#22 In bed with..... The Rolling Stones

After the early DW-5X00 series, Casio developped the so called "Capsule Tough" construction. The module in this construction is captured in a protecting case. The case is now made of poly-urethane, a very durable impact proof compound, in stead of screwback, the back plate is tightened with 4 screws.

In the beginning these G-Shocks look pretty basic, like the DW-6100, DW-6600 and DW-6900, but with the DW-00X models, the G-Shocks begin to look more exotic, specially because bright colors are not avoided.

If you should ask me which G-Shock's I like, I mostly say I love the '90's models. I have a weakness for the classic "Master of G series" and the DW-00X models. And of the last group, I definitely love the DW-002. I think this was the highlight of the whole Capsule Tough concept. I don't think many G-Shock's are thicker. The form of the buttons is unique.

Of all DW-002's the Rolling Stones models were absolutely one of the best. When I got mine, I didn't know much about this model. It was owned by someone in the US, I believe near New York. The former owner had quite a story about this watch.

When the battery went dead, he sent this watch to the Casio Service Center in New Jersey. It took a long time before he got it back. When he got it back, the Pin-Up girl had disappeared! Unbelievable, they did not only change the battery, but also the module. It took him a lot of phone calls to get the original module back. He was not sure if they found the old module or they ordered a new module.

The story sounded a bit strange then, but unfortunately now I have heard more horror stories. Even people who sent in a vintage G-Shock and receive a brand new model.

Casio USA, I hope you read this. There are now a lot vintage Casio and G-Shock collectors. Please give them a helping hand if needed in the Casio Centre in New Jersey.

We get a bit off track. The Rolling Stones models have grey/black cases. The straps are leather and have a crocodile or snake print on them.

They were released July 1995. There were three of them. One has a skull in the backlight, another a guitar head, but the nicest is the one I have, the DW-002RS-8. It shows a Pin-Up girl in the backlight. The straps are in brown leather. Although this series is called Rolling Stones, I actually can't see the connection with the skull and the Pin-Up. The famous Rolling Stones mouth logo would be more logic, but the Pin-Up is very cool.

The watch has an Alarm, Countdowntimer and a Stopwatch on board. Pretty basic, but actually all I need in daily life.

June

DW6900-1V




This is what comes to mind when you say "G-Shock".

#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.

#20 Red Royal Jelly

I will publish articles I have written on my vacation in Cadenet in south France in the last two weeks of May and the first two weeks in June.. 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 third article lights my 2003 I.C.E.R.C. Frogman. It's a watch that is often with me in summertime.
Nearly every month Casio releases new G-Shock and Baby-G models. Most of the are only available for the home market in Japan or East Asia. The new releases can be seen on G-Shock's Japanese homepage. If you are a bit handy with translation tools, you can subscribe to the Japanese newsletter that is e-mailed to you when new models are released.
When I started collecting G-Shocks, I focused on the basic late 90's models. Mainly the DW-6900, DW-003 and DW-004 models. I had seen Japanese collectors often mainly focused on Frogman models. The owners seemed very impressed with this model.
In 2002 I obtained a DW-8200, the 2nd generation basic, and most common Frogman. I believe I paid less than €30.- for it. Frankly I was not impressed at all. It was in new condition when I bought it, but soon it became one of my swimming watches.
So I read the newsletter of may 2003. At that time there was for me no way to get a G-Shock out of Japan. In had just started G-Peopleland. I occasionally looked at a Japanese Watches bulletin board, but this was long before I learned about Seiya-San and Katsu-San (Higuchi Inc).
(I hope you don't mind I am eating a bagette with spicy chorizo in the mean time. Bon Appetit!)
The red jelly Frogman, released to promote the 3rd International Dolphin & Whale Eco-Research Network by the I.C.E.R.C., did look awesome. I was completely drewling on my keyboard.
I already imagined how it looked in bright sunlight. I got to get one. (for more about the I.C.E.R.C. read the article about my white Gulfman on 04-27-2008).
For some time this model stayed a dream watch, but late August this model popped up on eBay. Sellers in Hong Kong and Singapore were selling this watch like they were hot buns. Even Michael of MSG-Distributors, NYC had some for sale. I obtained my first for around $200.-. The US$ was about the same rate as the € around that time.
It even looked better in real. The watch was immediately noticed at the school where I work. It was a very sunny period, and the watch looks like it's illuminated in sunlight. Students even asked me when I was going to wear this red watch again when I didn't wear it...
This model stayed on eBay un-usually long for a limited model. In a few months the marked seemed saturated. I obtained a 2nd one, for the collection around October. I paid less than $150.- for it.
Then, around February 2004 it disappeared from the market. Nowadays it's a pretty much wanted model and I am afraid you may expect to pay double the price that I bought them for.
What makes the GW-203K so special? It's all cosmetic, it's just a GW-200 model, but then wearing a red jelly jacket.
There are prints on the strap. "I.C.E.R.C." and "International Dolphin & Whale Eco-Research Network". The text "All for one" is the I.C.E.R.C. motto. Like on all Dolphin & Whale models in the G-Shock range, there is also a very beautiful back engravement. A pity you can't see that when wearing.
The GW-200 is the Tough Solar successor of the DW-6300, DW-8200 and DW-9900 Frogman range. I actually think something went wrong in the design process of the GW-200. The prefix GW is actually only used for Atomic Tough Solar models. I think Casio aimed for an Atomic model in the first place. The first two GW-200 models, the "Carbon Fiber Frogman" and the "Snakekiller", had the non solar module of the DW-9900. All other GW-200 variants are Tough Solar, but not Atomic.
This watch has been designed to dive with. The case is located a-symmetric to the left of the straps. This way your left hand (if worn left) has more freedom of movement, as when the case was connected symmetric.
While scrolling through the different modes, you find 10 programmable dive sites (of course I set one to Middelburg). Actually, if your home base time isn't between them, you have to alter one of the preset sites to your time zone (GMT offset) to let the other sites display correct time.
Next you find some ID-functions, like blood type, passport and creditcard number, etc. I think it's not wise to store your credit card number though.

The watch stores up to 3 alarms. Further it has a 24 hour stopwatch and a 24 hour count down timer.An extra feature is a bit hidden. If you press for a few seconds on the MODE button, you get in Dive Timer mode. It's a kind of special stopwatch mode. In the displays the dive time is displayed. It also displays the current time and the time the timer started. Unlike complexer dive watches and computers, the Frogman can only store the last dive parameters.