Casio G-Shock GW-A1100

Wonderful Watch – I purchase this watch because I needed something rugged, it has been a year now and the watch crystal still looks new from everyday wearing. The band is comfortable and my wrist does not sweat in hot climates.

Beautiful g-shock, fantastic, tough but not perfect – Have had this watch for some 5 years now so this is a long term review. But it is so good that it is still current. While it is not the flagship it once was. It is in the current aviation series or called Gravitymaster. It doesn't have thermometer or barometer but it does have compass. Not quite a Rangeman or Frogman but it is a beautiful time-piece.

To understand my impression of this watch you have to understand why I bought this watch in the first place. I wanted a plastic watch that is not prone to scratches and not prone to scratching things. I know I am going to be rough to it. So, I wanted something really tough, reliable and easy to read. G-Shock just screams tough whichever way you look at it. So tough that its face is protected by sapphire crystal, the only tougher material is diamond. That not only makes it tough but easy to read as water beads up on it. So thick is the crystal, the movements module 5311 is actually quite small by comparison with this big watch (48.4 × 53.8 × 17.3 mm).

That said, I also love quality and aesthetics. There is just something special and elegant about a good old watch face with hour, minute and second hands. So so much better than numerical LCD display, even the latest colour LCD with great resolution and fonts in some smart watches. To be a g-shock, the hands all need to have some special cushion to allow them to move about a little in the event of a drop or whatever happens to the watch. Seems to work very well.

Unlike some similar g-shock, the look of the hands are awesome, mimicking the dials of aeroplane dials. Beautiful. Some G-Shock have nuts on the surface hence are not completely covered in plastic. That's not what I want. I would prefer the mode button to be round metal button like the rest of them. It is a shame that date is a little hard to read because it is deeply recessed on the face. This is where new model is better. But I already said I don't like LCD. The thing I like least about it is lack of light. It uses what Casio calls neo-brite luminous material ie glow in the dark markers on its hands and markings. Latest model does have a LED to light the face. That's why I give it 4 stars out of 5.

Shame that multi-band doesn't work where I am (in Australia) because there is no Casio radio tower here. That said, for a company to install and maintain radio towers globally is probably not the most ideal solution for anything. Instead, it should be GPS enabled in my opinion. After all, that's what G-Shock is meant for, the great outdoors.

I would also prefer the strap to be mounted with more standard pins so the strap may be replaced with such as a Nato strap. Rubber strap does split over time. Nylon is a great option. For that matter, I didn't get the FC version of it. After all, as said, I don't it to be scratched or create scratches.

This watch is solar powered and it just works, not like new smart watches that need to be recharged frequently, some on daily basis. And despite it is "analogue", it is such as joy that it automatically adjusts for daylight saving.

Latest GPW-2000 is bluetooth and GPS enabled along with other improvements such as weight balanced second hand. I'd love to have one but I don't consider it perfect because it is not completely covered in resin plastic and it still has the same moulded plastic buttons on the left and it has the same watch hands as GW-A1000 which I went away from for a slight prettier and sophisticated look of the GW-A1100 at cost.