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Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Father’s Day Gift: Casio G-Shook Black X Solar Atomic


This is what I got for Father’s day. Also got a coffee cup and mouse pad with the traditional I love you dad thing, but the watch, its pretty cool.
CASIO G-SHOCK ATOMIC SOLAR MULTIBAND MEN'S WATCH GOLD AND BLACK GW2310BD-1
Casio G-Shook Black X Solar Atomic GW2310BD-1



Besides the typical features found in these watches, this one is solar powered and fully charged it can work for 10 months without further exposure to light. I can only imagine being down in a bunker for that long, heck even then you’d be exposed to some indoor light and that charges the watch as well. Its also atomic so it can be set to automatic multi-band atomic timekeeping.

This is a limited edition and, besides looking awesome, it has a gold accent circle in the display, and the wristband is stainless steel, black ion plated. I liked this because I’ve already had several Casio watches that ended up with broken synthetic wristbands, even lost a watch once this way. Seems that due to sun, chlorine or whatever, the wristbands breaks sooner or later.


I also have a Citizen Titanium EcoDrive and it has been working for over 10 years without changing the battery thanks to the solar power. I expect at least twice as much from a rugged G-shock, and its cool not to worry about finding batteries to replace every once in a while, likely ruining the waterproof seal in the process.

Very survival-minded type watch: Tough design, no batteries to replace, no plastic wristband to break and not that shiny or eye catching but still looks nice when you look closely.


Very happy with my Father’s Day gift. 

 FerFAL

8 comments:

Don Williams said...

I like the G-Shocks as well. I was arguing their merits with a wealthy friend one time --who likes Rolexes. I noted that the developer of the G-Shock tossed the prototypes off a 3 story building to test them.

I suggested that we do the same -- that I toss my $60 GShock off a building onto a concrete parking lot, that he do the same with his Rolex and we would then compare their time-keeping. He turned me down for some reason.

Later on, he ended up getting a quartz watch with LCD display for playing golf --because he discovered that the whipping swings of playing golf hurts the mechanisms of mechanical watch movements. (Quartz watches with the mechanical hands have problems
also -- with the hands ratcheting ,etc.)

The G-Shock is also one of the 4 watches approved by NASA for space travel --although only the Rolex Speedmaster is approved for use during space walks. (The GShock can handle vacuum but space walks also experience wide temperature swings -- extreme cold in shadow, high heat in sunlight)

I once put my GShock in a bucket of ice water and left it outside overnight in freezing weather. The next morning, I broke the crust of ice that had formed and pulled the watch out. The LCD was clouded over --but then cleared. Other than having gained a second of time overnight, the watch worked perfectly.

The G-Shocks are also favored by the military -- as well as by ..er..other people who need to set timers:

http://img.timeinc.net/time/quotes/2007/07/0711_laden.jpg

Don Williams said...

PS See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casio_F91W#Claimed_use_in_terrorism

Such use may void the warrenty, however.

Unknown said...

Did you have any problems with you Citizen Titanium? I have the same watch and have not noticed any issues at all. Then again, I haven't put it through any kind of test besides every day wear for a year or two (I can't remember exactly when I bought it). All that I have noticed is one scratch on the face that I can't get to go away, but it is nothing serious.

Anonymous said...

I have an earlier Casio stainless G shock with many of the same features. Arguably, these are the best watches made. Still great after 5 years of solar power and water exposure.

I recently met with a USAF fighter pilot who is part of a watch collectors group. He brought a case of nifty pilot-oriented watches..Breitling, Rolex, Omega, a new brand-Bremont, other expensive self winders I've never heard of. I asked him which one he wore in the cockpit. He laughed and said that, while he and other pilots owned these watches, they all wore Casio G shocks while flying because it involved a lot of banging around in the cockpit and they knew the Casio would be fine but they weren't sure about these other watches! LOL.

Steve

Anonymous said...

Cool - very nice gift.

Anonymous said...

Watches are fun and functional. I wear Seiko divers, automatics. They are tough! My daily watch is a 40 year old, and I use it when doing yardwork, swimming, etc. I wouldn't have an expensive watch that I was afraid to damage.

Loyalist said...

Nice! I had my eye on the Casio Pathfinder PAW1500T-7V watch myself but I think I like your model better.

Anonymous said...

I have an Timex Ironman Solar, I am very happy with other than the "solar" label at the 9oclock position http://www.amazon.com/Timex-T5G681-Ironman-Triathlon-Dual-Tech/dp/B000SMRW7Y