Casio

Casio Men's GS1100-1A G-Shock GIEZ Series Multi-Band Solar Atomic Watch

• Quartz movement
• Tough solar power; shock resistant; auto EL backlight with afterglow
• World Time - 29 times zones (30 cities), city code display, daylight saving on/off

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

This Casio men's G-Shock watch has a classic analog display but is filled with high-tech features. The stainless steel case is shock resistant and houses a black dial that has white dashes for indexes. Three sub-dials provide chronograph functionality, and there is a date window between the four and five o'clock positions. The watch runs on solar power, and will last for four months on a full charge without need for further sunlight. The watch calibrates itself to the official US atomic clock for unsurpassed accuracy. The watch has a daily alarm, world time for 29 time zones, and a calendar pre-programmed until the year 2099. It has a black resin band and is water resistant to 660 feet (200 meters).

The Casio Story

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

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.

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000UV0MHK
• Item model number: GS1100-1A
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,462 in Watches (See Top 100 in Watches)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Form, function and a movement found in a watch that costs three times as much., June 14, 2009

By 

Cameron R. Settle "CaminDFW" (Little Elm, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Casio Men's GS1100-1A G-Shock GIEZ Series Multi-Band Solar Atomic Watch (Watch)

--- Warning: Long, opinionated review ahead ---

I could go on and on about how many watches I own (40+), I could list off the caliber of watches I have (Jaeger-LeCoultre, two Rolexes, Zeneth, Franck Muller)... but what I do want to go on about is my love of this Giez watch.

I have many watches (see above) and many of them are the various models of Casios which have been released over the years; from the first pathfinder watch to the current Riseman. The Giez GS1100 is by far one of my favorites. Reason - Form, Function and a wondrous movement.

Form - Simple and clean at first glance, then as you look closer the detail comes to light.

Function - it does what it should do. It is one of the most accurate timepieces on the planet. On the most basic of levels, it tells time, has a stop watch, one daily alarm, day and date. For those who need it; it has world time mode and it (the watch) supports the National Institute of Standards and Technology reception standards for the US as well as those for Japan, The UK and Europe.

Here is a little, how shall we say... commentary:

The watch is fluid, it has a gear driven movement (the same as the $900 Oceanus line by Casio). It should be looked upon not as a digital watch but as a precision time keeping instrument. The few reviewers whom complained about the movment taking forever; stop playing with your watch, it's not a toy. Set it and know that it works. As an aside, if you are a global jet setter and you need to change the world time city, press the mode button and then immediatly hit the reset/advance button; it will advance the second hand/city indicator with out having to wait for the current setting to queue up.

The other complaint about reception, I have no comment other than "Please know that it is a low power radio wave which the watch is receiving. If you live in a basement or a structure which is not "wave friendly", please know that when your watch does pickup the signal that it is not like it is going to lose that much in accuracy before it's next acquisition (unlike my Texas Timex.. Rolex Air King, which can and does).

My only complaints about the watch are very minor: I wish it had an hourly chime and I also wish the alarm was louder.

In conclusion - If you like Casio watches and you have a modocum of patience; you will not be dissapointed with your purchase.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Uber Time Piece, April 7, 2008

By 

D. Adkins "Chance Favors the Prepared Mind" (On the move) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Casio Men's GS1100-1A G-Shock GIEZ Series Multi-Band Solar Atomic Watch (Watch)

Top quality watch! Full feature set with the added bonus of Solar and Atomic clock sync'ing. The build is very good and I really like the well thought out style of the watch. It does so much so well it moved me to write a review - which I very rarely do. It seems to be the perfect Expedition watch - a rugged and accurate instrument.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Casio G-SHOCK Giez, October 22, 2009

By 

C. Michael Watkins - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Casio Men's GS1100-1A G-Shock GIEZ Series Multi-Band Solar Atomic Watch (Watch)

Great looking watch, feels and looks solidly made - very "macho" while maintaining a degree of quality and class that is missing in many other very expensive brands.
With an attractive design, lots of function and clear function layout, it is, for the (Amazon) price, excellent value.
On the downside, rather too chunky - sits high on the wrist which makes it prone to snagging - and the resin band gets "itchy" if worn tightly enough to eliminate too much slack.
I find the day function symbols a little too small for my ageing eyes
The operations guide is confusing at first and procedures for taking advantage of all the functions appear a little complex - it took some time before I could understand the different modes and get comfortable enough to use most of the functions. After 6 weeks I still could not use them all without going back to the manual. The stop-watch function is certainly intuitive, however.
Synching with the Atomic time server is rather hit or miss - especially, for US buyers, if outside the 600 mile signal radius from Fort Collins, CO - but the accuracy and reliability of the watch appears to make any gap between synchs moot.
Alarm beep is almost inaudible with no apparent volume control and doesn't work at all when following some function procedures (on my watch) - like setting "Home City" which requires you to "hold down A for about 5 seconds until alarm beeps twice"
Despite the above, I am becoming much more comfortable with the functions as time goes on and am increasingly pleased with my purchase of this watch.