You don’t even have to be a big fan of watches for hearing about Casio. Chances are that you may have heard about Casio until now. Furthermore, you may also have heard about G-Shock.
What is G-Shock?
It was 1983 when Kiko Ibe (Casio engineer) designed the very first model of G-Shock watches. The DW-5000C presented water resistance to 10 bar and came with 10-year battery life. It was also capable to take a 32ft. fall onto a hard surface. Side note: it took 200 prototypes to drop from rooftops or third story windows to get there!
The G-Shock series is designed to handle mechanical shock and vibration. G-shock does come from “Gravitational Shock”, though. The watches are designed mostly for military, sports and outdoors-related activities. Almost all models are digital or a combination of analogue and digital, at most.
In 1991, Casio released the Baby-G series for women, which are 70% the size of a G-Shock. They’re made for people with smaller wrists.
Back in 2017, Casio celebrated its 100 million shipments of G-Shocks all over the world.
What are the main features on G-Shock watches?
The watches in the G-Shock line have an electroluminescent backlight, stopwatch function, countdown times and water resistance. But these are only the most important ones to name as each model has its list of features.
The shock-resistant design comes with 10 layers that protect the quartz timekeeping module. The stainless steel case, the urethane rubber bumper, the hardened mineral glass watch crystal, the floating module (the quartz mechanism floats free in a urethane foam cradle) are on the list of features. It continues with the stainless steel screw down case back and the LCD module attached with flexible cables.
What is the new series SHICHI-FUKU-JIN (Seven Deities of Good Fortune)?
Always determined to get better, Casio announced and recently launched the SHICHI-FUKU-JIN (Seven Deities of Good Fortune) Series.
The Seven Lucky Gods are about an interesting combination of indigenous Japanese religion and Buddhism into a one-of-a-kind Japanese belief. The artistical group includes 7 gods named Benzaiten, Hotei, Ebisu, Jurojin, Bishamonten, Fukurokuju and Daikokiten. The Gods have their origins in old gods of fortune in Daoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto and several other sources.
Humane King Sutra states that when you pay homage to any of these gods, you’re going to stay away from seven misfortunes and get blessed with seven fortunes. The belief was born around the end of Japan’s Muromachi Period. Its popularity rose during the Edo Period.
Going further with the details, here are the seven misfortunes: wind damage, solar and lunar abnormalities, water damage, fire, theft, drought, planetary abnormalities. As for the seven fortunes, here they are popularity, long life, influence, integrity, respect, abundance and love.
What’s to say about the Jurōjin Model in a nutshell?
The Jurōjin is one of the seven models within the series. It’s based on the DW-5750X, bringing the look of a historical favourite back to modern times. the watch impresses with the artistic design and the white and grey pattern is made up of images of Jurōjin scrolls and peaches.
Originally released in 1987, the DW-5700C was the first G-Shock model with a round design. Many famous musicians all over the world would wear it, which turned it into a classic worldwide hit.
The basic functions include the timer and the stopwatch, but also EL backlight. One feature that you’re going to like is the letter C of the G-Shock name floating in the EL backlight glow the moment you’re illuminating the display.
Each of the Seven Deities of Good Fortune models is displaying a different character. All of them spell out the name G-shock.
Who is Jurōjin?
Jurōjin is an incarnation of “the South Pole Old Star” that is seen in China very rarely. The style presents a stick tied with a scroll, appearing with a deer. He is God of longevity, highly respected as he really likes liquor and has a peach of longevity and peach. Some state that he also has another named and the same body with Fukurokuju.
What are the features?
The watch isn’t just shock resistant but also presents water resistance (656ft). it comes with mineral glass and its case/bezel material is resin. The band is also made with resin, which has a soft touch feel. The band feels night onto the skin and doesn’t scratch at all.
The electro-luminescent backlight and Afterglow help you see it better in dim light conditions. The watch comes with flash alert, flashing with buzzer that sounds for hourly time signals or alarms.
You can rely on the 1/100-second stopwatch and the several measuring modes: split time, Elapsed time and 1st-2nd place times.
The countdown timer works great, with a 1-second measuring unit and 24 hours countdown range. The watch also includes Auto-repeat function, multi-function alarm and Hourly time signal.
The full auto-calendar (to the year 2039) saves you from worrying about staying behind. The watch comes with both 12 and 24-hour format and regular timekeeping (hour, minute, second, pm, month, date, day).
Its accuracy is really impressive: ±15 seconds per month. The battery is CR2016 and has a 2-year life.
Any downsides?
Buying the watch at the moment can be quite a challenge. Some may not find the colour of the lettering very obvious. Reading isn’t going to be that easy for some out there.
The story behind the series is amazing, in all fairness.
What’s the final word?
The Jurōjin isn’t your regular G-Shock watch. It’s one that has a history behind and it’s a good way to start a conversation. The features are great, the design is special and you should never doubt its performances. What’s not to like?
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RESOURCES
https://www.g-central.com/g-shock-seven-lucky-gods-series-shichi-fuku-jin/
https://products.g-shock.com/asia-mea/en/_detail/DW-5700SLG-7/
