alpha and it’s Eagles with my Lego. I still love the tune, which I actually have installed as a ringtone in my phone.

You might question why I associate this model with a science fiction series, but I think if you look at the display, you will probably notice the resemblance with cockpit instruments. The artificial horizon to be more specific. I also think the orange colors might give me a feel to the mid 70’s, when this kind of orange colors and green colors became fashionable in household decoration, clothing and vehicles. I remember we has a bright orange car around that time. The eighties were much colder and our orange car was traded into a dark brown car.

This G-8000 model, the G-8000-4VER (European version of the G-8000-4JF) has a negative display. To be honest, the display is not always very clear readable, in contrary to the normal display models. The G-8000 with a normal version were known for their crystal clear reading from the display. I don’t think you buy this watch for the clarity of the display. The orange bezel and strap give a very cool contrast to the black display. A part on the side of the bezel is by the way also black. It might be cosmetic, because it looks good. While the cross and the circle, that look like the artificial horizon, do not disturb the display on a positive display, I think it makes reading this display a little harder. When you own this watch for a longer time you, of course, learn how to read the display. Remarkable is that the seconds are located next to the date, under the hours and minutes. This gives the watch the advantage to use bigger digits for the hour and minutes.

Remarkable are the 4 screw like ornaments on the bezel. The 3 gray ornaments are just cosmetic. The big black ornament has a special function. This thing is actually a LED. You can sync this LED to the Alarm tones. This means, that when an alarm sounds (except for when scrolling through the modes) the LED also lights up. You an compare it with the FLASH function, which can be found on other G-Shock models, but the FLASH function lights up the complete display, while on this model only the LED lights up.
The G-8000 runs on the G-8000 module. It has a World Time function, Stopwatch function, a Count Down Timer function and an Alarm function. The Worldtime function shows the time in 48 cities in 29 time zones. Like I have written before, you have to correct the DST manually. The Stopwatch function has the usual 24 hour capacity. The Countdown Timer function has also a 24 hour capacity. It has also an auto-repeat function and it has a Progression Beeper. At certain times during the countdown operation, the alarm sounds so you can follow the countdown operation. In the Alarm function 3 alarms can be programmed. The third alarm is a Snooze alarm. This Alarm repeats every 5 minutes for maximal 7 times.

When scrolling between the functions with the MODE button, you will notice that the watch plays a little animations before the next mode is opened. It takes about 1 second to change from one mode to the other. You don´t have to wait until the mode opens though. You can scroll as fast as you like between the modes.

Actually I think it is a pity that there were only were less than 20 G-8000 models. Casio did a good job in making a watch that broke with traditional shapes and still looked good. Probably the futuristic design isn’t for everybody, but I think this design was ahead of the square “flight instrument inspired” watches trend, which are still popular today. Also the normal display versions got a lot of positive response from owners, because the display was very clear to read.

Although this model already 5 years old, you still can find a few, with prices starting around $70.-/€50.-. If you like this retro look, it might be the watch for you. When I was in the waiting room at my physiotherapist, I saw a ladies magazine with big headlines: “The Seventies are Back!”. Well, I you look for a suitable watch, I have a matching watch for you!