Casio G-Shock B1000X Review – Red Alert

September was quite strange, but here I am, publishing new review.
Some of you were asking to check “more expensive watches”, so here we have one. What about G-Shock which has the same price as the new iPhone 11 (1000 EUR)? I was aiming to get new Apple creation, but then got a chance to try this watch. So, let’s try to find a reason why you would choose B1000 for such price.
You can get Casio B1000X here.
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Top of the Line

I think this brand and series don’t need any extra introduction. You won’t know famous G-Shock only in case you were living in cave for the last thirty years or completely not into watches. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see what is offered in 2019 collection. Yes, I have old squared metal “TV Shock”, but this is not classic G-Shock watch. This year Japanese brand decided to revise some things and I think we will return to other models too. Model B1000X is the absolute top in Gravitymaster line. You can choose between three color combinations. While we are used to plastic and metal, here Casio offers something completely different.

Case

As it was mentioned, metal and plastic are used almost in every modern watch, so Japanese brand decided to try new material. They definitely didn’t save the budget and decided to use carbon, you can see it not only in the case, but also in the strap! Designers made it quite evident and you can see structure everywhere. On the first sight it might look artificial and remind about carbon spoilers on various JDM cars. All this stuff fades away once you take this watch in your hands.

First, this watch is quite light – just 75g. Even though case size looks huge, B1000X hardly weights on your wrist and therefore it is ok to wear it for the whole day. Be ready for surprise – case looks like heavy thing, but then you find out that it is way lighter than what you thought.

Second, any scratches won’t be visible on the carbon case. In my opinion this is one of the main advantages here. Hardly anyone likes ugly watches after one week of wearing. Matte finish reduces glare on the case, what is also nice and quite rare in modern watches…

Third, Casio calls whole named whole case as Monocoque. This design should help you preserve B1000X under various things – be it dust, water, shocks or any other “daily experiences” you might have. Case designed as single-piece element covered with glass. There are no seams or any gaps (except those for buttons). By the way, we have sapphire glass here, what is good. It would be strange to see something different in such price range. Water protection is clocked at 200m. I would say it straight – I didn’t dive in ocean, but usually G-Shock watches are fine under heavy usage.

Fourth thing is that design looks like good old G-Shock. It is classic hate-it-or-love-it thing. I doubt that somebody will try to wear such watch with classic suit (even though sometimes I meet such people). Dark red elements don’t look out of the place here and I would easily wear it everyday. It is nice to see that designers didn’t go overboard and there is just right amount of color. Red is reserved only for the Limited Edition, so you should hurry if you want one. Nevertheless, there is one thing to note.

Buttons

Take a careful look at photos and you will see that button rods, screws and indexes are made in bronze color. In my opinion it is not that suitable to overall color combination. To make it even more weird, there is a silver insert on the crown which is not connected visually to any other element. I am still noticing this even after wearing watch for some time. Metal looks good but why not to use the same shade? It is important to mention B1000-1A, another version which comes with dark screws, but in reality it looks a bit boring. Blue version looks better, but my brain can’t find connection between blue color and G-Shock philosophy.

Dial

Even though watchface might look too busy, it is still easy to “read time”. I could explain what this small subdial indicates, but it is better to tell you about something different. I wonder when Casio will finally use proper LED backlight. There are only two LED in B1000X and it looks weird. Well, at least hands are covered with luminous material, so each one is perfectly visible in the dark.

Strap

Strap is integrated into overall design There are screws on the side, so maybe it is possible to change this part. Through matte layer you would see carbon fiber mesh, so I would suppose that it is more durable than typical plastic. Such design looks unusual to say the least. It is easy to wear and strap doesn’t feel weird.

Note that because of metal brackets it is impossible to “straighten” watch. Buckle here is big and nice with G-Shock logo. Glossy finish looks nice, but you will have to be careful to avoid scratches. It is nice to see special design of the strap, which fixes loose end with help of metal loop. Nice idea which will be useful in everyday use.

Movement

B1000X features quartz movement inside. It would be strange to expect something different. Shock protection makes it must-have, and I would consider it as a strong advantage. All traditional features included – alarm, stopwatch and even phone connection. Yep, there is Bluetooth inside, and some people would be happy to have such addition. It will be handy to adjust time, set the alarm and few other things. Not the most important thing, but one of the niceties which are good to have out of the box.

Verdict

Overall watch proved to be a nice addition in 2019 collection. I like the overall design, but there are few things mentioned above. I like B1000X in this Limited Edition version and it would be a nice choice for those who would like to avoid choosing between automatic movements. It is one of those pure G-Shock watches which embody the philosophy of the brand.

You would get all necessary things inside, and the only thing to decide on is the color. Somehow such approach reminds me of Lexus cars where you can choose the color and add sunroof. Well, here you won’t be able to add sunroof, but carbon watch sounds cool enough to be in the collection, right?

I hope you enjoyed this review and would be happy to hear your opinion.
Review made with help of HelvetiCZ.