The search for a new watch

Three years ago I got a Casio WV-200E-1AVEF. It’s a good watch. I wear it everyday. What I specifically like about it is that it tells the EXACT time. You know, the thing watches are supposed to do. It does so because it is a radio-controlled watch. This means that everyday, the watch will sync up with a radio tower and get the exact time. If that fails you can still set it manually and it will only fluctuate by a couple of seconds per month. No Rolex does this.

The other thing I like is that you can tell time, date and day of the week all in one glance.

And even with all that radio syncing, in 3 years I never have had to put in a new battery. Which is crazy! Digital quartz watches are amazing like that.

So overall that makes for a pretty good watch experience. But. I never really liked the strap and bezel. All the text makes it look a bit cluttered. And I could do without the red, or more specifically, the placement of the red colors. Also I often accidentally push the plastic buttons which causes the watch to reset. This seems to be happening more and more lately. So I like my watch but I was always on the lookout for a new one. The problem is I am a bit specific about it, as you might be able to tell reading this far 😉 so this search took …. some time.

Here are my requirements for a new watch:

• Radio controlled aka tell the exact time, always.
• Waterproof
• Solar powered
• Resin band
• Clean look

I don’t care about alarm features (I have kids). Also I don’t want a smartwatch, there are enough Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connected interruption devices in my life already.

From these requirements, it was already clear the watch I was looking for had to be a Casio. Because not a lot of other companies make (good) radio-controlled watches. The few that do offer limited choices. And Casio is actually a pretty remarkable company because they make a whole bunch of different things. Just look at their homepage.

It all seems so different and random. Wonderful. But more important: they have the most radio-controlled watches. So first I had my eye on one of these:

The first is the WVA-M650B-1AER. It looks pretty nice and clean(ish). Also it’s a mix of analogue and digital, which gives it a different look. And it is a solar watch. Which is great. So I was pretty sure I wanted to get this one. However when I saw the watch it was a bit too small for me. I don’t like big chunky watches but this was just a tad too small. So I kept looking.

I find the Pro Trek watches were too big or have features I won’t use (why would I want a barometer?). But I did like the look of the PRW-7000-1AER (pictured). A nice, clean look. But it was just a little bit too big (who says I am difficult?). But then I noticed the AWG-M100B-1AER which was really close to what I was looking for. The hourwork looks great, the analogue hands and placement of the three digital areas. Solar powered. What more do you want?

I was close to getting this watch when Casio announced a new line of watches from G-Shock. The G-Steel series. And this is their introduction:

A REFINED RANGE OF TIMEPIECES FOR THE ACTIVE GENTLEMAN SEEKING G-SHOCK’S LEGENDARY PERFORMANCE AND TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS WHOM ALSO ENJOYS THE LOOK AND FEEL OF A METAL TIMEPIECE.

Say no more fam. You had me at ‘active gentleman’. Long story short, I got one, specifically the GSTS100G-1B and I am really happy with it. It has every feature I want and looks amazing!