In4mation x G-Shock GLX-5600X | Purple rain

$120

Hawaiian street brand In4mation introduces its 2nd collaboration G-Shock model, the winter edition G-Lide, based on the square case prefered by discerning fans of street culture.

The G-Shock 10th Anniversary Watch by LRG

$600

Following the success of LRG X G-Shock "Time is Money". Casio and LRG have teamed up once again to celebrate LRG's 10 year anniversary with an exclusive G-Shock Frogman. The Frogman is the flagship model fro G-SHOCK and features a patented shock resistant design along with unique functionalities including 200M water resistance, a dive timer and tough solar technology. "10 Years of Playing" will be Casio's first special brand collaboration using Frogman model and will likely be the last. Only 1,000 units of this watch will be produced making this collaboration extremely limited.

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I.C.E.R.C. x G-Shock G-9100K Gulfman

I thought (like most of the times) I should write about the G-Shock I strapped on. In this case it’s the DW-9100K-7JR. Since the beginning Casio profiled as a environment friendly company. This is seen best by the packaging used on most G-Shocks. The simple cardboard boxes are made of recycled paper. On some boxes there is even a small note about the environment friendly materials. I think it sounds even better in German. The boxes are described as "umwelt freundlich", friendly for the world around us.

You might sometimes think, why does my beloved G-Shock not come in a great box. I think the answer is simple. Casio watches are in the first place designed to be worn, not to be collected. Therefore most G-Shocks are mass products. I think actually most watches in the "affordable" (<$1000.-) segment are.

Since several years Casio also supports projects that do research for preservation of endangered nature. Since 1994 Casio supports the conferences of the International Cetacean Education and Research Centers, in short I.C.E.R.C.

When Casio released the new Master of G in 2007, the Gulfman, also a special limited edition was announced. The white I.C.E.R.C. atomic Gulfman. It was released to support and give public awareness of the "2007 Dolphin & Whale Eco-Research Network" and the work of the I.C.E.R.C.

I had already ordered it months before release, it looked so nice on the stock photo's. It was still a surprise when I opened the package. I was amazed. In my opinion the most beautiful G-Shock released in 2007 (sorry Dawn Black!).

I used an reflected image of this watch in a Christmas ball for my last G-Peopland New Year card. Although it looks "Photoshopped", I only mirrored the image (because the original photo was already a mirror image) and slightly changed hue.The watch isn't just plain white. I think it's best described as ivory. The metal ring around the display, the lettering and the screws are in gold tones, which match this watch perfectly.

When the electro-luminescent backlight is activated you can see a humpback whale jump for joy out of the water. This whale also returns on the tip of the watchband.

One of the down sides of the atomic Gulfman in general is the lack of the Tidegraph and Moonphase function. I live near sea and the tide can be important if you want to go to the beach for all kinds of activities.

Also the countdown timer function would have been better if the range was 24 hours, in stead of 60 minutes. I often use this function when doing experiments on the lab, or when I have my car parked at a parking meter. Often I need more than only one hour.
To compensate on the short countdown time, Casio implemented a 1000 hours stopwatch. Also the watch comes with 5 alarms and World times.

World time is a great function if you have contacts world wide, but there is a little side note. You have to set manually the DST. This sounds not very disturbing, if DST changes were applied at the same times world wide. The last years the US uses different dates than Europe. The biggest fun is in Australia, where the eastern time zone only use DST in the south and not in the north.

Personally I can live with Summertime, as DST is called here. Who doesn't want to enjoy an extra hour sunlight, while sitting on a terrace or in the garden with a nice glass of wine or beer.

And while you enjoy your drink, have a good talk with friends, this watch is my ideal companion. I can know that. It was me on that terrace yesterday evening.