Posted by: b_andersen

When I noticed Casio G-Shock AWG-500J-1AJF getting harder to find on Japanese websites, I finally ordered one — a watch I’ve wanted since its release in February 2006. This watch is pretty well known on Japanese watch forums, but because it’s a “Japan-only” model, it’s not as well known as it deserves.

The first analog G-Shock was AW-500, which was released in 1989. That watch followed a typical pattern of many Japanese watches, for instance the Seiko SUS series — although it had a wonderful design and was reasonably priced and popular, it was only in regular production for a few years. After that, Casio Japan released the model occasionally in limited edition runs through 1999, and those sold out quickly.

When updating the AW-500 concept to incorporate modern technologies like radio wave reception and solar power, it was no easy task for Kazuyo Kawashima and his design team of Ryusuke Moriai and Hayato Ikezu at the Casio’s Product Development Headquarters in Tokyo to equal the excellence of the first analog G-Shock.

Their efforts were rewarded in 2008 when they received Japan’s highest product-design award, the G-Mark for good design. Model AWG-500J-1AJF is the only G-Shock awarded a Good Design Award by the group. The organization was founded in 1957 by Japan’s top post-World War II industrial designers, including Riki Watanabe and Sori Yanagi.

The challenge for Kawashima and his team was how to incorporate new technologies into AWG-500 without losing the essence of the original AW-500 design. One wise decision was to keep the “masterpiece analog hands,” which remind me of a cross between erector set pieces and a Spyderco knife.

The placement of the hands on the new model was critical in incorporating subdials to allow readouts for digital functions. In the original 1980s design, the hands were located above the center of the dial. With the new design, the axis of the hands was moved to the center of the dial. A risky move, but one that worked out well.

Along with keeping the hand set, Casio designers kept the classical outer rubber case shape and size. It’s a smooth, sleek look. I think a lot of watch fans are over the “bigger-is-better” phase, and AWG-500 is just the right size, not too big, not too small.

Like others, I used to long for the days of the heavy, solid cases with screw on casebacks. Not anymore. I prefer the light weight of this watch, and of G-Shocks like GW-M5600. I also appreciate the improved plastics used now. The older plastic compounds used for originals like DW-5000, DW-5600C, and AW-500, tended over time to get hard, to get brittle, to scar, and to crack. And I also appreciate the modern technologies like Waveceptor and Tough Solar.

My new AWG-500J has caught the atomic time-setting wave everyday since it arrived last week. You’ll note both watches above are calibrated to the exact second, automatically. Designed to grab and go.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, July 18th, 2010 at 1:44 pm and is filed under Casio. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.