# 18 Frog at Black Dawn

 In February 2007 I got a mail from my friend Katsu Higuchi-san of Higuchi-inc. He had been to the Casio Headquarters in Tokyo and heard a very special series was coming out to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of G-Shock.

Soon after that more details became available. The series was called Dawn Black and the models were all black with gold accents. Also the logo for the 25th anniversary was revealed. It is designed by Eric Haze, who had at that time already designed two other limited edition G-Shocks.

I immediately stopped buying G-Shocks and started saving for this series. All Dawn Black models are Tough Solar. I think therefore the name of these series was chosen well. First of all at dawn you watch the first sunlight. A Tough Solar model only needs a little light to charge. Second it marks the start of the celebration activities of the 25th anniversary a year later in 2008.

The model number are pretty well chosen. The last two ciphers of the models are 25A, instead of 00. The Frogman for instance caries the model number GW-225A-1JF. 25 of course for the 25th anniversary, later it became clear that A was because it was the first series to celebrate the 25th anniversary.

The Frogman is the only model without a Waveceptor function. The GW-5625AJ-1JF has only a 3 band Waveceptor function, the AWG-525A-1AJF, GW-5525A-1JF and GW-9025A-1JF are all 5 band Waveceptors. At that time there were no 6 band models yet.

At the end of May the models were finally released and I got mine at the beginning of June. To be complete with he Black Dawn series,  in September 2007 two other model were released. These were a G-9025A-1JF Mudman and a G-9125A-1JF Gulfman, both the non-solar and without a Waveceptor function.

The Japanese models were all packed in a 25th Anniversary box. Inside this box, there is a little trunk case The watch is inside this trunk case. Overseas several models of these series were released too. Instead of these package, the overseas versions were packed in a nice box, decorated by Eric Haze. Inside this box there is a similar decorated G-Shock tin with the watch inside it. Todays Frogman was actually packed in such a tin. I bought it from my friend Topher1556, who has also written on 50 Gs in the past. I also have this Frogman in the trunk case (actually I have all 5 Japanese models of the first emission of this series.

The GW-200 has always been my favorite Frogman model. I still can't speak for the GWF-1000 model, because I simply don't have one. I hope that model will be around for a while, because I plan to buy one next year (or I must suddenly win the lottery this year). From the first 4 generations Frogman, this is the biggest and chunkiest looking model and the Tough Solar module seems to keep power for ages.

 

What else would you expect from a series that is called Dawn Black. This Frogman is matte black and except for the gold lettering G-SHOCK, the lettering on the bezel and straps are in gray. Normally the case of a  Frogman is made of silver/gray titanium, but on the Black Dawn Frogman case is made of gold colored Titanium. The gold accents return in all metal part of the watch. Even the bezel screws are gold. The display is in a gold tone and the big eye is in gold too.

On the back of the watch we find the logo of the 25th anniversary, designed by Eric Haze in the place where we normally find the diving frog. I always thought it was a kind of stylistic tribal design, but if you look close you can see the number 25 in the logo. Pretty well done.

 

I do not know the production dates and numbers of the Dawn Black Frogman, but my Japanese model was produced in March 2007, while my US model was assembled in August 2007. There might be quite a large number manufactured.

The Dawn Black Frogman retail price was ¥27000 yen in Japan and $300.- in the US. At the current exchange rates that would be almost the same. I did a little search and found that if you will look out for one new, you might expect a price of around $350 - $400 for one.