Casio G-Shocks come in a dizzying array of styles and colors. One of the fun things about being a G-Shock fan is separating the bombs from the duds. G-Shock model AW-582C-4AJF is hot. It’s a member of the Fire Package ‘07 squad. Casio Japan releases several G-Shocks in this series each year. This one’s made my T-Mobile Fav 5, and my MySpace Top 7.

I first recall seeing Fire Package G-Shocks in a department store in Japan in a Casio poster that featured American fire fighters. I believe that was in 2003. I’ve never found a good explanation of what “Fire Package” means. It may refer to the fire engine red highlights these have. I originally thought the release was to honor NYC fire fighters following their heroics on 9/11.

G-Shock AW-582C-4AJF came out in February. Its suggested retail price is 12,600 JPY, but goes for around $75 US in Japan. It has the standard G-Shock features — 200m water resistant, a three-year battery, 12/24 hour time option, stopwatch, countdown timer, 5 alarms, LED backlight. It also has a 27 city world time feature.

WUS G-Shock Forum founder, Sjors, recently wrote that Casio plans in future to only make G-Shocks that are Tough Solar (solar powered) and Wave Ceptor (ones that sync with atomic clock radio signals for to-the-second accuracy). In a way, I think that would be a shame. I have a warm spot for “low tech” G-Shocks like AW-582C. They need neither sun nor radio waves to function as designed. And the price is right.

Although famously tough, several things make or break a G-Shock design. One is size. Too big and they’re awkward to wear. Too small and the whole point is lost. AW-582C is based on one of the original G-Shocks, AW-500-1E (1989), so the size and shape, and hence the balance on the wrist, should be good.

Another thing that can cause a G-Shock to go down in flames is its color. It’s hard to go wrong with the default color combination of black, red, and white. Many original G-Shocks from the 1980s, including AW-500-1E (pictured below), were black with red and white highlights.

Display visibility is also a life or death issue. With an analog G-Shock that means being able to clearly see the hands. The hands on AW-582C-4AJF (below, right) are the same as used on GW-1000DJ-1JF from 2003 (below, left). On GW-1000 they can be hard to read against the light-gray LCD windows and shiny purple solar panel dial. In contrast, look how easy they are to see on the AW-582.

Some are selling the AW-582 with a handy zippered carrying case as a bonus. I love this kind of little goody, which can’t be purchased separately and which Casio considers a “gift” to fans. The zipper is plastic, so it won’t scratch the watch. Its tang is made out of rubber with raised letters spelling out G-Shock.

It’s always interesting to see new releases from Casio Japan. Many fall short, for one reason or another, but a few climb to the top of the ladder. Model AW-582C-4AJF makes the grade. It’ll come and go quickly, and will never be a valued collector’s item selling for big money. But it’s a nice design and one of the G-Shocks to spark my interest this spring. Several Japanese vendors are currently offering this watch on Yahoo! Japan Auctions, and it may show up on eBay in the near future. It’s unlikely to be available after a few months, however, so those interested should probably smoke one out soon. (Click here for link.)

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 25th, 2007 at 3:20 pm and is filed under Casio. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.