Christened the new Gulfman, Casio G-Shock GW-9100-1JF was launched down the slipway into stores this month. It’s rigged out with tell-tales from several 1990s G-Shocks, but sports a new design. The release continues several recent trends, perhaps setting the course a Multi Band Casio G-Shock Frogman will sail. It also introduces a brand new Casio G-Shock series.

Info about the new series is included in the ad below. We always try to be above board about sources of images used on GMT+9, but I can’t recall where I got this picture of the Gulfman used as a link in a ship anchor chain. I’ll include it because it has interesting lines. Let’s get under way.

The kanji at the top of the ad says this watch is part of a new series of G-Shocks known as Workman at Sea. It says watches in this series will be ones revived with improvements, and will be shock proof, vibration proof, water resistant, and rust resistant. One can’t help but speculate a new Waveceptor Casio G-Shock Frogman will be another in the Workman at Sea Series. The ad above also looks at the knurled detailing of the new Gulfman’s titanium case. The screws are milled out of titanium, it reads, and the button shafts are also made of titanium for rust resistance.

Maybe these and future G-Shock releases in the Workman at Sea Series will become popular with crab fishermen like Captin Sig Hansen, skipper of The Northwesterner (to go to the Northwesterner’s website click here), and Cornelia Marie, boss of the Time Bandit, and their crews, featured on the Discovery Channel’s hit show The Deadliest Catch? I wonder . . .

Last year two new versions of the Casio G-Shock Mudman were released, a Waveceptor/Tough Solar version, and a more affordable one with without atomic radio wave synchronization or solar panel. The trend continues with the new Casio G-Shock Gulfman. Gulfman GW-9100-1JF retails for 27,000 Japanese Yen (JPY) — about $220 U.S., while G-9100-1JF goes for 13,500 JPY — around $110. It will be interesting to see if a new Frogman release will also consist of two versions, a deluxe one and a base model.

There are several things to say about the design of GW-9100-1JF, pictured above. The first is the design shares as much in common with the ’90s version of the Fisherman (Casio model DW-8600, released in July 1996, retailed for 21,000 JPY) as it does with the original Gulfman (DW-9700, released March 1999, 28,000 JPY). Notice how the rubber bezel guard has small slots at 1, 5, 7, and 11 o’clock. That is similar to the bezel from the old Fisherman. Below is a picture of the rubber bezel protector from a Men In Black Series Fisherman. Contrast that with the bezel on a vintage Tough Solar Gulfman.

As for the knurled bezel on the new GW-9100-1JF Gulfman, it reminds me of knurled highlights on other Japanese divers watches like the Seiko Samurai, and Citizen Orca. Thanks to badurn and Danny S. from the Seiko Citizen Watch Forum for use of the photos.

Another thing about the new Gulfman is how legible the display is. The day/date information is located above the fold, as it were. That means the time readout window is big and the digits are large, as shown in the photo below courtesy of Watch-Tanaka.

Note the round radio wave signal indicator at 2 o’clock. I find the new design interesting. On the one hand, it reminds me of a cylinder from a revolver. On the other, it reminds me of renkon, or lotus root, often used in Japanese cooking.

There’s more to say about this new release. It has a 1,000 hour stopwatch, for instance. That’s big. But the sun is over the yardarm, so to close, I’ll just mention the caseback logo that features the cartoon turtle character. The reptile was inscribed on the caseback of the original Gulfman, and resurfaced on the new versions. On model GW-9100-1JF, it has a satellite antenna strapped to it’s shell, pictured below. My trick’s over. (Trick is a nautical term, a period of time spent at the wheel of a ship).

“They that go down to the sea in ships;

That do business in great waters;

These see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep.”

— From Psalms 107, often recited at a ship launch

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 12th, 2007 at 5:29 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.