Intermezzo #12: Rising White dans le Val de Loire

Bonjour. Ici Sjors (Georges) écrit de Mesland, France.
What do you pack for your holiday? This year I limited myself in packing 6 G-Shocks in a small box. I also didn't forget my swimming shorts and a good book.
I am actually a bad and slow reader, as I am somewhat dyslectic. I heard about the new movie after the book "Män som hatar Kvinnor" of Stieg Larsson (in Dutch it's called translated "Men that hate women").
The synopsis sounded pretty interesting, the critics were enthusiastic, so I ordered the book for during my holidays. I was pretty shocked when I got it: 560 pages! I thought with my reading skills of max 25 pages a day, this must be food for about a month.
So on Tuesday I finally started reading. Starting on such a thick "pill" looks like standing a the foot of the Mont Blanc before climbing it. The story was pretty entertaining, so I finished about 25 pages easily.
On Wednesday I ended up at page 80. On Thursday I got taken over by the book. Finally I fell asleep around page 250. On Friday, late in the afternoon (around 18:00), I turned the last page at the side of the pool. "Hé, where did the rest of the family go".
Even the well shaped French girl in black and red Dolce and Gabbana bikini that I now and then observed above my pages (well, we are in France and by the way, she's observing back), who was funny singing in herself to her MP3 player, had packed her towel probably hours ago. I must say it's a good book, but now what...
Lets do some night photography. A year ago I very much liked the photo's of my Rising White DW-5025B. Lets see if I can add some more. It's a beautiful night, so I'll use the moonlight outside, with a little help of my red anodized AA Maglite. Though it is around 28° C in the afternoon, it is getting pretty cold at night. I spotted Jupiter between the trees.
Tomorrow we'll visit the castle of Cheverny. It's known world wide as Moulinsart in the stories of Tin Tin. Hergé created Captain Haddock's castle after that of Cheverny. Maybe I should buy a book there, for the rest of my holidays. Now, what shall I wear tomorrow?

Amitiés de France, Au Revoir, Bon Journée!

#21 Rise and Shine!

In 2007 Casio started releasing special series for the 25th anniversary of G-Shock. In May the Dawn Black series saw daylight, in August it was the Rising White series. In this last series there was a DW-5000 re-issue and even a DW-5700C re-issue.

Both models, the DW-5025B-7JR and DW-5725B-7JR have a "screwback". This type of back screws into the case, which is made of metal. Most modern G-Shocks have a resin case and the back plate is tightened to the case with 4 screws.

Sometimes there are debates which tighten method is better, but if the seal is greased properly I doubt there is a real difference. Screwbacks are often preferred, because they just look better. Bear in mind water pressure pushes the back harder to the case, so even a 4 screw back is save.

The DW-5025B shows the design around the display as the original 1st G-Shock model, released in 1983. It shows a brick structure. Although the text "WATER RESIST 20 BAR" suggest this is a Japan only design, it was also released in the US. This model was also available at www.tiktox.com for the European market. This is where mine came from.

In contrary to the original model, this DW-5025B has no light bulb, but an Electro-Luminescent backlight. The module used in this and the DW-5725B model, the 1545, is the same module that is used for the common DW-5600E.

The watch is, like the name of the series already says, white. The visible metal parts are in gold tones, the buckle, screwback and bezel screws. You see this on the other 25th Anniversary series too. The case itself is just in silver tone stainless steel. The display is a reversed type. It gives a nice harp contrast to the white bezel and straps. Most lettering and lining around the display are in gold tone and so are the digits.

Reversed or negative displays look very cool. It often gives a digital watch a more mysterious dark look. A down side is these displays are harder to read in dim light. I remember that I wore a DW-003TL once with such display, while driving my car in bad and dark weather. Due to the viewing angle and bad light, it was impossible to read time.

I need to say the negative display on the DW-5025B is very sharp and has a large viewing angle. Maybe Casio has improved the readability in the past years.

The backlight is in a green tone, which looks very nice. It does not remind you to the bluish backlights on cheaper digital watches.

The screwback shows the G-Shock logo that Eric Haze designed for the 25th Anniversary. I have a dog tag with the same logo on it.

This is the last of a series of articles I have written during my vacation in Cadenet in south France. I (and occasionally Bram and Eva) have shot photo’s on location. Probably some photo's will not be as sharp or clear as I wished, but I think they captured the feeling of the moment. I hope you enjoyed reading and viewing these articles.

Our dinner on the way back, in Luxembourg. I could use a beer. I had driven over 500km in one piece. After dinner Eva took over for the last 350 - 400 km.

#18 Jammin' dans le soleil

In the following 4 weeks I will publish articles I have written on my vacation in Cadenet in south France. Of course I (and occasionally Bram and Eva) have shot photo’s on location. Probably some photo's will not be as sharp or clear as I wished, but I think they captured the feeling of the moment. The first article puts a spot on my Jammin’ DW-6900.

It's 19:30 in the evening. I am sitting with a Pelforth Brune before the caravan. This says it must be holiday in France. Bram is playing football (for American readers, that’s the game you supposed to play a ball with your feet into your opponent's goal).My brother Paul sms-ed me that Queen's Day yesterday was very wet. Here in Cadenet (South France, near Aix en Provence) it was a very hot day. When we went to the city castle, the car thermometer told us it was 29°C in the shade around 16:00 (04:00 p.m.).

Summer days need summer watches. Fortunately I have brought some nice G-Shock's with me.
The Jam'in Color DW-6900MC-3VER is such watch. The jolly green colors shout out joy. I remember that my girlfriend Eva said she liked this colors. She does not often comment me on my watches. In the mean time my arms (and legs) are showing red. Too much sun I think.

The Jam'in Color series were released in 2006. This green version was of the first DW-6900MC models. While the red, white and blue versions were "jams" with black, the green model is a jam with yellow.

In the manufacturing process, the two colors are blended in the mold. Each bezel and watchband is different, so no 2 watches are the same.

In 2007 a second series DW-6900's were released. In this release the green and orange versions were blend with white resin. In my opinion a less successful combination.

I think of the first series, the white/black versions was by far the most popular. Often the patterns are called camouflage. Although it looks similar, camouflage patterns are printed or painted spots, while on the Jam'in Color models the colors are blended. Probably this model is not for everyone. The colors are bright and don't stay unnoticed. Maybe not a good model for in a formal office situation, but a nice sporty watch for summertime.

I have always loved the DW-6900 with 1289 module. For me the three eyes, ticking down the seconds above the main display, is one of the most attractive designs. It also looks impressive when illuminated.

On a Japanese website I once read that it's creator called the DW-6900 (with 1289 module) the "Triple Eye Devil". I always thought that was a good name. Although this is the most known DW-6900, there are also models fitted with a different module. The 1289 module is also found in some DW-002 models and the classic DW-8400 Mudman.

The basic DW-6900 was featured in the movie Mission Impossible II. The DW-6900 is therefore sometimes called MI:2, but it's not as much used as MI for the DW-5300 or Speed for the DW-5600C. In a close-up you can see that the lettering was removed and a fictive module (probably a virtually computer image) was used.