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intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Sat Jul 28, 2018 5:24 pm

I used to really dork out over watches - especially vintage digital watches. For a time, I obsessed over the ones found in James Bond films. Eventually that leaked over to Seiko and Casio in general, and over 10 years ago I finally bought a new digital watch to go along with all of my vintage ones. My favorite is the Casio G-Shock 5600J. Designed in the 1980s, but totally relevant and kick ass in 2018. Still.

They don't make the 5600J anymore from what I can tell - only a Japanese market version that costs over $300 (!!). Ten years ago when I got mine, I think it was around $85. About a year after that, I picked up a blue one, too. The blue is a military blue and the contrast is not nearly as practical. But it looks super cool. Four years ago I decided to get a little cheeky and wrote a review for the blue one. It's public (and hilarious). I've received "7 helpful votes" for it over the years.

My Amazon review for the similar GW-M5610NV-2JF model.
I am a watch person. I own several Casio digital watches, and this is my favorite - for its looks. Is the face hard to see? Yeah, at night, sure. Do I have to use the light half the time (at night) to check the time? Check. Do I care?

Nope.

And as for the color? This is military blue. Not bright blue, not navy blue. Blue-gray military blue, and it looks freaking sweet. It matches nearly everything I throw at it and it always looks sharp.

It's pricey, yes it is. But for a plastic digital watch, it's simply gorgeous. I love it. All my other gazillion watches (some worth over $2k retail) are still sitting quietly in my nightstand ever since this bad boy arrived.

Not to mention, it makes my forearms every so slightly more muscular looking. When I hold my fishing spear, tightly, and my pecs gently quiver before I kill my prey, I swear to god this watch catches my eye. Not enough for me to miss, but just enough to remind me that I am its slave.

Anyway, the G-Shock 5600J always captured my imagination as a kid. I remember TV commercials like the one below that I though were just so cool.
Anyway, 10 years is a long time to use something on a very regular basis. The one thing about the watch that does fail over the years is the band. I just installed my 2nd replacement band (so, I'm on the 3rd band). The good news is original Casio bands are sold on Ebay, as are the outer plastic bezels. And they're pretty cheap.

And each time I replace one, I simply order another and stick the new one (still in the packaging) in my desk. I know that in another 3-4 years I'm going to be going through this process again.

Great freaking watch.
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The Casio G-Shock 5600J. They apparently don't make them anymore for the US market (makes no sense) and have moved on to a near identical version with a different model number. There is a Japanese version very solidly built still made new, but costs 3X as much.

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The problem is that after 3 years or so of regular use, the bands will eventually fail.

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Luckily, original OEM parts are easily found on Ebay. Replacement bands only cost $17 shipped.

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And after about 10 minutes of removing 4 little screws and two band spring posts, we're back in business. Look how smokin' hot this makes my arm look. Just sayin. ;)






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