G-Shock GW500 Series - Quality, Functions, Comfort, Value and Style

Overview

Casio produces a number of Atomic-Solar watches. The G-Shock GW/GWM500, general-purpose, is one of the most popular.  It uses solar battery, when charged, will remain active for 9-11 months in a pitch black room. It receives time calibrations radio signals six times a day, which keeps the display time accurate. It's additional features appear at the end of this post.

Background

During the course of a year, I'll analyze 100 watches, give or take a few. As the title of this post suggests, I have five criteria to check. Here's a snapshot:

1. Quality: Consider this pragmatic rather than subjective. For example, if a watch loses 10 seconds a day, uses plastic instead of ceramics, a cheap battery and movement, then it gets a minus 1 on a ten point scale.

2. Functions: Do they work and are they user friendly? The buyer has to decide the functions he or she wants. For example, I have no opinion if you choose a chronometer, because you like the look.

3. Comfort: Some watches look nice and may qualify as prestigious, but do they fit you? Or, if a strap watch has a poor ergonomic design, you want to know that.  If I'm at mile five and my watch begins to cause my wrist to swell, that's not comfortable. You have to ask if the watch fits you comfortably.

4. Value: Simply put, I ask is it worth the money. I find that easy to determine, because I have a broad familiarity with the market and the components used in making watches from the screws to the crystal and everything in between. I'm not bragging, I happen to know the standard body of knowledge through education and experience.

5. Style: The watch must fit your preferences, however, some guidelines exist. Gold nugget designs went out of favor in the late 1970's and early 1980's. Investment bankers don't wear a colorful plastic watch with a $5000 Italian suit. Think in terms of casual, dress, sports, luxury dress and luxury sports.

After completing an analysis, a watch might become part of  the collection I keep and wear. My collection doesn't fit the conventional "hang 'em on the wall" type. I have different reasons for wearing different watches.

Given that, a G-Shock GW500A has a prominent place in my collection and I wear it everyday. It's not suitable for the symphony or at a formal gathering like a Gala. It fits in my sports needs, running errands and working around the house.

The photos below will help in the next section.



G-Shock

In 2012, Casio released a 30 year anniversary G-SHOCK called the "GW-A1030A Thirty Stars" watch. It sold for $1700. It's based on the Gravity Defier series made for pilots. The success of the Gravity Defier led the company to release four additional anniversary watches.

A single engineer, Kikuo Ibe, invented the G-Shock in 1983. At the time, he was a young engineer, who wanted to create “a watch that didn't break, even when dropped.” Before 1983, people consider Ibe's breakthrough, unimaginable.

You might consider the G-Shock a specialized wristwatch, yet as a percent of the global wristwatch industry sales (11 November 2014) it ranked slightly behind Patek Philippe.  Not bad for a Japanese sports watch. In another context, the Swatch Group, Ltd. ranked first overall in global sales or 18% of the industry vs Casio's 2.1%. If we divide Swatch's 19 brands into that 18%, G-Shock performs well. Not bad for a Japanese sports watch.

Bargain Hunting for a GW/GWM500 Series

At ShopCasio.com, you can find the current version of the GW500 (GWM500A-1) series selling for $120-$140 + shipping.

Walmart sells the same model on-line for $89.97 (say $90) with free shipping

You can find the same watch for $73 with free shipping on eBay.

Be Careful

You can also find a similar looking watches on eBay, new in a box, with tags for around $60-65. That watch, however, is a GW500A-1V). It's a much older model.  I suggest paying the extra ten dollars for the new model. That said, I wear a GW500A. The primary difference? Casio added a module that calibrates time in China and a few other features I don't use.

I bought a "lot" of Casio G-Shocks in June 2014. Among them, I found a three GW500A's. I figured my cost at about $30. Since I don't live in China, I wear the older model. It does everything a Texan might want.

Why I Like the G-Shock

I replaced a runner's watch I used for 20 years with the GW500A. I travel and I also hike trails in rugged terrain. This watch accompanied me through some hazardous environments. It's high quality and the most comfortable one I have ever owned. The band curves ergonomically from the case and has what amounts to a padded feel. It's sturdy, not heavy. It's also easy to operate. It has a small footprint and I prefer that.

I like the looks of this watch. I lean toward mechanical timepieces with leather bands and have several. Mechanical movements require periodic service. The G-Shock is service free including "no need" to replace the battery.

I have stayed away from rubber straps on watches. I have found them uncomfortable, but had little choice when running, working out at the gym, moving around in wet or muddy areas like Turner Falls, OK. I welcomed the G-Shock resin band.

For the price, I'm enamored of this watch. I also have two additional G-Shocks, DW-9052 and G-7900. I find my GW500A the preferable one.

Specifications and Features: (GWM500A-1

As an upgrade to the GWM500A, the A-1 adds the ability to connect with the radio transmitter in China to update the watch's time & date in addition to adding an additional 18 cities added to the world time mode, for a total of 48-cities. The watch's time memo function has been replaced with a countdown timer. Black resin band digital watch with neutral face.

• Band Type:  Resin
• Color:  Black
• Dial Code:  Digital
• Multi-Band 6 Atomic Timekeeping
• 48-City World Time
• CountdownTimer
• Multi-Band Atomic Timekeeping (US, UK, Germany, Japan, China) 
• Receives time calibration radio signals which keep the displayed time accurate 
• Auto receive function (up to 6 times per day/up to 5 times per day for China) 
• Manual receive function 
• Signal: US WWVB, UK MSF, Germany DCF77, Japan JJY40/JJY60, China BPC 
• Frequency: US 60kHz, UK 60kHz, Germany 77.5kHz, Japan 40/60kHz, China BPC 68.5kHz
• Tough Solar Power
• Shock Resistant
• 200M Water Resistant
• Full Auto EL Backlight with Afterglow
• World Time 
• 31 times zones (48 cities + UTC), city code display, daylight saving on/off
• 4 Daily alarms and 1 Snooze Alarm
• Hourly time signal
• 1/100 second stopwatch 
• Measuring capacity: 23:59'59.99" 
• Measuring mode: Elapsed time, split time, 1st-2nd place times
• Countdown Timer 
• Input range: 1 minute to 24 hours (1-minute incremants and 1-hour increments)
• Full auto-calendar (pre-programmed until the year 2099)
• 12/24 hour formats
• Button operation tone on/off
• Accuracy: +/- 15 seconds per month (with no signal calibration)
• Battery power indicator
• Power saving function
• Storage battery: Solar rechargeable battery
• Approx. battery life: 9 months on full charge (without further exposure to light)
• Module: 3405
• Size of case / total weight

GWM500A 56.8 x 46.0 x 16.6mm / 140g
GWM530A 56.8 x 46.0 x 16.6mm / 140g
GWM500BA 56.8 x 46.0 x 16.6mm / 66g

Conclusion

I hope you found this post useful. I wrote it, because I wanted to share my findings. If you have an interest in Asian watches, drop by again.

If you're interested in vintage watches, see my blog called Vintage-Hamilton-Wristwatches.