Review of the Casio G-Shock Giez GS11001A

Today's post concerns the Casio G-Shock Giez model GS11001A.  The GS11001A has been out for a short while, and most G collectors have probably made up their minds already on this one.  But for collectors and enthusiasts new to the G scene the Giez is a stylish watch with a tidy little feature set that is sure to please.  The Giez is hampered only by a necessarily complicated method of operation due to its analog design, disappointing lume, and a fairly useless 24hr time feature.

I've never been entirely certain as to how to pronounce "Giez."  Though I've been out of college for a little while now and sadly forgotten many things I used to know.  I studied language--specifically morphology and phonology extensively.  From what I have been able to discern "Giez" appears to be a Wasei-ego (Japanese term for a fabricated English word not actually used by native English speakers) derivative of the plural "G" or what native English speakers would write as "Gs." Using a simple phonemic orthography, I believe the Japanese pronunciation respelling is "j-ee-zh-oo." Alternatively "j-ee-zh" seems appropriate for a native English speaker.  

Let's now address the physical characteristics of the watch.  The Giez features a solid stainless steel screw back case that is a treat to behold.  The majority of Gs feature plastic cases with four screw case backs so the Giez presents a very sturdy and weighty alternative.  The band on this particular model appears to be actual rubber and not polyurethane or resin.  It is subsequently very soft and supple.  The Giez logo features prominently on the band south of 6 o'clock as well as on the clasp.  And if a strap doesn't suit you then the Giez can also be had with a metal bracelet.

The case back is nicely embossed with the Giez logo and additional markings tell us that the watch has a water resistance of 20bar and that the movement is made in Japan while the watch is cased in Thailand. 

The pushers on this watch have a bright, high polish look to them and they are fairly large so depressing them is never a problem as it sometimes is with 5000 series Gs.  Despite being easy to access, the buttons are still well guarded by the resin bezel with protective protrusions at 3 and 9.  The bezel also offers reasonable protection to the acrylic face of the watch but there are definitely better protected Gs currently available.  I imagine that this bezel design was the best possible compromise between protecting the crystal of the watch as well as preserving the classy analog look.

The watch face has the look and color of graphite with a lentographic effect as you move the watch under light.  In contrast to the attractive and well laid out watch face, the Giez has godawful lume.  The lume isn't particularly bright immediately after being charged with a Surefire at point blank.  Similarly the lume dims beyond visibility, aside from a pitch black night, very quickly.  

Let's now take a look at the 4777 module.  The Giez is a Tough Solar Multiband 5 Waveceptor watch.  The Tough Solar aspect is very favorable, particularly if one switches between modes frequently---a serious drain on the power reserve.  Which leads me to one of the neat features of this watch. As you switch between main timekeeping mode, world time and alarm mode the hands and date wheel adjust themselves accordingly and it's a real pleasure to watch albeit a little tedious when you're in a hurry.   By pressing the mode button quickly when cycling through modes one can circumvent the slow readjustments. Once the hands start moving though one has to sit through it and wait for them to stop before moving on.  

Casio really did an ingenious job of making complicated features work on an analog-only watch by using the large second hand as a function indicator.  In world time mode Casio used city markings on the chapter ring while the large second hand is an indicator of which city you are viewing.  By pressing and holding start while in world time one can swap the world time with the home time, that is displayed on the small dial next to 9, and vice versa.

Similarly the second hand is used to indicate whether the alarm is on or off in alarm mode by pointing to either "on" or "off."  Sadly there is only one alarm on the Giez but I imagine that the watch would become too complicated to operate if more alarms were added.  

In atomic timekeeping mode the second hand is used to indicate if the watch has received a signal that day by pointing to either "yes" or "no" on the watch face.  And if the watch is attempting to receive, the second hand will point to either "work" or "ready."

Stopwatch mode is equally clever.  Like a traditional chronograph you simply press start to start the stopwatch---no need to cycle through modes to get to the stopwatch function.  Pressing reset twice will return the watch to main timekeeping mode.

My only gripe with the functions of the watch is that in main time keeping mode the small 24hr clock isn't really useful.  I would have liked the 24hr clock to display my second time zone from world time mode, rather than cycle through the modes to check my second time zone.

So in conclusion the Casio G-Shock Giez GS11001A is a stylish analog watch with a rugged stainless steel screw back case and surprisingly full feature set that is sure to sate the desires of even the most ardent G collectors and casual watch buyers alike.  The only serious drawbacks with the Giez are the not so useful 24hr function and crappy lume.  Conversely the general operation of the watch may irk some because of its slightly steep learning curve but it's forgivable.  

Here are a few wrist shots.  Take care until next time.