G-Shock G-Lide May 2009 Collection

The sports-minded G-LIDE collection of G-SHOCK is seen here in a handful of designs for the month of May. The collection features some bright designs each sharing surf-relevant features such as tide and moon graph functions in conjunction with conventional stop-watch, chronograph and alarm functions. The iconic 5600 (including an In4mation collaboration in orange) as well as the 5500 are represented. Available now at select Casio G-SHOCK dealers.

G-Shock G-Lide GL-240-3

As an extra bonus today is this green jelly GL-240-3 G-Lide. This G-Shock was released in 2004 alongside the blue GL-240-2. This is a Tough Solar model with the 2597 module. The orange text on the face makes for a striking contrast against the aqua green jelly bezel.

GL-240-3 G-Lide

The GL-240-3 was never hugely popular, and you don't see too many of them now These jelly models never seem to hold up quite as well compared to regular resin parts. Sunlight and exposure to sweat and other substances takes more of a toll. This one has had little wear though, so it's still looking good after about five years.

This one is a Japanese market release that comes with an outside box, as well as inside gift box. Some of these details are nice touches that make it worth it sometimes to order a G-Shock from Japan. A Japanese user manual is included, and any reputable dealer will also include a warranty card that's good world-wide.

The large digits on the display make this one of the easiest modules to read. There's several other G-Lide models that use this same 2597 module, including the GL-230 series.

The GL-240 has a four screw stainless steel back that's nice, but doesn't really offer anything special.

This one feels great on the wrist. It's about the same size and weight as most any DW-5600 variant, but the round bezel and large display does give it a little more presence.

G-Shock GW-9200-1

The GW9200-1 Riseman comes in a nice, cylindrical tin box.

There are way too many features to list individually, so here are the main ones:

• Multi-Band Atomic Timekeeping (US, UK, Germany, Japan, China)
• Tough Solar Power
• 200M Water Resistant
• Altimeter
• Barometer
• Thermometer
• World Time
• 5 Daily Alarms (1 with snooze)
• Countdown Timer (1 minute to 24 hours)
• 1/100 second stopwatch (24 hours)
• Measuring modes: Elapsed time, split time, 1st-2nd place times
• Hourly Time Signal
• Approx. battery life: 9 months on full charge (without further exposure to light)
• Size of case/total weight: 51 x 48.9 x 15.9mm / 60.9g

Note how the glass face is recessed around the G-Shock's trademark "armor".

There are other Casio “ABC” watches (Altimeter, Barometer, Compass), namely the Pathfinder/Protrek series, but the Riseman does not have a compass. What you gain, however, is a watch that is more in line with the G-Shock styling with the protected, recessed mineral crystal glass, and the plastic resin body that hides minor wear marks quite well.

The round, silvery thing on the side is the sensor.

The red button activates the altimeter mode.

At first glance, the Riseman has a funny lump on the left side, which houses the barometric pressure sensor.

Unlike most Casio G-Shocks, the Riseman is controlled with six buttons instead of the usual five. Where’s the sixth button? The big red one on the right labeled “ALTI”. More on individual functions later.

Before I put it on, I imagined a watch with so many features would be huge. Turns out that wasn’t the case. Very average for a G-Shock.

Family portrait! (Left to right): Casio 5600 series, Riseman, Casio 6900 series.

Stack 'em up! 6900 (top), Riseman (middle) and 5600 (bottom)

When compared to other classic G-Shocks, such as the 5600 series (GW-M5600 solar atomic shown) and the DW6900 (”three eyed monster”), the GW9200-1 Riseman falls somewhere in between in terms of bulk.

The Riseman’s face is split into several sections. The bottom digits display the time. The middle portion shows the year and month/date. The top section shows the day of the week. The red circle shows the barometric trend for the last 24 hours in two hour intervals per dot. Increasing pressure generally means improving weather, and decreasing pressure equates to degrading weather. Your results will vary!

The solar panels that charge the battery surround the LCD display. Current battery level is displayed via tiny LCD segments for L, M and H (Low, Medium, High). Tosave power, the Riseman has a user-selectable feature that turns the LCD off after a preset interval of no light, such as when you turn the lights out to sleep. This power saving feature can be also be activated if you wear long sleeves covering the watch long enough. I’ve never found this to be an issue as the watch comes back to life quickly.

Screen shows the last sync'd time.

Since this watch has an atomic clock sync feature, a small three-lined indicator to the right of the red circle that appears when the watch has successfully synchronized. Unlike the battery indicator, the receive indicator is either on or off. There is no intermediate indication for a low or medium signal. However, you can manually perform a time sync by pressing and holding the START button (lower right) and the time display flashes your relative signal strength from L1 (lowest) to L3 (strongest). This is handy when trying to determine where in the house you can leave the watch to sync overnight at midnight, 1AM, 2AM, etc until the Riseman obtains a suitable signal.

Pressing the MODE button cycles through the various watch modes. The first one is the barometer. In this mode, the current barometric pressure is displayed on the first row in either hPa or inHg, depending if you prefer metric or imperial units. The second row displays current temperature (C or F), and the red circle displays the recent barometric trend, user selectable as the 24-hour dot matrix graph or an easy to read arrow. What’s nice is that the Riseman constantly displays the current time at the bottom line. One problem is that as you wear the watch, the temperature displayed is most likely skewed due to heat from your wrist. Taking off the watch for a few minutes assumes a more accurate room temperature.

The next mode is the world time display. The city code shows on the top line (LAX, NYC, etc.) and the bottom row shows the time in that time zone. The middle row shows your local, current time for reference.

Pressing the mode button again gets you to the stopwatch. Pressing the START button starts and stops the stopwatch. The RESET button (upper right) clears to zero. You may notice the red circle shows the elapsed number of hours. The Riseman is rare in that it’s one of the few Casio G-Shocks to measure up to 24 hours, as well as displaying the current time in the middle display. This feature is more rare than you’d think.

The next mode is the countdown timer. You start and stop the timer much like the stopwatch. The countdown timer can be set for a maximum of 24 hours and also displays the current time in the middle display. When the time reaches zero, the Riseman beeps.

The alarm is the next mode. There are four individual alarms you can set, and one individual alarm you can set with a built-in snooze feature. In a break with Casio standards, pressing the big red ALTI button toggles each alarm on or off. If you’re familiar with G-Shocks and don’t read the manual to the Riseman, you’ll get confused at first as I did!

Small three-letter abbreviations appear on the bottom row to indicate Snooze (SNZ), Alarm (ALM) and hourly signal chime (SIG).

The last mode serves as an altimeter high/low playback. It shows the “min” and “max” recorded altitudes with the time stamp.

Speaking of altitude, the digital altimeter can be accessed in the timekeeping mode by pressing the red ALTI button. I have not calibrated this watch yet so it shows my altitude as a negative. A quick elevator ride proved to me that the altitude does change as expected.

No do-it-all watch would be complete without a backlight! Pressing the big “G” button brings up an electroluminescent backlight. This can also be programmed to turn on with a flick of the wrist.

The back of the watch is no slouch, either. It’s surrounded by a plastic trim piece that must be removed to access the battery hatch. Notice the dragon pattern on the back. If you have a “flying squirrel” on the back instead of a dragon, you’ve got a version originally slated for sale outside the United States.

Edit: The Flying Fire dragon case back is found not only on US models but on all International atomic versions and on all non atomic version. The Flying squirrel is exclusive to Japanese domestic markets models and only found on the atomic versions. The Japanese versions do not support metric and imperial conversions for the different measurements given by the sensors, they are strictly metric only.

Surfrider Foundation x G-Shock G-5500SRF-1

Casio USA has announced a new limited edition collaboration with Surfrider. This is the model we saw a preview of a while back. It's been finalized now, and will be released in July with a retail price of $130 USD. The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of our world’s oceans, waves and beaches.

Link

G-5500SRF-1 Surfrider Collaboration

New Square face Baby-G BGD-1100

Casio Japan has announced three new BGD-1100 Baby-G models. The white and pink one will be released May 31st, and a black one will follow on June 30th. They're going to retail for just over $200 USD. The price isn't cheap, but they do include Multiband 6. There's no photos of the black one yet.

Link

BGD-1100-7JF	BGD-1100-4JF

Magical Mosh Misfit x Casio G-Shock DW-5600

Celebrating their 10th year anniversary, Japan-based Magical Mosh Misfit teamed up with Casio's G-Shock in formation of a collaborative watch. Using the DW-5600 model, the timepiece features a black body, various prints on the strap, as well as a 10th anniversary logo on the back of the case. Available now at their online store for ¥24,150 ($245)

In4mation x G-Shock G-Lide GLX-5600X-3

This bright turquoise G-Shock was released in 2008 as a collaboration between Casio and In4mation, a Hawaii-based clothing and design company. This model contains the 3151 module with a distinctive tide graph and moon phase display at the top of the LCD.

In4mation GLX-5600X-3

This limited edition comes in a special gift box. The In4mation logo is plastered across the lid and the slogan "Purveyors of the Good Life" is printed across the bottom.

The band and bezel are extremely glossy and it can look very different depending on the lighting. The light colored area around the LCD is also quite reflective, but the display itself is always sharp and easy to read.

The case back is stainless steel and is stamped with a large In4mation logo in the center. The case back design is one of the most aesthetically pleasing ones that's not a screwback. It feels very much like a classic DW-5600 on the wrist. Light and slim.

GLX-5600X-3 next to a Frogman