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Casio

Casio G-Shock GMW-B5000D-1 Review

by Aaron Shapiro 6 Comments

A watch never attracted and confused me as much as the Casio G-Shock GWM-B5000D-1 hereafter referred to as the “Heavy Metal G.” On the one hand, you have the legendarily well-built G-Shock built into an all-metal case with a nicely finished steel bracelet. On the other hand, you now have a “beater” watch that’s encased in a shell that will show wear and tear much faster than it’s rubber forefather. So, as this review begins, I want to pose a question to the reader: Does the all metal construction of the Heavy Metal G change the use-case from what it was initially intended to be?

Casio G-Shock GMW-B5000D-1 Watch Review

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I write about G-Shocks a lot here on Bladereviews, but for those of you new to the show here’s a brief course on G-Shock history. The G-Shock was first designed and brought to market in 1983 by Japanese engineer Kikuo Ibe. These watches were designed to resist shock and water as well as remain painfully accurate over their 10+ year battery life. Since then these watches were widely adopted by anyone that needed a timepiece that would never fail them.

Casio G-Shock GMW-B5000D-1 on a Table

My Dad, a 30+ year firefighting madman, wore one daily for 10+ years on the job. On his last day, he gifted his still perfectly functional G-Shock to the chief of the department. I never forgot that and what a testament that was to the quality of the timepieces.

G-Shock has adopted atomic timekeeping, with their watches syncing to the Atomic Clock daily to ensure the tightest timekeeping possible, as well as solar charging making sure that their watches are basically self-sustaining for years and years. If you are even remotely into watches, you need to experience a G-Shock at some point…but is the GWM-B5000D-1 a good place to start?

Casio G-Shock GMW-B5000D-1 Fit

But first some specs:

  • Case Width: 43.2mm
  • Case Thickness: 13.2mm
  • Lug to Lug: 49.2mm
  • Depth Rating: 200m (20 bar)
  • Weight: 5.6oz on Bracelet
  • Movement: Casio Module 3459
  • Lug Width: Not really applicable here although NATO adaptors may exist

Fit

Casio has, in my opinion, hit some sort of golden ratio voodoo with these square G-Shock cases. They fit so well. By the numbers, the GWM-B5000D-1 is large and heavy however once you get it on the wrist it wears nice and trim, even with the addition of a steel bracelet (which is a first for G-Shock).

GMW-B5000D-1 on the Wrist

When you lay the watch down flat on a table you’ll notice that that the lugs descend dramatically from the case itself holding the case back off of the tabletop. I believe these lugs are the most significant contributing factor to the comfort on the wrist, it allows a 43mm x 49mm case to really hug my 7” wrist.

Casio G-Shock GMW-B5000D-1 Clasp

Movement

Man, there’s so much that can be said about each of the G-Shock modules. These are movements that are designed to do so much, but the 3459 has Casio’s Bluetooth connectivity features incorporated. In brief, this movement can: Tell the time, tell 5 different world-time zones simultaneously, track 4 different alarms, run a stopwatch, keep track of countdown timer, and connect to your phone helping you find it if you’ve lost it.

Casio G-Shock GMW-B5000D-1 Dial

All of these functions are accessed by the four buttons on the case. Pressing the lower left will cycle the modes, the lower right cycles between timezones or alarms, the top right turns on the excellent backlight, and the top left interacts with the different modes.

Casio G-Shock GMW-B5000D-1 Buttons

Accessing the functions of the watch is simple and straightforward in its own right, but with the inclusion of the Bluetooth features, it’s even simpler. Now you connect the watch to your phone via the G-Shock App, and set up those alarms, world timezones, and other settings from the app and just sync the watch from there. It takes a little bit of fiddling to get it right, but once you have the hang of it, it couldn’t be simpler.

Casio G-Shock GMW-B5000D-1 Illuminator

Another feature worth pointing out is the time syncing. You are able to do this via two methods—the first being via radio sync from the atomic clock like a lot of other G-Shocks have been doing for a while now. The second is to sync from your phone via Bluetooth. I think the benefit of doing it via Bluetooth would be for traveling. Once you hop off a plane quick press of a few buttons, the watch connects and syncs to the local time, and you move on, no need with fussing to get it to sync after you arrive at your destination.

Casio G-Shock GMW-B5000D-1 Case Back

I also want to point out that I am sure I am leaving out some functionality of this module—with the Bluetooth syncing and phone connection features there is so much that this watch can do I only scratched the surface wearing it.

Case/Crown

The case is where I believe the Heavy Metal G diverges from other G-Shocks. Casio has given this particular watch an all steel case and bracelet with a variety of well-applied finishes. All of the flat surfaces on the case are vertically brushed, whereas the rest of the case has a surprisingly nice polish applied to it. The bracelet is brushed with small polished details throughout.

Casio G-Shock GMW-B5000D-1 Case

The debate I have been having with myself is this: The Casio G-Shock is stereotypically a watch meant to stand up to literally everything. They are generally designed in a rubber housing that can both absorb abuse and from my experience not show evidence of it. Making the watch from steel and applying the polished finishes and accents that they have, however, makes it show a LOT of wear. The example that I have was purchased used and showed all of the wear it’s seen. Even the really lovely brushed bezel around the face has a good sized ding in it (I got a good deal, I can’t complain).

Casio G-Shock GMW-B5000D-1 Case Closeup

Dial and Crystal

G-Shock’s excel in their readability, especially the digital versions. The Heavy Metal G has a positive digital display, meaning that the background is light and the numerals are dark. This is my favorite, I find negative displays to be harder to read (although not impossible). Surrounding the display is this a brick wall lookin’ area—this is the solar cell that charges the watch while you wear it in the daylight.

Casio G-Shock GMW-B5000D-1

The crystal is made from mineral glass, that’s fine. It’s not ideal, and it could be better. At this price point, I would expect sapphire, if Hamilton can deliver sapphire in their similarly priced Field Khaki’s Casio should be able to here.

Bracelet

Some months back I wrote a review on the Casio Square G that featured their Combi-Bracelet—that bracelet, in my opinion, is a work of functional art and really makes that watch. Does the steel bracelet of the GWM-B5000D-1 do the same? Kinda… It’s built well and still utilizes spring bars construction; making it very easy to adjust.

Casio G-Shock GMW-B5000D-1 Bracelet

On the negative, as with the case, the steel bracelet will and in my case does show a lot of wear. The black combi-bracelet hid wear, even desk diver marks, very well but that is not the case on the brushed stainless steel. While this is something that’s shared amongst all watches with steel bracelets if you think about the abuse a G-Shock is designed to hold up against I’m not sure if it’s the most sustainable, your mileage may vary.

Casio G-Shock GMW-B5000D-1

Casio G-Shock GMW-B5000D-1 Review – Final Thoughts

So when I first started this review, I asked a pretty simple question: Does the all metal construction of the Heavy Metal G change the use-case from what it was initially intended to be? I think the answer is up to the owner. On the one hand this watch is gonna show a lot of the wear that it’s subjected to; however, it will continue to work as it should and will absorb that abuse like a champ.

Casio G-Shock GMW-B5000D-1 Pocket Dump

So, as a potential buyer here, are you cool with some wabi-sabi on your timepiece? Some real honest wear marks from your adventures? Or would you prefer to keep your watch looking nice all the time? If you’re in the latter camp, I’d suggest one of Casio’s Rubber G’s, like the DW-5600E. Luckily for us, G-Shock makes a lot of different watches in a lot of different configurations so we can pretty much get all of this functionality in several different shells.

With all that said, I have to keep myself honest and point out: The steel and surface finishes are what really attracted me to the watch in the first place. I loved the vertically brushed bezel. I’ve always been a fan of really directional brushed finishes like this on watches. So if this metal G-Shock blows your hair back just by looking at it, I can assure you that you’ll be impressed in person.

GMWB5000D-1
GMWB5000D-1
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Editor: If you would like to buy a Casio DW-5600E, I recommend purchasing it at Amazon or Jomashop. Please consider that buying anything through any of the links on this website helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Filed Under: Watch Reviews Tagged With: Casio

Casio G-Shock Gulfmaster GWN-1000

by Aaron Shapiro 1 Comment

My Dad was a firefighter for his entire adult life. One of the enduring memories I have, as a budding gear-baby, was Dad taking his g-shock off and setting it on the counter. Dad wore the same watch for years, it survived fire, and water, shock, and general abuse galore. Ultimately when Dad retired after decades of firefighting, he gave the watch to the chief at the time. It was still perfectly operational, and ready to do more work.

Casio Gulfmaster
Buy the Casio Gulfmaster at Jomashop

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Fast forward to a few years ago, I was looking to make my first watch purchase. This was before I got into mechanicals before I bought my first Omega, or really understood what was available out there. Of course, I went looking at G-Shocks. Now, the watch we’re looking at today is not your run-of-the-mill G-Shock. We’re going to be looking at a “Master of G,” one of Casio’s top tier G-Shocks.

The Master of G line us broken up into, primarily, three different watches; the Gulfmaster, Mudmaster, and Gravitymaster. These three families of watches encompass the primary “genres” of the watch world, and also offer different levels of complexity. Specifically today we are going to be discussing the mid-tier Gulfmaster GWN-1000. Before we get into that let’s go over some specs:

  • Case Size: My calipers measure this out somewhere between 52-48mm depending on where you measure. The Gulfmaster has a lot of protuberances on the case that makes getting a solid width difficult. Casio’s website lists it at 44.9mm
  • Lug to Lug: Again I get 59.71mm, Casio lists it at 55.8mm
  • Case Thickness: 17mm
  • Weight: 3.5oz
  • Movement: Module 5371
  • Solar Charging, Shock Resistant, Tough Movement

Fit

So, who can wear a watch this size and look normal except maybe Thor or Arnold Schwarzenegger? I am, generally speaking, most comfortable between 40 and 43mm’s in regards to case size. So, to strap on roughly 45-50mm case seems like something ludicrous. But Casio makes large cased watches well, even the largest G-Shocks fit the wrist well and don’t seem too cartoonish.

Casio Gulfmaster Fit

The Gulfmaster does hug the wrist nicely for a watch this tall, think this is largely due to how the straps point almost directly down from the lugs. This allows the watch to maximize the space on your wrist.

Movement

The movement on a G-Shock is a difficult thing to talk about. They were built with robustness in mind, something that could stand up to shock, liquid, magnetism, and anything else we could possibly think to throw at it. The watch has at least 15 complications, including the triple sensor, world time, chronograph, etc. G-Shock’s are meant to be a bridge between a watch and something more (think smartwatch).

The Gulfmaster, in its role, is meant to be a maritime watch. It can help you predict the weather, keep track of the temperature, and keep you pointed in the right direction. If you bump up to the upper tier Gulfmaster you’ll also get a depth meter.

Casio Gulfmaster Fit

Another remarkable thing that the Gulfmaster does, is sync with the atomic clock. The “Tough Movement,” may not be a COSC certified quartz, but it does sync daily to ensure maximum accuracy. My example syncs around 1:30 am every night.

Casio Gulfmaster Fit

The Gulfmaster’s movement is a complicated one, with lots of customizability, and the ability to display a variety of information at one time. I’m not going to go into detail on all the different options, but I will say that you’re able to display a day/date, a different time zone, and/or track the barometric pressure changes over time, all while maintaining the analog face that shows you your home time.

Case and Crown

The case of a G-Shock is an exercise in resistance. The case is hollow and the movement is supported by a series of shock absorbing materials, additionally, the case is water resistant to 200m. It’s a watch you can wear to do anything, and will not let you down. That’s the whole G-Shock motto. It’s a little “tumorous,” with all the bumps and knobs for the different sensors and interfaces. I think this really lends itself to the whole “technical” look that Gshock is going for.

Casio Gulfmaster Crown

The Smart Access Crown was a big selling point for me. One of the big complaints that I see with some GShocks is that the “press and hold” button interface can be difficult to manage and frustrating to use. With the Smart Access Crown, you just make a half turn to unlock it, and then that’s the interface you’ll use to setup the different features. Much like the Breitling Aerospace, this user interface feels very natural and is simple to use.

Dial, Bezel, and Crystal

Okay easy stuff first, the crystal is mineral glass, which is… ‘fine.’ The next step up in the Gulfmaster line has a sapphire crystal, but mine just has mineral. It will scratch easier than sapphire, but at least it sits down below the steel bezel and so far that’s protected it.

Casio Gulfmaster Dial

Next the bezel, it’s metal (I’m guessing aluminum or steel) and it’s been anodized blue. Engraved into it are the numbers 1-10 on both sides. These are used with the barometer monitoring functions to show you the change in barometric pressure over time. Aside from the practical application, I think the bezel looks really great on this watch. The numbers are engraved giving it some nice depth, and there’s a lip going around the outside further accentuating the bezel’s dimension.

Lastly, the Gulfmaster has a very deep dial with large applied markers around the hour track. The hour indices are lumed, as well as the really nicely shaped hands. The hour hand is arrow shaped whereas the minute is more of a sword hand. The hands are both outlined in white, making them jump off the face.

There is a digital display on the lower portion of the dial, this display can be used to show lots of different information. I primarily use it for day/date. Next, there is a small sub-dial near the 10 o’clock position. This is used primarily for tracking the tide (based on your home city and the moon age) and/or monitoring barometric pressures changes when you have the watch in the right mode.

Casio Gulfmaster Pocket Dump

The last thing to point out is the backlight, pressing the top right button turns on the backlight which will illuminate the dial and digital display. It works alright, but I think it could be executed a little better. The light doesn’t stay on long, maybe if they had placed one at noon in addition to 6 you’d get a little more light on the dial.

All in all the watch is a busy one, but that busyness is intended to communicate a lot of information at a quick glance. I believe that the watch does this well.

Strap/Bracelet

G-Shocks mostly come on integral rubber straps, the Gulfmaster is no exception. The rubber itself is supple, and the double tang buckle is a nice touch. The one gripe that I have about the strap is that the steel keeper is large, and has a wide gap to feed the strap through. This doesn’t really “keep” the strap and it is known to ride up or down while you wear it, not a deal breaker but I do wish this was better executed.

Casio Gulfmaster Strap

Unlike other watches, you won’t be able to swap the strap out on the Gulfmaster, so what you see is what you get, that being said there are some folks out there that have figured out ways to mount aftermarket stuff so that might be worth looking into if you’re interested.

Casio GWN-1000B Gulfmaster Review – Conclusion

The GWN-1000B Gulfmaster by Casio is large and in-charge. It’s a watch that delivers a ton of information at a single glance. Its capabilities are slanted towards maritime applications, but it would (and does for me) preform anywhere that I’ve taken it. It would be worth looking at the different versions of the Gulfmaster to see if a higher-end or lower-end version may suit your needs better, but I dig this one. If what you want is a no-holds-barred, high functioning, watch that is always correct, then I say look no further than the Gulfmaster.

Casio G-Shock GWN1000B Master of G Series Quality Watch - Black / One Size
Casio G-Shock GWN1000B Master of G Series Quality Watch - Black / One Size
  • Radio frequencies: 77.5 kHz (DCF77: Germany); 60 kHz (MSF: UK); 60 kHz (WWVB: USA); 40 kHz (JJY: Fukushima, Japan) / 60 kHz (JJY: Kyushu, Japan); 68.5 kHz (BPC: China)
  • Radio wave reception: Automatic reception up to six times a day (except for use in China: up to five times a day); manual reception
  • Digital compass: Measures and displays direction as one of 16 points with the second hand; measuring range: 0 to 359; measuring unit: 1; 60 seconds continuous measurement; bidirectional calibration and magnetic declination correction
  • Barometer: Measuring range: 260 hPa to 1,100 hPa (7.65 to 32.45 inHg); measuring unit: 1 hPa (0.05 inHg); atmospheric pressure change indicator (10 hPa); atmospheric pressure tendency graph (past 20 hours graph display); barometric pressure tendency
  • Altimeter: Measuring range: -700m to 10,000m (-2,300 to 32,800 ft); measuring unit: 1m (5 ft); altitude change indicator (100 m / 1000 m); others: measurement interval setting (every 5 seconds / every 2 minutes) (1 second for first three minutes on
$446.59
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Editor: I recommend purchasing the Casio GWN-1000B Gulfmaster at Amazon or Jomashop. Please consider that buying anything through any of the links on this website helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Also, if you like the watch reviews, here is a link to all our watch reviews.

Filed Under: Watch Reviews Tagged With: Casio

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