Finally got my G-Shock!

My fascination with the G-Shock brand started when I was maybe 12-13 years old and my father decided on a family road trip to Kathmandu, Nepal. The journey was an absolute pain as this was the era before GPS was available in India, which meant we were constantly getting lost…but that’s a topic for another day.

So while in Kathmandu, I managed to get my hands on a ‘D-Shock’. At that time, the only good watch I had was a rather crappy digital watch with a cover on top in the shape of a Lion’s head (it was a birthday gift and didn’t make it on my wrist for more than a few weeks). So when I finally had the D-Shock on my wrist I was awed by all the functions, namely stopwatch, alarm and the best of all - the ‘indiglo’ light. It was the closest thing I could get to a real ‘G-Shock’ and needless to say, I was instantly hooked!

Of course, other than sharing a resemblance, some features and the name with the original, it was just another cheap watch. Something that I soon realised when I jumped into the club pool with my new watch. It lasted for about 5-10 seconds before the pool water destroyed the LED. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken the ‘water-proof’ feature of the watch for granted.

Fast forward almost about 15 years and I was happy with my obsession with mechanical watches. I got close to pulling the trigger on a G-Shock (the real deal) several times, but instead chose to save up and buy something else.

However, a couple of months ago, I had received the following newsletter by Ethos: ‘7 reasons why you should own a Casio G Shock (once in your life)’. It instantly brought back memories of owning something close to an original G-Shock and I decided that it was time to get one.

I had visited an Ethos shop at the Mumbai International Airport and while I purchased a Baby G for the wife, their refusal to match the price of the G-Shock that I liked, to the prices on their website, meant that I had to delay my purchase for a while. A couple of months later, I saw that Flipkart had an discount on the model I had an eye on. Add to that a 2 day cash back offer on my credit card, and just like that I was the proud owner of a genuine G-Shock: GA-1000-9BDR (G543)!

I have been really happy with the watch. The build quality is very impressive and it feels extremely rugged. And of course, being a G-Shock, it has a ton of features. For those that are interested, the complete specifications are as follows:
Mineral Glass / Spherical Glass
Neobrite
Shock Resistant
200-meter water resistance
Case / bezel material: Resin / Stainless steel
Resin Band
Neon Illuminator (Black light LED)
Auto light switch, selectable illumination duration, afterglow
Digital compass (NORTH)
Hand indication of north (20 seconds continuous measurement)
Measures and displays direction as one of 16 points
Measuring range: 0 to 359°
Measuring unit: 1°
Bidirectional calibration
Magnetic declination correction
Bearing memory
Thermometer
Display range: –10 to 60°C (14 to 140°F)
Display unit: 0.1°C (0.2°F)
World time
31 time zones (48 cities + coordinated universal time), city code display, daylight saving on/off
1/100-second stopwatch
Measuring capacity: 23:59'59.99''
Measuring modes: Elapsed time, split time, 1st-2nd place times
Countdown timer
Measuring unit: 1 second
Countdown range: 60 minutes
Countdown start time setting range: 1 to 60 minutes (1-minute increments)
5 daily alarms (with 1 snooze alarm)
Hourly time signal
Full auto-calendar (to year 2099)
12/24-hour format
Low battery warning
Button operation tone on/off
Regular timekeeping
Analog: 3 hands (hour, minute (hand moves every 10 seconds), second)
Digital: Hour, minute, second, pm, month, date, day
Accuracy: ±15 seconds per month
Approx. battery life: 2 years on SR927W × 2
Size of case: 50.8 × 52.1 × 16.6 mm
Total weight: 85 g
LED: Neon Illuminator (Backlight LED)

Lume shot without the backlight

Lume shot with the UV light (tucked behind the 6 o'clock marker

It took a little time to get used to all the functions and settings on this watch, but the manual is pretty easy to follow and once you get the hang of it, it’s really not that difficult to operate. The backlight is a small ultra violet (UV) bulb behind the 6 o'clock marker which lights up the face really well, and at the same time charges the luminous paint on the hands and minute markers.

This has become my go-to workout watch and I frequently wear it to the gym or whenever I can go for a jog (note to self - need to do this more often). It definitely beats using my sweaty fingers to check the time or use the stopwatch on my phone.

The yellow and black combination is definitely something that I love and it goes well with my gym shorts and shoes as they have the same colours in them as well.

I paid Rs. 9,596 ($142.5) - 10% cash back = Rs. 8,636 ($128.2) for it. However,
for the amount of features you get (including 200m water resistance), it’s an absolute deal even if you purchase it for the full retail price of Rs. 11,995 ($178.2).

I’m glad to be part of the G-Shock club and would absolutely recommend it to anyone who’s thinking about adding this to their watch collection.