#40 Jason Returns

 It has been a huge topic for G-Shock collectors and aficionados. There were rumors a few years ago on Japanese bulletin boards (they still exist there) and weblogs. Casio was working on a new Jason model. A long time ago this rumor died until in March this year at Baselworld three new prototypes were shown. I got my first (and, until recently, also my only) Jason in 2001. I had just started collecting and discovered the wealth of G-Shocks sold on eBay Germany. On one day I saw this strange yellow model. It had a kind of toyish look. It had the G-Shock logo on it so I placed a bid on it. I think I paid around DM30.- for this DW-001. Even when I received the watch, it looked a bit odd.

Before I started G-Peopeland I was looking on Japanese bulletin boards for information. When I posted somewhere that I had a yellow DW-001, I got several e-mails from G-Shock collectors in Japan if I would sell the watch. I had no idea that this toyish watch was a highly sought model in Japan.

In the past few years I have seen several DW-001’s for sale, but never the yellow version. Always the black model with the red eye.

Although the new models were already presented in March 2010, it took a long time before the release date was announced. A good month would of course have been August 2010 (on Friday 13th), but it was released a month later, September 2010. Although I saw some photo’s of owners of the new G-001 model half September, mine was sent off at the end of September, arriving on October 1st.

Actually I ordered the yellow version and would I purchase the blue one later, but the seller accidentally sent me the blue version, so now the yellow version is also on the way. Frankly I like the black/pink model also very much. I do not know what to think about the version in “Real Black” color scheme. The G-001 is a model that has to stand out, because of its unique shapes. The stealthy look of the blacked out version looks therefore a bit like a contradictio in terminus.

For those who love the old black Jason with the red eye, in November a black G-001B will be released with a little different band (it looks like it is made of leather). Also this model looks very good.

In a conversation with the former marketing manager of Casio Europe, he told me that Casio aims for a large group of people with the recent models. You’ve got the classic models, like the DW-5600 and DW-6900. For more serious occasions there are the Giez and MT-G models, but also for people who love pilot watches there’s the GW-2000, GW-2500 and the GW-3000 series. On the other hand there are the models that are meant for poeple who want to have a watch that stand out. Earlier the Hyper Colors GA-110 models and the HUGE GX(W)-56 were released, now the Jason can be added to this category.

The blue Jason (G-001-2JF) is probably the strangest of the four current models. While the other models are based on the usual one or two color tones, the blue version is more or less a happy explosion of colors. Although the base color is blue, there is fuchsia red (or is it pink or purple?) on the bezel and the strap keeper, while the wrist protectors, the main display and buttons are lime green. The eye and upper display are orange, but color yellow when the EL backlight is activated. Just when you thought you saw all color, the back protector is purple.

So, what are the differences between the original DW-001 and the G-001. The DW-001 was the first Capsule model Casio made, later successfully followed by the DW-002 and DW-003. The DW-001 was one of the last models that had a light bulb instead of Electroluminescent backlight. The strange shape of the bezel can be explained by the fact the original Jason had a Thermometer function. Also the original Jason has moon and sun data. I think a thermometer function is a bit strange feature on a watch. When worn, the watch is affected by body temperature. You have to take off your watch and leave it for about 20 minutes to get an accurate temperature reading. The moon and sun data are pretty cool actually. I do not know why sun set and sun rise are no longer featured on watches, even those that have a Tidegraph.

The new Jason is actually more a basic model, like the DW-002 and DW-003 were. The functions on board are a Worldtimer, a 24H Stopwatch, a 24 hour Countdown Timer with repeat mode and 3 Alarms (one is a Snooze Alarm) and a Hourly Signal. The holes in the “Ice Hockey Mask” shaped bezel are not long roper, simply because there is no longer a temperature sensor behind it.

Like more newer models, the G-001 is powered by a CR-2025 battery, which has, according to Casio, enough energy to power the watch for 7 years. My experience is that batteries usually last much longer than the what Casio predicts. Although you might expect that Casio found a way to cut power from to backlight, to provide a longer battery life, the EL backlight is very bright.

The function of the Thermometer display (upper part) has been changed into a graphic representation of the seconds. The eye shows the seconds, while the upper display show the tenth seconds. The digits are mirrored type on this model (and I think it’s on the black/pink model too). These kind of digits are also found on the Crazy Color models. The display is therefore not always very clear, but when wearing the watch reading time seems a lot more easier than when looking/photographing it in its box. Probably the dark reflection of the person looking at the display is enough to make the display much more readable.

Like I already mentioned, this watch is probably not everyone’s cup of tea. You wear this watch, because you want to have a special watch that stands out. It occurred t me that in the past few years quite some sneakers were made in these kind of daring color schemes. It might that Casio is inspired by that sneaker trend and I think that you might look at the same target group that might be interested in this watch. If you don’t like the flamboyant color schemes of the blue and yellow model, you might like the black G-001 and G-001B models. Frankly the black G-001B looks great to me. If I have some cash left in November, I might order one.

At the moment the Jason is easily to get in Japan. The price of 13000 yen might look high, but the Yen has been pretty expensive for EU and US citizens. A year ago this watch would have cost under €100.-, while I paid now €118.- for it. Currently the best way for getting this watch is order it in Japan at Higuchi-inc, Seiya Japan or Chino Watch. You can look at eBay, but the prices they ask for these models at the moment are ranging from high to ridiculous. I have no idea about if the model will be released in other parts of the world (it seems already been launched in South East Asia), but I think the US and maybe Europe will follow later.

 

#39 Guardian Angels Raysman DW-9300GA-4T “WE DARE TO CARE”

 My love for the Raysman does go back to the time I started collecting G-Shocks. While it is now pretty easy to get a view on which models are released, it wasn’t that easy when I started my interest in these watches. While you can now get a lot of G-Shock magazines and can use the G-SHOCK PERFECT SEARCH or Riley’s G-Shock archive, in 2000 I had to do with search machines. Mostly Altavista and a Dutch Search Engine which combined the search of a lot of other search engines. Google, some people would think life without is unthinkable now, was just in their child shoes here. All you could find were the current G-Shock Collection. My favorite website was the US G-Shock website, which showed the then current collection basic, G-Lide and Master of G models.

What this website didn’t show were the limited edition models. One can have a love and hate relation with Ebay, but this website opened my eyes about other than the basic collection. While the G-Shock.com website showed the basic Raysman, I discovered the yellow Yacht Timer pretty fast.

Still it was pretty hard to find more info on certain models and Japanese Only releases were almost unable to find. While in the beginning I probably bought any G-Shock that came in my way, I started to think what I liked and what not. I noticed I had almost no blue G-Shock’s (and the bluest one went to my son). On the other side, I was fond of the red and yellow models. I could not have enough of the DW-6900H model and the yellow DW-6630 model. The Rayman was my favorite model, a red Raysman would be the ultimate G-Shock for me.

I think it took until the G-Shock forum on WatchUSeek was founded in August 2003 (a big thank you to Ernie Romers for this) until I found out my grail G-Shock existed. A big bold red Raysman, dedicated to the Guardian Angels.

I thought it was strange to see a Japanese model dedicated to an American volunteer organization, but actually I found out that the Guardian Angels are working worldwide and the Japanese branch of this organization is actually the biggest after the US branch. This makes a Japan only release sound more logical.

The Guardian Angels are an organization that train patrols in making citizen arrests to reduce crime in urban areas. Also they help to clean areas, remove graffiti and provide educational programs for schools about cyber crimes.

Guardian Angels can be recognized on the streets by the uniforms they wear. They wear a red beret, mostly a white T-Shirt or sweater with the red “shielded eye with angel wings” logo or a red GA Jacket.

The suggested retail price of the GA Raysman was ¥29000, which was the basic price for a Raysman model at that time, so I don’t think that a part of the sale of this model was donated to the Guardian Anglels. The model was just a dedication to them. The watch was released in July 1998.

This is the original text of the press sheet about the Guardian Angles model (translated):

“An official model of volunteer group of New York where peace in the town and safety are defended by "Guardian Angels (Guardian Angels)" through patrol. G-Shock that has new features, including tough solar, full auto EL backlight function that operates only by the dark, stores a strong load of power (a large amount of power consumption). It has the EL backlight, the timer, and the alarm, etc. , and enduring the impact. "RAYSMAN ([reizuman])" supports men who keep acting for 24 hours. Red is adopted as the entire image color based on their a red beret style hat, a red jumper, and white T-shirt uniforms. The text "Safety Patrol" and "We Dare to Care" is printed on the bezel ring. "Confront an issue ..daring never turn a blinded eye to also even by what.." that is the motto of [ka-dei;an] angels. The stamp in the back lid is the logo composed of an eye that watch with wings above the regional society and the clouds that symbolize evil. The angel who symbolizes the name of Guardian Angels. It is shown to watch evil by putting angel's wing and eyes above the cloud.”

It is remarkable the text does refer to the US chapters of New York. It was the origin of the Guardian Angels (founded in 1979), but the Guardian Angels were since 1996 already active in Japan.

The Guardian Angles Raysman is based upon the first DW-9300 Raysman model. Besides this original model there was also the DW-9350 Yacht Timer model. These models have basically the same functions. The only difference is a “Hot Key” function of the upper right button. The normal DW-9300 leads to the Telememo function, while the DW-9350 leads to the Count Down Timer function.

The Raysman was the first solar watch Casio made with the “Tough Solar” technology. Before this model, solar watches had a capacitor with limited storage capacity. These older solar watches were pretty popular in the ‘80s. They worked great if you wore it a lot at daylight, but when kept in the dark for a few days, you had to set it again. The rechargeable Manganese –Lithium ML2020 storage battery can hold up energy for up to 9 months time keeping in total darkness. The new improved solar panels already provide sufficient energy at low light levels. No need to place your watch in the sunlight if it won’t charge, the Raysman will charge even when you are working at the office not directly near a window.

We can consider the Raysman, the solar versions of the GW-200 and the G-2300 as the first generation Tough Solar G-Shock models. Actually I think these models were very good and ahead of their time. The second generation used the 2.3V Lithium –Cobalt Oxide CTL1616 batteries. The capacity of this battery is not as big as the 3V ML2020 and in the beginning there were a lot of problems with this battery type. Specially the GW-300 and G-5600 models were often a victim of a defective battery (the problem was often called “The Recovery Blues”).

 Since I haven’t heard yet of problems with later models, like the GW-5600 and GW-M5600, I assume that this problem was solved by the newer, 3rd generation, Tough Solar models. Still I have quite some of these 2nd generation models in my collection and I have had quite some problems with failing CTL1616 batteries in the past. It might be the fact that I’m a collector that I am a victim of the Recovery Blues quite often. the Recovery Blues might be helped by the fact the battery is not regularly charged to full. Still there were cases known where a full charged CTL1616 battery spontaneously wet into “Recovery” mode.

I secretly wish Casio had kept developing from the first generation with a big storage capacity. I have quite some Raysman models in my collection and they all hold charge very well. It is said that rechargeable batteries loose charge capacity over the years. My 12 year old Raysmans however still all hold a lot of power. There is only one that I have equipped with a new battery. It is in fact the one I gave to my brother. I bought it for a low price from someone in Hong Kong. It was adverted as a watch with a dead battery. It didn’t make sense to me. I think I paid around $40.- for it. After charging for a few hours I saw digit’s, but they disappeared when the watch was hold in the dark. In the dark the watch also lost his time keeping. When I opened the watch, to figure out what was happening inside, I noticed the battery was replaced by a conventional CR2032 battery, which was actually also too big for the battery holder. No wonder the watch didn’t work. I went to the Casio Service Centre and they ordered and placed a new ML2020 battery. The watch still works perfect.

Is it me, or are we wandering off the main subject? Back to the Gardian Angels Raysman. The combination of red and black works beautiful on this model, specially on the “buttons” and straps.

Very nice is the black metallic ring around the display. In this ring the texts “WE DARE TO CARE” “GUARDIAN ANGLES” and “SAFETY PATROL” are etched. It is a very nice detail. Only the very rare “Galapagos Islands” model, dedicated to the Darwin Foundation, has also a text in the metal ring around the display.

The Guardian Angels logo return on the back of the watch and in the el Backlight. Personally I like this logo in the backlight, although some people might find a watch with a back light logo harder to read. For me it differs per model, but frankly far the most are not difficult to read.

The Raysman has a Mud Resistant bezel, which means that the bezel is covering the whole case upper and side part. The bezel is a duo-mold of a soft and hard polyurethane resin. The soft parts cover the buttons, while the hard parts are the protecting and shock absorbing shell of the case.

The buttons covers are actually the weakest parts of the bezel. When the buttons are used very frequently over a very long period (many years), the resin might become thinner and eventually break. This does not affect the functionality of the watch and also the water resistance will keep intact, but aesthetically a hole or a tear in the bezel does not look nice. Unfortunately new bezels for Raysman models are practically unfindable. Casio does not provide spare parts of models that are not produced in the past 10 years. All Raysman that I wear and were bought as new don’t have these holes or tears. However I have two Raysman in my collection bought used and abused, who have this problem.

The Guardian Angels Raysman is pretty rare. It is a release of 12 years ago, which makes finding one is getting harder. Still if you keep an eye open, you might find one. Sale corners and Yahoo Japan Auctions are probably the best places to look at. Often they belonged to collectors, so they are in at least good condition. I have 2 of them. One is in like new condition with box and papers. The other one is hardly worn and has no box and papers. I paid around $200.- for the first one. I paid considerably less for the second one, because I bought it together with the Middle Sea Race model from a good friend for a friend’s price. A good price indication would be around $150.- in that condition. Together with the yellow Yacht Timer Raysman I think this is the best Raysman model that Casio has released. Actually, I think the Raysman is still one of the best Tough Solar watches Casio had made up to today.