Are All G-Shock Watches Water Resistant?
Some of the toughest watches out there are definitely the G-shock watches. Manufactured by Casio, these watches are truly made to take the mechanical shock and vibration. After all, their full name is “Gravitational Shock”. For the newest models for various needs, see Atomic811’s top G-Shocks page, or their best dive watches post.
The essentials
These watches are made especially for sports, military and outdoor activities. Most of the G-Shock models out there are either digital or a combination of analog or digital. They do include a “stopwatch” feature, countdown timer, but also a good back-light and water resistance also.
The essential design principle on G-watches is though the “Triple 10” concept and this means in fact the watches are made to have a 10-year battery life, a 10-bar water resistance and a 10-meter dropping shock resistance.
These should be on most models, but most G-Shock watches can take a good fall and may be taken under water up to 200meter deep. Not all G-shock watches come with a 10-year battery-life, but you may get either a rechargeable battery or an extended battery life for your G-Shock. Even the watches from the Baby-G line (geared to women) feature Shock Resist and at least 100-meter water-resistance.
Most G-Shocks out there include 1/100 second stopwatch, a 12/24 hour format, a countdown timer, alarm, but also back-light, auto calendar and hourly time signal.
Waterproof or water-resistant?
A water-resistant watch means it can take pretty well the penetration of water, but not entirely. Water-resistance means lower protection than waterproofness. You may find water-resistant devices that feature a special design so they fight with water, not allowing the water to enter the device. A good watch does need this kind of design in order to survive on a rainy day or hand washing.
Of course that a waterproof device is more dependable when it comes to staying under water. As a matter of fact, this means the device may be easily used underwater. Despite that, there are no standards for the industry to set waterproofness. Some devices may work just fine under water, whereas some may only survive for a short amount of time. It’s up to each manufacturers to decide which term to use, in the end.
Coming back to G-shock, when checking the water-resistance of a watch, you need to check the IP code rating. This should be pretty visible, on the body of your watch.
The IP stands for the International Protection or Ingress Protection and there are various IP codes for various types of “Ingress” protection. The most common one in this case is the IP code ISO 2281.
The International Organization for Standardization gave us a standard for water resistant watches that forbids the term “waterproof” for describing a watch. Obviously, enough, not all watches have to be tested, but only a sampling gets through the testing. The standard is for the watches that we use on daily basics, under water, for not a long time, with a various temperature and water pressure.
The first number after “IP” tells you about the solid protect (from 0 to 6), whereas the second number shows you the degree of protection against the entrance of moisture (ranged from zero to 8). You may get a better understanding of this if you look further into the matter as there are plenty of charts out there to bring some more light into the matter.
For instance, if you want to protect your watch when working, but don’t plan to go swimming or diving with it, get a G-Shock that is water resistant to 30M or 50 M.
If you plan to do some surfing, swimming or water sports, except diving, a 100M G-shock should be totally dependable. Step up the game with a 200M water resistant G-Shock if you are into professional marine activity.
The moment you actually start to dive with your watch, there are various models that fit your various diving skills (it all depends on how deep you plan to dive).
G-shock watches come in many models and they meet many wants and needs. You bet you’re gonna find a waterproof to 200M that takes your hikes through the mud and dust very well every single time. Not all G-Shocks are created the same and you may get a “water 200M resist” watch that you may safely take while swimming, or jet skiing. Because of its rating though, you couldn’t take it for scuba diving. You’d need a G-shock with air tanks for that- the “Diver’s Watch 200M” model, to be more accurate. They are very popular and also known as the “Frogman” series. Truth be told, they are the only ISO 6425 compliant G-Shock watches with a 200M Divers rating. The Master of G Series (Men’s, Digital Watches- Air/Land/Sea) include also the Gulfmaster (that is resistant to rust) and Gravitymaster (the perfect choice for pilots as they take perfectly shocks, centrifugal force and vibrations). Note: the buttons on all Mudmaster watches (all series) are fitted with gaskets to protect against mud and dust.
Long story short? Find the G-Shock that fits your needs the most and check its IP rating to see how deep it can take you.
