Review of Casio Men's G-Shock Multi-Band Solar Atomic Watch #GW810D-1A

I chose a Casio solar atomic watch because I had prior favorable experience with Casio's Databank (calculator) quartz watches.

The Casio G-Shock wristwatch GW810D-1AV (Module 3050) is more than a watch, and more than a chronometer. This timekeeping instrument is rated to gain or lose no more than 15 seconds per month. So if the wearer is in a part of the world where there is no detectable time signal, the watch can be expected to gain or lose 1/2 second or less per day.

At midnight local time, the watch's radio receiver automatically turns on and attempts to synchronize with the atomic time signal broadcast from the nearest official transmitter (two beacons in Japan, WWV in Fort Collins USA, one beacon in UK, and one beacon in Germany -- 5 total). If it successfully receives the time signal, it synchronizes the watch. If reception is not successful, the receiver tries again at 1 a.m. local, 2 a.m. local, ... up to six attempts, total, per day.

I took a flight to the San Francisco Bay area and found that I could not receive the time signal during the nights that I was there. This could have been due to the fact that my motel room in Redwood City was surrounded by other buildings and walls. During the week that I was away, the watch gained only two seconds. I took a motor trip to IL, WI, IN, OH, and KY, and the watch did update on time every night during my travels.

The watch has a photovoltaic cell under the crystal that charges an internal rechargeable battery, hence it never needs to be wound. It is big (not necessarily a plus), beautiful, rugged, portable, reliable, and accurate. I use mine to set all my other clocks, clock radios, etc. at multiple locations. And I use it to track artificial Earth satellites visually, for which purpose I do need a watch accurate to the nearest second.

Addendum of June 2009: I've had the watch for more than a year now and it continues to perform flawlessly. I have received no compensation of any kind for writing this review.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Casio Men's G-Shock Multi-Band Solar Atomic Watch #GW810D-1A