The light is positioned near the tiny digital screen. Dubbed the ‘Casioak’ due to its octagonal similarities to a Royal Oak, it looks like something Batman would have on his wrist. And he wouldn’t be worried about damaging it while fighting crime, as it’s as rugged as any Casio G-Shock in their stable. Rich blacks, lots of dial detail and an ana-digi display make this a joy to look at. But this joy is only achievable in lower light situations to those who have a good level of eyesight, or possibly their own set of night vision goggles like the Dark Knight himself.
If you press the upper-right and lower-left buttons at the same time, the hands will move out of the way of the LCD temporarily. But yes, I agree that there are better options if nighttime visibility and LCD functions are a priority. Unfortunately, most of the affordable analog G-Shock watches do not have the seconds hand, but the more expensive ones do. The GA-2100SU-1A with camo bezel and the green and black GA-2110SU-3A are new releases in the U.S. and are available at several retailers. Also new, but not released in the U.S., is the yellow and black GA-2110SU-9A that was released in Japan, Asia, Europe, and Australia. We wouldn’t be surprised to see more GA-2100 models released in 2020.
The office is not the office anymore, and while we might long for suiting up again to impress colleagues with our sharp taste in tailoring, this is not the time. The now discontinued two/tone grey G-Shock GA-2100ET-8A matches damn well with some grey cotton sweatpants, strategically worn with a more formal navy merino knit for those Zoom meetings. For a G-Shock, it feels slender at 45mm and with a short 48.5mm lug to lug and no weight, it’s a perfect daily wearer. The bonus is the clever world time mode allowing me to keep up with the editorial team in Melbourne while being locked down here in Norway. While I love mechanical watches, this is just an understated, feather-light presence that does its job quietly.
Should Casio introduce other colors, you’ll be able to mix and match the straps. Most probably, in my mind, it was the way the more standard “round” case sat on my wrist in addition to how interesting and intuitively arranged the display is. At first glance, I didn’t like the Casioak style, but I do find it all the more wearable than the many novelties I’ve had pass through my hands from Casio this year. After resisting the urge to leap on a novelty that didn’t convince me out of the gate, I eventually caved and bought an artist-modified Casioak skeleton for myself.
Enter the Casio G-SHOCK GA-2100 or “Casioak” as it has come to be known. This very wearable G-SHOCK was a huge hit last year, and it didn’t take long for the modding community to fill in a pretty g shock watch apparent gap in the Casioak line up. The GA-2100 series of watches was such a hit at points last year that supply couldn’t keep up, and these were trading hands for well over the RRP of £99.
The titanium version , made less than no sense whatsoever to me. And then I held it in my hands and felt the bizarrely refined finishing, the familiar feel of the classic Casio lines between my fingers but in metal for the first time . But overcoming the attachment to resin is difficult. It took me quite a while to get over the addition of carbon fiber elements to certain product lines, but the textural congruity of those materials eventually “won me over”. Metal, however, never seemed a natural fit for Casio’s affordable and aesthetically accessible watches. However, it would appear that there is not only a market for these metal-cased products but also a lot of reasons for them to exist.