Tastes will obviously differ, but there’s something fun and vibrant about the red that doesn’t come through in the black. The blackout GA A1 is still sold out everywhere, but more stock is expected in the coming months, and we will make a new post when it is available. Some of these models may be more readily available in some countries in regions like Southeast Asia, but beware of fakes at unauthorized shops and online. Also, there are some online scams involving the GA A1 and other popular G-Shock models, where some e-commerce websites end up shipping a completely different model. Stick with reputable authorized retailers and avoid unknown stores. Thanks to its extremely high level of durability, resin is the ideal material for watches.
Shock-resistant and water-resistant up to 200m, the Casio G-Shock GA-2100 – 1A1 has the traditional features like timer, world time, stopwatch and LED light. Whether you want a daily driver or an occasional sports watch, this one at a very lucrative $99 tag makes for a must-have. Of the 3 colorways available, the version seen here is the most legible. The high contrast between the white hour markers and hands and the black dial make the CasiOak easy to read at a quick glance. Photo by Mytime.MkUsing the light-button at 2 o’clock, you activate a backlight for the digital screen as well as an LED light for the analog time display.
The watch comes presented on a black integrated resin strap which of course goes very well with the design of the watch. A nice feature is that it has a quick-release mechanism that allows you to remove the straps with ease. The hands have luminescence applied to them to help with legibility in the dark, and this is a good thing since it also means you save battery as you won’t have to turn on the light every time you just want to read the time. A downside is that the hour markers do not have lume on them, but still, the color of them matches the luminescence rather well. In traditional G-Shock fashion, the watch has text printed on the bezel in order to help you know which functions are for what.
The case has a diameter of 45.4mm, a thickness of 18mm, and lug-to-lug of 47mm. With that said, it is a big watch, which doesn’t really come as a surprise for a G-shock. Some may be shocked by its huge size which is bigger than most other G-shock watches, but the good news is that it doesn’t wear as big as its dimensions stated on paper may give the impression of. Much of this is thanks to the fact that its slim size allows it to wear comfortably on the wrist despite its big diameter.
For this particular model, Casio has removed some of the many functions found on the G-shock in order to make it more simplistic. But still, it retains its original rugged look and durable performance. Colorways-wise, when launched, Casio offered the G-SHOCK GA A , the GA A1 (the “stealth” version with black with gray hands and black indices) and the GA2100 4A . Historically, Casio has indulged in the frequent introduction of new G-Shock models.
This sounds good but I’d actually far prefer they were all PVD or DLC black too similar to what I have on my RedOut edition from last year. The first thing you notice about the watch is that its dark – real dark! In fact in anything but ideal light you’ve got yourself an expensive rubber bracelet. This isn’t a deal breaker as when there is light, or when you manage to set the LED to display for more than 3 milliseconds, you can kinda tell the time, ish.
When talking about digital watches, the first watch that comes to mind for a lot of people is the Casio G-Shock. Both the digital and analogue areas of the watch face glow when the EL backlight is turned on. Shock-resistant construction protects against impact and vibration.
The strap is fit for purpose and it has a quick release, but it isn’t easy to find an alternative aftermarket strap for this model. The only gripe with these is that they kept the buttons silver – this is the only non-stealth aspect of the watch. The use of the Carbon Core Guard structure allows the GA-2100 to be the slimmest G-Shock of all current models. The height and width of the watch is considered mid-size, rather than the large size of most analog G-Shock watches, and the watch wears very light and comfortably. The GA-2100 is currently the lightest analog-digital G-Shock model at 51 grams.
Allowing you to customise the look, it comes fitted with an interchangeable strap, and to finish, it’s water resistant for up to 200 metres. All three of the original GA-2100 versions have a negative liquid crystal screen with light colored letters. The other two are black , blending in well with the rest of the watch face. There’s a supplementary half dial – indicating the day – next to the 9 o’clock index, and a small digital screen positioned in the lower right quadrant. In Timekeeping mode, they can be toggled between date/seconds and time/seconds. The GA-2100 sword-shaped minute and hour hands won’t please lumatics, but the lume’s bright enough for one-handed time check in the dark, and it saves battery power.