#36 The Steve Caballero G-Shock

Todays G-Shock is one of the GWX-100 range. I wanted to include a tutorial video of changing the battery on this model, but unfortunately only the intro and the outro were focused. The most important part, almost 6 minutes, was blurred. I must have missed the correct focus point when I started.

The actual changing of the battery was pretty simple, but I had to remove the straps first. The streamlined straps fit pretty tight against the case. It was not easy to remove them, but it was even harder to place them back. Well, I didn’t record that procedure anyway, because I need the watch right under my eyes and it would have been impossible with a camera in-between.

Somehow the DWX-100 series models are not pretty known and often a forgotten. Still 39 versions were released between October 1998 and November 1999. There were two different models between the DWX-100 series released in Japan. The models starting with the model number DWX-110 are “surf models”, with a Tidegraph on board. To make it a little complicated, the DWX-111 and DWX-112 models have the same module as the Japanese DWX-100 models. The basic European DWX-100 has a different module, which looks like the DW-003S module. And we are not there yet. According to the Japanese G-Shock database, this is the DWX-111BD-4AT. Strangely the back of my watch says DWX-112. Also the Steve Caballero signature is not present. I checked my DWX-112AS (Air + Style), which has a special A+S back inscription. The only possible explanation is that the DWX-111BD-4AT was released in the US as DWX-112 model. There is simply no other DWX-112 model with a “standard back” as on this watch. Casio does sometimes bring the overseas model with another model number like the DWM-100, which became the DWM-101 in Europe.

In September 1999 Casio released three DWX-111BD models, which are Signature models of three big skateboarders. There is a Omar Hassan model, a Willy Santos model and of course this great looking Steve Caballero model.

In Japan this models were released as X-Treme G-Lide models, which is pretty unique. In the beginning series of models designed for extreme sports were called the X-Treme series in Japan. Overseas models of the same series were called G-Lide. It seems the G-Lide name was introduced in Japan with the DWX-100 series models.

Steve Caballero (left) and Tony Hawk.Tony Hawk is riding a blue Steve Caballero signature deck  with a yellow dragon.

So who is Steve Caballero. He was born in 1964, the year of the dragon. That’s why the dragon is a returning theme in his graphics. He started skateboarding at the age of 12 and in 1978 he was sponsored by Powell Peralta at the age of 15. He is a member of the Bones Brigade, which was mentioned on 50 Gs before in my article about the Tommy Guerrero. He is considered a legend of skateboarding. Vert Champion and Skater of the Year in 1983 and 1984, World Champion Street and Vert in 1987 and won over 30 titles over the years. Recently in May 2010 he won the Masters Division at the Pro-Tec Pool Party. Even at the age of 45, he proofs to be one of the best skateboarders.

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Steve Caballero skating in the evening of his 45th birthday in November 2009.

Besides skateboarding he likes motocross bikes and collects hot rod cars and toys. He has played in several punk bands (I think I heard a famous musician recently say: “Every good musician should have played in a punk band once in his life”, which I can totally agree with). About 6 years ago he started painting as well.

He shows paintings, drawings, skateboard and family stuff on his weblog called “Have you seen him”. It’s pretty amusing to read and it shows he’s a sympathetic and down to earth man and a gifted artist.

Test screen of the 1978 module. Read here how to achieve
This DWX has an asymmetrical design, which makes this model very ergonomic and comfortable for extreme sports. Since the first DWX-100 models were designed for water sports, there are a lot of design patterns that allow water to drain as fast s possible. Also extra holes in the strap allow water to vaporize fast when worn to prevent irritation and nasty odors, etc.

At the top of the straps there are extra resin inserts. The one on top of the case shows the G-Shock G logo. On the bottom of the case there is Steve caballero’s trademark, a red dragon. While later signatures like these are mostly placed on the strap with the buckle, I like it this way, because now the wearer can see the dragon when he or she sees the watch on the wrist. The strap keeper shows a nice G-Lide logo.

The bezel’s red accents look like a black bezel is placed over a red case, but the case is just black. The bright red contrasts very beautiful with the deep black resin. The buttons on the right side seem to be made out of one piece of red resin. They might be a cover of two real buttons underneath it. A bit similar as is done on Mud Resistant models. Although it probably leaves more dirt out than regular buttons, I think it’s done in this case more for ascetic reasons. The buttons on the left side are more or less regular G-Shock buttons.

The 5th light button also functions as a Start/Stop button in the Stopwatch and Countdown Timer mode. I still don’t know if I have to like this or not. Probably I do not like it, just because I own many G-Shock’s, where the Start/Stop button is placed in the lower left side. I guess if this is your only watch, the 5th button as a Start/Stop button is not a bad choice. You have to figure out where your light button has gone when you use the Stopwatch or Countdown Timer (lower left button).

The functions on this Caballero model are simple, but good. I has the 1978 module. An Alarm with Hourly Chime, a 24 hour Stopwatch and a 24 Hour Count Down Timer, just the basic needs for a nice sports watch.

When the backlight is activated, the same dragon as on the strap is shown, like he is protecting you from evil. Very nice.

This watch is more than 10 years old, so even as it was released in large numbers, it would have become rare now. The fact that this watch has DWX-112 as a model number, indicates it must have been an overseas model. This model could be found in Japan and outside Japan. You might think it is released in the US, but since Willy Santos is a Philippian skate boarder, it might also have been an East Asian release.

I do not know exactly how I got this watch. It was from an eBay auction, but I do not know anymore where it came from. I think I did not pay a very high price for it probably in the $60 - $80 range. The original retail price in Japan was 15000 yen. The DWX-100 series models are not very big. That might be the reason why these models were not as popular as the DW-003 and DW-004 models at that time, which were much bigger. You also don’t see DWX-100 for sale anymore, although the basic orange DWX-100 (“Red & Bad”) was offered a lot for a long time on eBay Germany at several sellers, with prices around €40.- new in box. Last year Dave from the Singaporean G-Shock Fansite published an article about his Willy Santos model. Maybe I should try search a Japanese Steve Caballero version, just to have the signature on the back. G-Shock Collecting is so addictive…