The best G-Shock isn’t one
For a while now I have been frustrated with G-Shock designs and how they seem to be moving away from function towards form. They are in many ways, becoming a fashion brand. And even their tool-oriented models often fail to take advantage of the watch’s size. We can all think of examples of large watches with tiny displays.
Here is where the Casio AE-1500WHX-1AVCF comes in. It doesn’t have a compass, can’t connect to my phone or sync with atomic time. But you know what it does better than pretty much every G-Shock? TELLS THE TIME. It has all the features I need (and probably all the ones you do): alarms, second time zone, timer, stopwatch. And a crystal clear display. (Apparently the negative display is also really legible).
Oh yeah, it’s also just over $20 on Amazon right now.
Assuming good QC, I have no practical reason to ever choose a G-Shock over this. If I were going to war, I’d have this on my wrist and maybe two spares in my bag haha. Why not?
The second watch featured in this post is the (in my opinion) stunning GA-B001CY-1AJF. But I can’t help but feel like a little bit like a sucker for spending $150 on it. I have to accept that it was a style-choice and not a practical one.
The bottom line is that I am blown away with the Casio illuminator, and G-Shock would do well to copy many of its design elements and produce its own version of it, which if they did, would surely cost several times as much and deliver features we don’t need.
I highly recommend it.
Writer, sometimes filmmaker. LA and NY. Love old stuff and mechanical things. History matters.