Buying G-Shock by the Pound

Surfing the web, checking out what’s going on around the world can be so informative that I make sure at least once a day that I spend a few minutes perusing far-away web sites in the Orient, Africa, Europe, South America and even the wilds of New Jersey. And sometimes I make such startling discoveries that I am compelled to share them in one of my blogs with all my friends.

While looking for region-specific wrist watch products, I stumbled across a Thai vendor who sells watches by the dozen. This particular find is astounding. There are so many more G-Shock models out there that I didn’t know existed. Goodness me, so many more. As it happens, the Orient (particularly those lucky countries unencumbered by rule of (copyright and patent) law) is getting some dope product that the rest of us can only dream about. Check them out..

1. The Mud Resist
This watch comes in four colorways – all bright markings on black. What makes this a special watch is that it not only resists mud (says so right there on the head of the strap) but it tells time with a set of hands (if only our MudMan had some hands..) and it has flashing time! Wow, how cool is that?

2. The GA150
Here, in the domestic market, we are locked into just a couple colors of this marvelous new model while the Orient is flooded with more colors than you might find at your local A. C. Moore paint isle. I’ve posted a few of the more interesting colorways below. The system there is glorious as well. Buy only fifty watches and the price nets to a paltry $12.50 each. And you don’t have to concern yourself with all the confusion of fancy product numbers and letters – you just tell them you want a crate of yellow and blue (for instance) GA150s. Like Staples says, “there, that was easy.”

And, similarly, the GA120 series watches are so colorful and feature enhanced in their Oriental iterations. Here’s just a few of the fantastic analog/digital marvels that abound in that far eastern marketplace..

3. G-Shock G140
Betcha didn’t even know there was a model number G140. Well, not only is there such a model, but it is a doozy, a real pip. Rich with color, angles, and lots of nice cluttery little dial markings, it is bound to be the envy of every street corner banger in Shanghai – more plastic markings than should be legal on a single wrist.

4. Edifice G-Shock G410
Yep, they even have a hybrid Edifice/G-Shock. It goes beyond classy – I’d call it swank. It has it all: sweeping color band, hands, LCD sub-dials, chrome, plastic, rubber, buttons, crown. A real cornucopia of features and cosmetic accouterments. I want to get one of these to show off to my homeless and skateboarder friends that hang around StarBucks in the morning – I will really impress them with all the glitter and flash!

5. G-Shock GA160
Yes, you heard that right – the GA160. My cup runneth over. I’m covered with goosebumps. This watch is the epitome of high tech and I can hardly wait to get mine. This secret model that the lucky Oriental market enjoys has some really progressive ideas – for instance, Casio’s long standing 20 bar water resistance is pure overkill – I mean really? If a human being goes to the depth of 660 feet he’ll be smashed flatter than a tortilla, so why bother? This new model is rated at 3 bar, and that should get us through our showers. The GA160 watch features a compass bezel that rotates and five operations buttons. And, where there could have been an LCD readout, wasted on features no one uses anyway, there is a truly psychedelic god’s eye that one can stare at for hours and hours of pure blissful, confusion-free non-feature pleasure. Grok, baby. Oooom shak-a-laka, ooohm.

6. The Collaboration G-Shock X IMGUR
One of the greatest sites in the world recently published this set of preview pics of a G-Shock that appears to be a hybrid of the GA110 and the AWG series. I am entranced by this modern marvel – it has the goldest face I’ve seen on a plastic watch, and so slick it looks like the dial has been greased with vasoline. The hip-hop blingers are going to love this one when it hits the sneaker stores’ display cases. And as a bonus, this is one of the special post-Ming dynasty G-Shocks that has an added crown; also gold plated for your pleasure.

7. More GA110s, More color than I can stand
Here’s a selection of watches that has me a-jingle. Colorways even Crayola would love. And, like the GA110 above, the bonus crown is the added touch that puts these delights a notch above our boring local selection.

8. PRO TREK G-Shock hybrid – “World Time”
Happily blended like I’ve never seen before, this series of watches is not only G-Shock, but ProTrek as well – and some of them are marked with “tough solar” and “tough movement” which would make them the watch to own for all reasons. The World Time model boasts compass function as well. Wowwy-zouy!

I know I have excited all of you with these wonderful options that could come our way, someday. I can barely wait to see these delightful advanced-feature-and-technology products on the shelves here in our country.

And for those who can’t wait, eBay and iOffer regularly have treasures from China that not only blow open the doors of options, but allow us to get G-Shocks on our wrists “on-the-cheap.” Here are some examples of recently found eBay auction listings (courtesy of guyonearth and others on watchuseek).

9. And, So Many More..
As I collect (and fix up the graphics) these exemplars of modern watch manufacturing mastery, I find myself at a loss for words. I’m mentally out of breath. So here are a bunch more miscellaneous products to which you can apply your own flowery descriptions and praise.


















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But, actually..
I abhor the practice of copying products. Particularly egregious is the illegal use of others’ trademarks and trade-names. It might not be so obvious at first that Casio manufacturers top grade products, but when you compare them to the knock-offs you start to realize how far Casio goes to make products as well as they can be made. Their selection of the finest materials, manufacturing techniques, and the cutting edge technologies in which they invest heavily to develop, are the high-water mark in the watch industry. They deserve the profit they make and they don’t deserve the losses of sales to the bootleggers and the bad PR that goes with the trash that is made and sold around the world in their name. And, shame on you China for letting it happen.

G-Shock Steal: Not Really Real, Not Really a Deal
Bootlegs also harm the consumer. The counterfeit product is almost always of considerably lower quality. There is no one around to fix it when it doesn’t work. And in the case of the more accurate knock-offs, the consumer is tricked and wastes money on an investment that has no value.

In the post above, I poke fun at the situation because I like to get a laugh. I am a cynic and I am sarcastic. My writing is often mean and I think I’m cool. But I won’t buy counterfeit products. I often re-think my purchasing decisions to try to “buy American” when I can afford to. So, I might be a dick-head, but I’m loyal to my country and my principals and that redeems me enough for my own conscience. I posted these pictures so that you, too, could identify and side-step the illegal products and, thereby do the right thing.

Update July 2014
Here is another round of fakes found on eBay and amazon. Thanks to the sharp-eyed guys on Watchuseek for finding these and publishing the links for all to see.

tags – fake g-shocks, bootleg watches, counterfeit wristwatch, phony gshock, replica g-shock, knock-off, pirate, illegal, infringement, copy copyright patent, caveat emptor, imgur, ebay, ioffer, find spot identify tell know