Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #605 in Watches
• Brand: Casio
• Model: GW500A-1V
• Dimensions: .40 pounds
• Band material: Resin
• Bezel material: stainless-steel
• Case material: stainless-steel
• Clasp type: Buckle
• Dial color: digital
• Dial window material: Mineral
• Movement type: japanese-quartz
• Water-resistant to 660 feet

Features

• Quality Japanese-Quartz movement
• Tough Solar Power; Shock Resistant; Auto EL Backlight with Afterglow; 4 Daily Alarms & 1 Snooze Alarm
• Chronograph measures up to 110 seconds
• Time Recorder; Memory capacity: 30 records (each record contains month, day, hour, minutes, seconds); ourly Time Signal
• Water-resistant to 660 feet (200 M)

Amazon.com Product Description
The shock-resistant design of the Casio Men's G-Shock Atomic Tough Solar Watch makes it a one-of-a-kind timepiece. This tough watch is constructed with a durable black resin case, a stationary stainless steel bezel, and a black resin wristband with an adjustable buckle clasp for a personalized fit. A durable mineral window shields the digital-gray dial face, which features the time display, as well as the day, date, and month. The digital-quartz-powered watch includes adjust, mode, split/reset, and start/stop function buttons to fit your activity, as well as subdials that track battery life. It is water resistant to 660 feet and is backed by a one-year limited manufacturer's warranty.

The G-Shock Story

G-Shock - Absolute Toughness

With the launch of its first watch in 1974, Casio entered the wristwatch market at a time when the watch industry had just discovered digital technology. Armed with cutting-edge technology developed for pocket calculators, Casio entered the field confident it could develop timepieces that would push watch technology forward.

Casio’s G-Shock line was created on just such a directive: to build a watch that never breaks. And in 1983, this product was developed to shatter the notion that a watch is simply a fragile piece of jewelry that needs to be handled with care.

G-Shock is renowned as the world’s toughest watch and is in the midst of a huge renaissance since its 25th anniversary celebration last year. It is the best trending watch brand in the industry right now and thanks to its toughness and durability as well as it’s cutting-edge technology, it is among the best values in not only timekeeping but all personal accessories.

In addition to toughness, 200 meter resistance and fantastic cutting edge and hip styling some G-shocks also have such technology as Tough Solar Power for battery life of 20-30 years (great for our planet), Atomic timekeeping for the more precise time available on earth as well as unique features like moon phase and tide graphs.

G-Shocks come in a variety of styles including Rubber/Resin bands, Solid Stainless Steel and even Titanium.

Since it’s launch, Casio’s G-Shock continues to evolve and push the envelope. The non-stop, self-adjusting (solar-powered atomic-timekeeping) G-Shocks featured in the Amazon.com assortment are the latest, greatest example of this evolution!

The Casio Story

In developing its own wristwatches Casio began with the basic question, "What is a wristwatch?" Rather than simply making a digital version of the conventional mechanical watch, we thought that the ideal wristwatch should be something that shows all facets of time in a consistent way. Based on this, Casio was able to create a watch that displayed the precise time including the second, minute, hour, day, and month — not to mention a.m. or p.m., and the day of the week. It was the first watch in the world with a digital automatic calendar function that eliminated the need to reset the calendar due the variation in month length. Rather than using a conventional watch face and hands, a digital liquid crystal display was adopted to better show all the information. This culminated in the 1974 launch of the CASIOTRON, the world’s first digital watch with automatic calendar. The CASIOTRON won acclaim as a groundbreaking product that represented a complete departure from the conventional wristwatch.

Casio transformed the concept of the watch — from a mere timepiece to an information device for the wrist — and undertook product planning based on this innovative idea. We developed not only time functions such as global time zone watches, but also other radical new functions using Casio’s own digital technology, including calculator and dictionary functions, as well as a phonebook feature based on memory technology, and even a thermometer function using a built-in sensor. The memory-function watches became our DATA BANK product series, while the sensor watches developed into two unique Casio product lines of today: the Pathfinder series displaying altitude, atmospheric pressure, and compass readings.

In 1983, Casio launched the shock-resistant G-Shock watch. This product shattered the notion that a watch is a fragile piece of jewelry that needs to be handled with care, and was the result of Casio engineers taking on the challenge of creating the world’s toughest watch. Using a triple-protection design for the parts, module, and case, the G-Shock offered a radical new type of watch that was unaffected by strong impacts or shaking. Its practicality was immediately recognized, and its unique look, which embodied its functionality, became wildly popular, resulting in explosive sales in the early 1990s. The G-Shock soon adopted various new sensors, solar-powered radio-controlled technology (described below), and new materials for even better durability. By always employing the latest technology, and continuing to transcend conventional thinking about the watch, the G-Shock brand has become Casio’s flagship timepiece product.

Today, Casio is focusing its efforts on solar-powered radio-controlled watches: the built-in solar battery eliminates the nuisance of replacing batteries, and the radio-controlled function means users never have to reset the time. In particular, the radio-controlled function represents a revolution in time-keeping technology similar to the impact created when mechanical watches gave way to quartz technology. Through the further development of high radio-wave sensitivity, miniaturization, and improved energy efficiency, Casio continues to produce a whole range of radio-controlled models.

Customer Reviews

Great Watch!
First off, I agree that this watch can be found in retail stores for about that price or less where you can try it out. Once you own this watch, you can forget about needing to change a dead battery when you least expect it due to the built-in solar panel. Also, this watch can update itself to the atomic time using a signal that is automatically obtained by the watch early in the morning as you sleep. This watch has a tilt sensor that will automatically turn on the indiglo light when you go to look at your watch. I have had this watch for a few years now, and there is not a scratch on it. The band is still in perfect condition as well. This is a watch that you can forget about replacing for many, many years to come.

Great watch, but difficult to get replacement band.
I got this as a gift from my wife, who paid over $100 for it about six years ago. Like others here I had very good experience with this watch. I had to be careful where I left it in the house, or it would not get a time lock. That wasn't a problem, because the time could not drift much in a day or two. It was a little annoying that it tried to reset the time at 5AM, because I was awake and wearing the watch at that time of day, and the display would blank as it tried to get a signal lock. Touching any of the buttons would bring it back to life. I'm sure it would be even more annoying for anyone who works graveyard shift.

I did not have any problems with the battery life. For the people who complain about the battery dying, completely discharging any battery causes damage to it. No rechargable will last long if it is frequently discharged (even car batteries). If you keep it in the top 1/3 of its charging range, the battery will last practically forever.

I loved this watch, and wore it all the time. But I haven't been able to wear it in a couple of months, because the band broke. Casio seems to be the sole supply of bands that will work with this watch, because it's an unusual shape, but they seem to be treating this as a disposable watch. The watch itself will probably last for another fifteen years, but without a band, it's garbage today. I would gladly rate it 5 stars, but the fact that it is a disposable watch gets it knocked down considerably. With Casio's attitude that $100+ watches are disposable, I don't know if I'll want to buy another one of theirs.

EDIT: Before I wrote this, I had ordered a replacement band from casiosalesandservice.com which does not appear to be directly affiliated with Casio. They listed the OEM band as "out of stock" but said they would collect orders for a future order, so I placed an order. A month went by, and I decided it was futile. Within THREE DAYS of posting this review, I get an Email saying the band has shipped. Interesting timing? In any case, they have the band in stock, now, and I'm VERY HAPPY to have my favorite watch back.

Great Watch at a Great Price!
This watch is built tough and wonderfully crafted. The look and design is understated in the picture. The watch will last for years. I have a number of Casio watches and never had any problems.