Earlier this year, we brought you news of a fresh G-Shock release, which was Casio‘s – and in fact the world’s – first wrist watch to incorporate a hybrid movement that would allow the watch to sync the exact time both through atomic clock radio signals and GPS satellites. Recently, Casio has announced three new models, all versions of the Casio OCW-G1000 models from the Casio Oceanus collection, which will receive the same novel hybrid movement that we saw make its debut in the G-Shock GPW-1000. This heavy-hitter combination of the more elegant Casio Oceanus line and the unique feature-set of the movement certainly is designed to be Casio’s answer to Seiko’s Astron Solar GPS watches (which we reviewed here).
Casio has worked together with Sony to develop this unique low-energy consumption movement that would allow for both the reception of six-band radio signals as well as GPS signals. Radio controlled watches can sync up with signals coming from six different sources, which are located in Germany, the United Kingdom, the US, China, and there are two frequencies in Japan. “Radio wave reception” is done automatically up to six times a day (five in China), which guarantees that the already highly accurate quartz movement inside the watch remains extremely close to the atomic clocks.
The point of having both systems in the movement is that at times, the reception of radio signals is unavailable – and vice versa, GPS-set movements of the past did not have radio controlled automatic time adjustment. Casio says that the OCW-G1000 will be able to receive GPS positioning and time setting information in under seven seconds – considerably faster than many older GPS-equipped watches, which often struggled with finding signal.
The OCW-G1000 line offers very much the same functions as the G-Shock version, even the dial layout is very much the same. Being fully analog – meaning that there are no digital displays anywhere on the watch – the dial features three subdials and also utilizes some of the hands to point to different tracks to display secondary information. As such, the extensive list of features includes 40 different world time zones (27 cities with daylight saving times), a “dual dial world time” which is basically a subdial with a 24-hour display to be used as a secondary timezone.
Furthermore, there is a 24-hour chronograph with 1/20th of a second accuracy, a calendar with day and date indications, an AM/PM indicator subdial, low battery alert, Tough Solar charging system, and of course, the GPS and atomic clock radio signal synchronization. Displaying such an overwhelming amount of information without digital displays is certainly an impressive feat, which in turn requires a lot of text to be added to the dial.
As an aesthetic counterweight, the 46 millimeter wide, 51 mm long and 14.7 mm thick metal case offers a sleek design with clean lines, keeping the Casio Oceanus away from becoming an unwearable and gaudy looking piece of design. The case is water resistant to 100 meters, meaning that despite the high-end technology inside, it should be able to put up with most abuse such a potentially world-traveling watch may have to endure. Interestingly, Casio makes no mention of the case material in any of its official press materials – other than referring to it as “metal” – but these new Casio Oceanus pieces should come in titanium cases with TiC hardened coating to make the metal more resistant to scratches, and DLC coating for the black versions. The crystal is sapphire with AR coating applied to both sides of it – which is an essential for watches at this price level.
The Casio Oceanus OCW-G1000 will be available in three different configurations: OCW-G1000-1A is silver (well, “metal”) and blue, OCW-G1000B-1A black and black, and OCW-G1000B-1A2 is black and orange, respectively. Prices for the OCW-G1000 should be somewhere between $1,700 and $1,950, depending on the version. casio.com
