G-Shock #30: White is the new Green!

The past two years Casio has been pretty good in releasing a lot of good looking G-Shock models, so it’s for the a collector with a limited budget hard to choose which new models to acquire. One of the series that I like is the “Green Colors” or “Green Collection” series. The name of these series is a bit unclear. Casio refers in Japan to the “Green Colors” series, but on the box “Green Collections” is printed. In North America these models were released as the “Go Green” series. I’ll stick to “Green Collection” from now on in this article, as this is the name printed on the box, so probably the most logical name to use.

 There have been three Green Collection series released thus far. The first series were released in January 2010 in Japan. I think they were available worldwide, but you could buy the at least in East Asia and the US. A second series was released in July 2010. These clear and blue jelly models were only sold in overseas in East Asia. Although I am not a fan of blue colors, I think a lot of people like these jellies. Not sure what’s the connection with deep blue and green, but maybe oceans and seas might have been the inspiration for these models. In February 2011 the third series were released. There is only this G-6900EW and a special Tough Solar G-7900 variant, the GR-7900EW. The GR-7900 is probably special made for Green Collections series, as this is the only Tough Solar, non-Atomic 7900 model.

The Green Collection series was introduced in 2010 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, celebrated on April 22nd annually. This day is introduced for to make us aware of the environment.

The green colors on this G-6900EW model are inspired by the glossy green tones of leafs on trees, while the sun is shining on them and is reflected in our environment. That’s why the Green Collection models also are glossy. White is used, simply because the combination of green and white is stylish, well according the description of Casio. Couldn´t they have come up with something better. It reminds me to the early spring flowers that come up through the snow at the end of winter (that’s around February here).

It’s probably not exact a secret that Japanese culture involves a lot of love and respect for mother Nature. I believe that is very important for such a dense populated country. I was a bit surprised that in my interview with Mr. Ibe Kikuo, now a month ago, he mentioned that he loved our green nature in the forests most and that our cities are clean. Personally I think that the streets in the big cities in Japan are cleaner than the streets in our big cities. On the other hand, I noticed that in the Japanese cities the houses are built very close to each other, with only a little green zones in small parks and playgrounds.

Besides nature, Japan loves electricity. The brighter the lights and louder the sounds, the better. There I sat in the train to Tokyo Central Station, in my ski jacket and totally packed with my backpack and photo bag. It was cold in Tokyo they told me. I have other thoughts of temperatures around 17°C. Especially when I discovered, bathing in sweat, the seats were heated, probably the level set to maximum. Also double glass in the poorly isolated houses is a rarity. A strong reduction in energy use and thus a better care for the environment can be easily achieved. On the other hand, we could learn a lot here from the very sufficient public transport system. While you see here in the Netherlands enormous numbers of cars, mostly carrying just one person, in Japan most people move by train from place to place.

The engine of the watch is the 3180 module, which is the same module that is used in the Color Display model that has been featured here a week ago. For a bit more details I kindly refer to this article, but in short these are the modes featured on this watch: a 24 hour Stopwatch, 24 hour Countdown Timer, 5 Alarms (one is a Snooze Alarm) and a World Time function.

Personally I think this watch is quite a good looker. The display has the same green tone as the G-6900GR of the first “Green Collection” release. First I thought it was the same case with a different bezel and straps, but the lettering on the crystal is different. While the G-6900GR has white and red lettering, the G-6900EW has green and white lettering. It’s a minor difference, but yet, it’s one. The resin of the bezel (case cover)) and straps is bright white and shiny. It’s indeed a very nice combination. When I had my first one signed, I already planned to buy this one.

 I think I was just in time with buying this second one. It was not easy to find one for a decent price. I paid around €80 for the first one, but it was hard to locate this one, which I paid around €90 for. I actually bought them from the same seller, although that’s just a coincidence. I tried to buy it from another seller, but the sale was canceled, because the watch was faulty. I think the display was dead, due to the Power Save mode, but I haven’t questioned about the defect. If it was the Power Save mode, only a little sunlight would have been enough to revive this watch, but maybe the box was opened in a dark office. A fast check on eBay learns that it is not easy to find this model under €100. In Europe this model is still available. The retail price in Europa seems to be around €129.-. The green G-6900GR was available for a long time, but I guess that this model will be sold out in a shorter time. Although the G-6900GR looks a more popular model than this one, you could find that model for about a year for a normal price easily. I guess that these third series were made in a smaller quantity as these already became rare in about 6 months. The retail price in Japan for this model was 15000 yen. This means you’ll find them in the big electronics stores for about ¥13000 – ¥13500.

I think the popularity of this model was tempered, because of the release of the basic white DW-6900NB, which was featured in an Eminem video. Personally I like this “Green Collection” model more. It is Tough Solar, the solar panels give a very nice black a barrier between the green display and the white resin. The DW-6900NB would probably have looked better with a normal or a (slightly) colored display, but that’s just my personal opinion.