Home > Consumer Reviews > Solar, Atomic Watch

You'll never get me to spend a lot of money on a watch after wearing this thing. Digital, solar, atomic and well under a hundred bucks. Quite a cool little gadget. I've had this for 2 years and still love it.

Solar means that it charges the battery with ambient light. No batteries to replace. Atomic means that it receives the atomic time radio broadcasts at the top of the hour from Midnight to 5am. The clock displays REC while it's calibrating. Takes about 5 min each time to calibrate. Every day, your watch is dead on. Forget daylight savings time changes. This watch does it for you.

The only extremely-minor annoyance with the watch is travelling to Europe and looking at the watch only to see REC filling the display for 5 minutes around lunch time. I'm sure there's a way to turn the receive mode off temporarily. The watch only receives the atomic signal from Boulder CO in the 48 contiguous states.

Will this last forever? Don't know yet. Two years and no setting, winding, or battery changes needed so far.

Here's a G-shock about as close to perfect as a digital watch gets, always accurate to the second and no battery to replace ever.

I've been an enthusiastic collector of Casio G-shocks since about 1987 when I got an original DW-5600. This tough-looking black monster is still going strong after 15 years.

We G-shock fans have watched them evolve over time in size, shape, color, and function. Now comes the atomic solar model that links up by satelite to the NIST atomic clock and resets to the second every night automatically. No-set accuracy together with no-battery-hassle solar power make this come as close to being the best digital watch I've ever worn.

It's got all the classic funtions you've come to expect in every G-shock: pinpoint timekeeping, multiple alarms and top-of the-hour beep, stopwatch, countdown timer, and illuminator. In addition to these, I've really grooved on the world time function on a couple of trips overseas. About 34 world cities and times zones mean that there's nowhere you can go that this watch wouldn't keep you on track without any cumbersome resetting as you cross the zones. And tough? I don't think you would be able to destroy it.

And it does all this while looking cool! A bit more sleek in form, this watch isn't quite as bulky as some G-shocks but still has the chunky ruggedness that will give you just the right trendy "look". I really like this model with the black resin case and strap with the steel bezel and red accents. I liked it so well I got the realy attractive navy blue model too.

If you like G-shocks, this one's even better. It will get notice from your gadget-crazy friends too. It seems I'm often showing it off to questions about the atomic function as well as comments like, "nice watch!".

Never tried a G-shock? You'll like this one. Looking for the perfect hassle-free watch? Here you go.

I bought this watch for 30 bucks more than it is being sold for here a couple of years ago and I can't stop bragging about how I own the best watch in the world. It sets itself every night and it is always perfectly accurate. The display is easy to read. I swim and snorkel while wearing this watch with no ill effect. Stretching to say SOMETHING negative about this watch I'll say this. I live in New York City where there is SO much signal interference that the watch has to be positioned JUST so in order to catch the signal at night, but it does catch it. Neither of my solar clocks work any better here. Outside of the city it will catch the signal coming out of Colorado in any position anywhere within 2,000 miles of Colorado.

You want a piece of jewelry that will never keep the best time, get a Patek Philippe. You want a WATCH, by all means, buy this. Then brag to your friends who wear the Pateks and the Rolex.

I have had this watch for about 3 years. I use it because of the atomic time signal it receives. Several instruments I audit are required to be set to within 1 minute per month. With this watch, there is no question what time it is. It does not always receive the signal, so you have to be a little careful where you leave it at night, just like the instructions tell you. I have worn this watch swimming, in the shower, in a sauna, and other extreme places with no problem.
ps: I also have an original G-Shock with a 16 year old lithium battery that is working just fine. I greatly endorse Casio products.

It is WAAAAAY too thick to be considered comfortable, but it does sync with the atomic clock nearly everyday, and I'm assuming it's charging, the battery level has stayed pretty steady at the mid level since it was purchased.