I have been a latecomer in the G-Shock scene. I've always dismissed the G-Shock as cheap beater watch fit for school kids (due to their almost indestructibility). However, after I delved into the history and technology of the G-Shock, I was amazed with various capabilities it can muster.When Casio announced the used of a new technology called the Carbon Core Guard (the case is made of fine resin that incorporates carbon fiber for light weight along with rigidity that is superior to that of resin), I had to have one for the collection. I chose the GA-2000E-4DRas this is the only model available that came with two additional straps. It is also has analog-digital display which appeals to me personally.
I must admit that it took me a long time to finally get this watch. What made me hesitate is the use of battery to powered the module. I have a (irrational) dislike for battery powered watches as I tend to associate battery power with mass-produced basic timepieces.
I don't hate quartz movement per se. I am fine with solar powered, kinetic or even spring drive quartz movements but not if battery is involved. It is because I happened to suffer a number of battery failures over the years (not in watches) which caused destruction due to acid leakages. This phobia remains.
The Technology
The GA-2000 series is seen as the new phase of Casio’s G-Shock legacy. The engineers in Casio have revamped the traditional case architecture and introduce carbon fibres into its construction. This has enable a sturdier case structure thereby allowing designers to eliminate certain parts on the casing that used to be essential before such as the button guards.
Carbon fibre is 10 times the strength of iron yet a fourth its weight and is strong against degradation, deformation and temperature fluctuations. By leveraging on these properties of carbon fibre, the new Carbon Core Guard structure provides even better shock resistance. As a result, the GA-2000 is tougher while weighing only 64 grams.
In the GA-2000 series, the Carbon Core Guard is a mono-bloc case made of carbon-fiber-reinforced resin that envelopes the movement. As a consequence of the redesign, a more contemporary lug system was introduced. Whereas previous G-Shocks uses proprietary lugs, the GA-2000 series uses a standard 24 mm wide lugs that can be connected with a generic spring-bar. As such, the GA-2000 series can lay completely flat against the case-back and owners can now go wild accessorizing with any after-market straps they like. A blowout of the various sections that make up the casing is shown in the photo (courtesy of Casio) on the right.
Casio hailed the introduction of carbon fibre as the “third material” in its ongoing research to make G-Shock the premier brand on indestructibility. The new material has effectively made the GA-2000 class to be the lightest watch in the G-SHOCK series. Below is an info-graphic by Casio detailing the evolution of the materials used in the G-Shock line.
The Casing
The three G-Shocks that are already in the collection are square shape versions and purely digital. This fourth G-Shock is the collection is the first rounded casing with an analog and digital display. It is also the first battery powered G-Shock in the collection.
The watch is 48.7 mm with with a lung-to-lug length of 51.2 mm. It has a thickness of 14.1 mm. Despite its considerable width, the design of the lugs which is practically curves downward allows it to sit snugly on the wrist without any overhang. In fact, for comparison, it wears similar to a 42 mm wide watch.
Based on the blowout photo of the casing, there are four main parts sandwiching the watch module. This design gives the G-Shock its legendary indestructible reputation. Unfortunately, it adds to the overall height of the watch. If used as intended i.e. in an active environment instead of a boardroom, it is not a problem.
The Dial
The face of the watch is very 3-dimensional. This effect adds flair to the design and clearly helps differentiate the analog and digital subsystems. The large applied hour markers and the line minute markers printed on the sloping chapter ring provide a visual spectacle that is tool-like and very interesting (in my eyes at least). The addition of a disk pointer at the 9 o'clock position, a rounded LCD seconds display at 6 o'clock, a general LCD screen at 3 o'clock as well as the two analog hands are all the necessary tools needed to display the necessary information required by the user.
A subtle design element that can be found on the dial surface is the X-like frame that straddles the disk pointer and the general LCD screen at 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock respectively. Whereas the dial surface is painted black, areas surrounding both the disk pointer and the seconds display are surrounded by a polished surface. Apart from the operational notations on certain parts of the dial, the branding is located at the top centre while the water rating specification is located between 4 o'clock and 5 o'clock. All the texts are printed in light grey.The two large sword hands are solid unlike some in the sub-series. They have white painted frame and grey paint in the centre on the front section and an all black painted part for the end section.
The watch dial generally has a black-out theme feel to it. There are no luminous paint on the dial. Illumination comes from the LED lights activated by the button at 6 o'clock. Below are photos of the watch with and without the LED lights activated.
Protecting the dial is a flat mineral glass.
The flat mineral glass is somewhat protected by a bezel fixed in place by four hex screws. As it is higher than the surface of the glass, it provides some protection from side impacts. The bezel itself has operational wordings cut into the surface next to the various pushers. On the inner slope next to the glass, 5-minute markers are also cut into the surface.
There are five main pushers on the watch. Two on each side and one located at 6 o'clock. For more information on the various functions and how to activate them please refer to the manual provided at the end of this review.
The pushers are so much better than the previous iterations of G-Shocks. They are wider with waffle-like textured surface and pushing them feel more natural. Note the various parts of the shell that makes up the watch casing. As highlighted earlier, the price of protection is thickness.
The case-back is the second layer of protective case-back made out of carbon fibre. Four screws secures the carbon fibre plate to the rest of the watch casing. The way it is designed, Casio's designers made sure that there are no space gaps between the various parts of the shell. This ensures the risk of water ingress is reduced substantially. Overall, the design enables the watch have a water rating of 200 meters.
The watch casing has a contemporary lug design. It is 24 mm wide. The strap provided with the watch has a quick release spring-bar. For this particular model, it came with two additional spare straps. Whereas the original strap paired is orange (see below) and made out of resin, the two spare ones are black (resin) and green (nylon).
Both the spare straps have their own quick release spring-bars.
The Module
For the GA-2000 series, the module used is the Casio 5590. This module is powered by the SR726W battery (two of them) which has an approximately 3 years of power. The module has also been rated to have an accuracy rate of ±15 seconds per month by the manufacturer. Based on a simple test using a Toolwatch app, I was able to register an accuracy rate of -0.9 seconds per day.
The watch has five main modes: time; world time; stop watch; alarm, and; countdown timer. Cycling around the modes is done via a simple single push of the MODE pusher and the disk pointer wheel at 9 o’clock rotates gracefully to indicate which mode the watch is working in. For more details on the many functionalities of the watch, please refer to the manual at the end of the review.
Based on my conversation with the Casio salesman, it will take approximately one month to get the batteries replaced. For G-Shocks in Malaysia, battery change will only be done at a singular site in Kuala Lumpur. This site has been properly fitted with all the necessary equipment to ensure the water proofing and the integrity of the watches are keep within the designated tolerances after the process of opening and closing the casing is completed. Casio will even give an additional 6 months warranty after every battery change (if your watch has passed its guarantee period, a simple battery change will get back 6 months of additional guarantee). The investment is just RM40 (the price list at this point in time).
The Wearing Experience
At just 64 gm, this G-Shock is very light. Nevertheless, the size does limit its usefulness somewhat (I am usually in an office environment; it does not pair nicely with a suit). Below is a photo of the watch on my 6.75 inch wrist. I personally prefer to have the green nylon strap with the watch as the orange resin strap is too bright for my taste.
As a beater watch, the GA-2000 win hands down. The analog-digital hybrid display is well balanced. The hands provide quick referencing while the seconds LCD window provide more exact referencing. This is truly a wear-and-forget watch. Leaving the watch unworn in complete darkness is not an an issue as the batteries will continuously power the timing module (if they still have energy). There is no need for any 'power-saving' mode. At anytime, the watch will be keeping perfect time. The downside is once the batteries exhausted their energy, you need to get them replaced by a Casio certified technician.
I realised that this is my fifth battery powered watch that I acquired directly (the other battery powered watches are generally secondhand timepieces). Honestly, I tend to shy away from battery powered watches as I find the need to open the casing ever so often increases the possibility of problems later on. However, in this case, I made an exception.
Below is a video of the watch on my wrist.
The pushers are so much better than the previous iterations of G-Shocks. They are wider with waffle-like textured surface and pushing them feel more natural. Note the various parts of the shell that makes up the watch casing. As highlighted earlier, the price of protection is thickness.
The case-back is the second layer of protective case-back made out of carbon fibre. Four screws secures the carbon fibre plate to the rest of the watch casing. The way it is designed, Casio's designers made sure that there are no space gaps between the various parts of the shell. This ensures the risk of water ingress is reduced substantially. Overall, the design enables the watch have a water rating of 200 meters.
The watch casing has a contemporary lug design. It is 24 mm wide. The strap provided with the watch has a quick release spring-bar. For this particular model, it came with two additional spare straps. Whereas the original strap paired is orange (see below) and made out of resin, the two spare ones are black (resin) and green (nylon).
Both the spare straps have their own quick release spring-bars.
The Module
For the GA-2000 series, the module used is the Casio 5590. This module is powered by the SR726W battery (two of them) which has an approximately 3 years of power. The module has also been rated to have an accuracy rate of ±15 seconds per month by the manufacturer. Based on a simple test using a Toolwatch app, I was able to register an accuracy rate of -0.9 seconds per day.The watch has five main modes: time; world time; stop watch; alarm, and; countdown timer. Cycling around the modes is done via a simple single push of the MODE pusher and the disk pointer wheel at 9 o’clock rotates gracefully to indicate which mode the watch is working in. For more details on the many functionalities of the watch, please refer to the manual at the end of the review.
Based on my conversation with the Casio salesman, it will take approximately one month to get the batteries replaced. For G-Shocks in Malaysia, battery change will only be done at a singular site in Kuala Lumpur. This site has been properly fitted with all the necessary equipment to ensure the water proofing and the integrity of the watches are keep within the designated tolerances after the process of opening and closing the casing is completed. Casio will even give an additional 6 months warranty after every battery change (if your watch has passed its guarantee period, a simple battery change will get back 6 months of additional guarantee). The investment is just RM40 (the price list at this point in time).
The Wearing Experience
At just 64 gm, this G-Shock is very light. Nevertheless, the size does limit its usefulness somewhat (I am usually in an office environment; it does not pair nicely with a suit). Below is a photo of the watch on my 6.75 inch wrist. I personally prefer to have the green nylon strap with the watch as the orange resin strap is too bright for my taste.
As a beater watch, the GA-2000 win hands down. The analog-digital hybrid display is well balanced. The hands provide quick referencing while the seconds LCD window provide more exact referencing. This is truly a wear-and-forget watch. Leaving the watch unworn in complete darkness is not an an issue as the batteries will continuously power the timing module (if they still have energy). There is no need for any 'power-saving' mode. At anytime, the watch will be keeping perfect time. The downside is once the batteries exhausted their energy, you need to get them replaced by a Casio certified technician.
I realised that this is my fifth battery powered watch that I acquired directly (the other battery powered watches are generally secondhand timepieces). Honestly, I tend to shy away from battery powered watches as I find the need to open the casing ever so often increases the possibility of problems later on. However, in this case, I made an exception.
Below is a video of the watch on my wrist.
The Purchasing Experience
I bought the watch from G-Factory store in Mid Valley. Did not get any discount but they did give a large reusable shopping bag as a store gift.
The Series
There are eight members in the series at the time of this review. Apart from what I have, the other choices available are shown in the table below. The only difference is that the rest does not come with any extra straps.
 GA-2000E-4DR |  GA-2000-1A2DR |  GA-2000-1A2DR |
 GA-2000-5A |  GA-2000-3A |  GA-2000-2A |
 GA-2000-7A |  GA-2000-1A | [Note: the code for the first 3 watches obtained from the regional website while the code for the last 5 watches obtained from the global website] |
Below is a photo of the three different straps provided with the GA-2000E-4DR.
Another difference is the style and size of the watch box to fit the two additional straps (see below).
Specifications
- Reference GA-2000E-4DR
- Carbon Core Guard structure - Case, window material: Carbon, resin, mineral glass - Shock resistant
- 200-meter water resistance
- Accompanied attached resin band plus two additional straps (resin & nylon)
- Module 5590
- Double LED light - LED light for the face and backlight for the digital display (Super illuminator, selectable illumination duration (1.5 seconds or 3 seconds), afterglow) - White light
- World time - 31 time zones (48 cities + coordinated universal time), daylight saving on/off, Home city/World time city swapping
- 1/100-second stopwatch - Measuring capacity: 00'00''00~59'59''99 (for the first 60 minutes); 1:00'00~23:59'59 (after 60 minutes) - Measuring unit: 1/100 second (for the first 60 minutes); 1 second (after 60 minutes) - Measuring modes: Elapsed time, split time, 1st-2nd place times
- Countdown timer - Measuring unit: 1 second; Countdown range: 24 hours; Countdown start time setting range: 1 second to 24 hours (1-second increments, 1-minute increments and 1-hour increments)
- 5 daily alarms; Hourly time signal; Full auto-calendar (to year 2099); 12/24-hour format
- Hand shift feature (Hands move out of the way to provide an unobstructed view of digital display contents)
- Button operation tone on/off
- Regular timekeeping - Analog: 2 hands (hour, minute (hand moves every 20 seconds)), 1 dial (mode); Digital: Hour, minute, second, pm, month, date, day
- Accuracy: ±15 seconds per month
- Approximate battery life: 3 years on SR726W × 2
- Size of case: 51.2 mm × 48.7 mm × 14.1 mm - lug width: 24 mm
- Total weight: 64 gm
- Purchase date: 9 August 2019
- Purchase price: RM779
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hi there i loved your reviews and i want you to make a review on BOBO BIRD Wooden Mechanical Watch | GR005
ReplyDeletethis mechanical watch because its more value for money.