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.

 

G-Shock #29: Purple with a Colored Display

A lot of images were taken in my garden during heavy rainfall on a very rainy day. Between 50 and 80 mm had fallen here within 24 hour, which is pretty exceptional here. Normally your G-Shock  doesn't come this wet in a box, but hé, it's 20 BAR water resist...

Purple has been a luxurious color in the ancient past. The dye was harvested from sea snails by slaves who dived with ropes and stones into the sea. You needed about ten thousand of them for a grams dye. No need to explain that pure dye was very expensive and exclusive.

Photo: M. Violante.

Dyed fabrics were 10 to 20 times more expensive than gold. These fabrics were made exclusively for emperors, royal families, bishops and cardinals. The dye, 6,6-dibromoindigo, can now be made synthetically, though it’s not produced in large scale.

6,6-dibromoindigo images by Ben Mills

In November 2010 Casio released the “Color Display” series in Japan. While these models were only for the domestic market, an overseas variant was released in a non-Atomic form. I think this model is for me the best looking model that Casio released in the past half year. I love purple colors. I wish the Waveceptor versions (models that can receive atomic time signals) also were released outside Japan.

One drawback of the Waveceptor version is the price. You can still find both versions on eBay. The Japanese 6-multiband Waveceptor version an be found around €150.- ($200) and the overseas model can still be found for around €90.-.

I think the name of these series is a bit diverting. There were only two models and they both have the same color fuchsia display. Well, for me fuchsia is not an easy color to describe as it is not red, not pink and not purple, but a shade in-between. According color scales, this shade is called Fashion Fuchsia, a less saturated tone pink than shocking pink (Magenta). The straps and bezels of the two models differ. There is a shiny deep black model and this metallic purple model. Actually they both look great in my opinion.

The purple “Color Display” model has the same metallic purple tone as the DW-6900CC-6JF of the August 2009 “Crazy Colors” series. It is questionable why this series is not simply included in the “Crazy Colors” series. It might be that Casio wants to leave the “Crazy Colors” series, since also the “Metallic Colors” series were not released as “Crazy Colors”, while these models also have these wild and bright color combinations.

 

The straps are only metallic on the outside, so Casio must have used a special film on the outside of the straps to create the metallic effect. The metallic effect does not create color different color shades, as on the Snake Killer or the Gold Defender Frogman, but light falling on the resin create darker and lighter shades of purple, which makes this watch very nice to look at.

I think the best part of this model for me is the combination of the purple resin, the fuchsia red display divided by the very dark solar panels. Were solar panels about 10 years ago often shading between blue, purple and black, on this model the panels look dark black. Maybe under extreme angles it looks very dark blue. It does not only function as a solar panel, but also as a border for the colors. Only the texts SHOCK RESIST and TOUGH SOLAR, also in fuchsia, seem to be a bridge to the display.

Although a vivid color is used on the display, the digits are remarkably good visible under different angles, though the best view is obtained under good light conditions. Taking good photo’s of the display was a bit harder. Most colored displays have the usual greenish or bluish backlight, but these models have a pinkish red backlight.

The engine of the G-6900CC is the 3180 module. The 6900 range is considered the round classic form by Casio, so you should expect basic functions. Well, the G-6900 is quite an update of the DW-6900 with the 1289 module. It has the same 24 hour Stopwatch and Countdown Timer function, but the Alarm function is expended up to 5 Alarms, from which one is a Snooze Alarm. New is the Worldtime function. Note that you need to choose the right time zone and DST setting when you set the time of your watch. Most of the time it’s only a matter of minutes of seconds (depends how long it has been that it has been set the last time). The Worldtime function does unfortunately not automatically set the time zones, so you have to adjust time zones that have DST manually. I think it should be great if this worked automatically, but the automatic calendar is programmed until 2099. No one can tell if the countries that use Daylight Saving Time will stop using it.

The best upgrade on the G-6900 is the Tough Solar function. With the Power Save function on (default), the watch can keep time in the dark for a very long time (months!). With all these extra functions the small eyes (“graphic area’s) have other functions than animate elapsing time. Only the big eye has still this function, which can be compared with the function of the seconds hand on an analog mechanical watch. The first small eye displays power functions. It shows the charge state of the battery, if the Power Save (PS) function toggled on and if the watch needs to be charged (when the battery is almost empty). The second small eye shows if alarm functions and the Full Auto Illuminator function are turned on or off.

I very much like the color purple. That´s why I have the first “Play Set” model (with purple G-Man) and the purple “Crazy Colors” model of August 2009. I think that from these three models this one like most. The deep black accent provided by the solar panels make the display stand out more than on the “Crazy Colors” and “Play Set”, though the color of the displays are the same. If I had more money, I surely would have bought the Waveceptor version.

Prices of G-Shocks in Japan are quite expensive and if you import a G-Shocks from Japan to The Netherlands, it will almost surely being accompanied with a high tax bill and high fees from the postal service. That’s why I choose for this much cheaper overseas version. I paid around €80.- for this model (including shipping) in April this year. It’s still available if you look around good. The price has risen a little bit. The cheapest I could find at the moment is around €90.-. The Japanese GW-6900CC-6JF can still be found on eBay for around €160.- (also including shipping). If you like this model and have the some extra to spend, I would go for the last version. This (much) cheaper G-6900CC-6DR model is, of course, a good alternative.