Tweet
Curious about the growing number of G-Shock collectors in Jakarta, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, I braved myself to walk into a G-Factory at Orchard one day.
The staff there was friendly and I was allowed to try every watch that my finger pointed at, namely the brightly colored ones that caught my eye. These were the GA Series which uses a smorgasbord of plastic parts and a plethora of colors making each watch look eye-candy. Wah, like rojak!
Foto below shows examples of the GA Series
After trying all of the GA Series, I come to a conclusion that most have one BIG problem for me… LEGIBILITY & VISIBILITY!
Here’s an example of what I mean.
The hour hand seems to be camouflaged and it took me sometime to read time. Other watches in this series seems the same.
The watches are nice & big but these new ultra-techie looking G-Shock models sacrifice a bit of legibility for fashion & style. Both hands are non lume-coated and not ultra easy to see all the time. Some of the GA models have an optional LCD display that tells time but I find it too small to read time and most of the time squinting to do so. Well, it’s probably my age too.
Others in the same series, such as this below have contrasting colored hands which makes it easier for me to tell time.
Next, I was truly disappointed with the illumination. Since I can’t take photos at the shop, I found a web photo that best represented what I saw.
The hour hand seems to disappear upon illumination. Only the minute hand can be seen!
The problem is really with the LED application and the dial design. In the GA200SH models (above), the LCD screens are not backlit, which renders the watch totally useless at night to read time. Casio should use some kind of circular light-pipe under the outer ring. This would improve visibility, at least for the hands.
To me, the GA Series is a NO! It scores high on fashion & style but low on function.
So, buy yourself the G-Shock GA Series only if…
- you have spare cash
- you just following the trend
- you just want to display them in your cabinet
- you are wearing the watch only in daylight
- you have super-human night vision
- you just want to complete your collection of every (or certain) G-SHOCK models
Note:- I'm only expressing my opinion here.
MOD, if this post is in the wrong category, please move it. TIA.
The staff there was friendly and I was allowed to try every watch that my finger pointed at, namely the brightly colored ones that caught my eye. These were the GA Series which uses a smorgasbord of plastic parts and a plethora of colors making each watch look eye-candy. Wah, like rojak!
Foto below shows examples of the GA Series
After trying all of the GA Series, I come to a conclusion that most have one BIG problem for me… LEGIBILITY & VISIBILITY!
Here’s an example of what I mean.
The hour hand seems to be camouflaged and it took me sometime to read time. Other watches in this series seems the same.
The watches are nice & big but these new ultra-techie looking G-Shock models sacrifice a bit of legibility for fashion & style. Both hands are non lume-coated and not ultra easy to see all the time. Some of the GA models have an optional LCD display that tells time but I find it too small to read time and most of the time squinting to do so. Well, it’s probably my age too.
Others in the same series, such as this below have contrasting colored hands which makes it easier for me to tell time.
Next, I was truly disappointed with the illumination. Since I can’t take photos at the shop, I found a web photo that best represented what I saw.
The hour hand seems to disappear upon illumination. Only the minute hand can be seen!
The problem is really with the LED application and the dial design. In the GA200SH models (above), the LCD screens are not backlit, which renders the watch totally useless at night to read time. Casio should use some kind of circular light-pipe under the outer ring. This would improve visibility, at least for the hands.
To me, the GA Series is a NO! It scores high on fashion & style but low on function.
So, buy yourself the G-Shock GA Series only if…
- you have spare cash
- you just following the trend
- you just want to display them in your cabinet
- you are wearing the watch only in daylight
- you have super-human night vision
- you just want to complete your collection of every (or certain) G-SHOCK models
Note:- I'm only expressing my opinion here.
MOD, if this post is in the wrong category, please move it. TIA.
)
this is why i stick to the old sckool models, and the latest buy was a all black...
Like what louie said, old liao. 
:
Comment