Cool Watch, Old Man

What's that peeking out beneath my sweater sleeve?

It's my "new" Casio G-Shock wristwatch.

The Hope Ministries Thrift Store is on my way home from school, and I often make a five-minute stop to see if anything new has reared its thrifty head. I spotted this guy in the bottom of a display filled with used watches. The Casio caught my eye because it looked retro, and when I picked it up I was surprised by the watch's heft. The back screws on, unlike the cheap, athletic watch I already own.

I wear a watch everyday, but I'm not a "watch guy". I've worn an inexpensive Timex "Ironman" watch for about ten years. Besides getting me to class on time, I use the timer function for marathon training, Charlotte's timeouts, and grilling in the dark. If the watch or its band breaks, I just go to Target and buy the newest model. Other than the non-working watches I inherited from my grandpas and my dad (they're in a box in the basement - the watches, not the men), all I have is the Ironman and a dressier dial watch with a dead battery.

When I pressed the light button, the Casio blinked 12:00 twice and then died, but that was a good sign. The circuits must still be solid. But the price tag was 12 bucks, and that seemed a bit steep for an impulse buy. So, I did a little research.

Wikipedia reports that the G-Shock model DW-5600c, "...due to its dual time, stopwatch, countdown features, and more than 10 years battery life, it is one of the few watch models and the first in the Casio's G-shock product line to be flight-qualified by NASA for space missions. It is also a Hollywood star, being worn by celebrities in action movies (most notably by Keanu Reeves in the film Speed)."



That's pretty cool, but other guys have worn G-Shock watches in movies, too.

The DW-5600c went on sale in 1987, and this particular watch was sold around 1990 when I was a senior in college. That was 25 years ago. How is that possible? I use to think it was just a funny quirk when an oldies radio station played a song I liked in high school. I guess I didn't recognize the implication. Anyway, I obviously bought the watch (Clint tipped the scales).

I stopped by Kay's Jewelers after school yesterday and asked if they could replace the battery. The guy at the counter took the watch and told me battery replacement was $15. I've killed watches by trying to replace the battery by myself, so that sounded like a fair price. It took him 45 minutes to do the job. While I waited, another employe twice confined to me how badly the watch was kicking the his blank. I was actually embarrassed to only pay $15 dollars, but the poor guy proudly told me, "The harder they are, the better the watches are made. This is a good one." Gotta respect a guy who has pride in his work.

The only problem with the watch was the "locking loop" was made of a harder material than the rubber strap, and it crumbled when I handled it. I headed back to the "H" thrift store and found a cheap donor watch.

You can see the remains of the old "loop" on the left, and above the scraps is the loop from the donor watch on the right.

Since the donor watch had a yellow tag, it was only $2.50.

Sure, the loop isn't an exact match to the original, but I can't imagine someone noticing the difference.

If someone did point out to me, "Your locking loop isn't the right one for a DW-5600c." I'd reply, "Actually, you're the one who isn't right."

The total price of $29.50 isn't bad for a vintage watch that makes me smile and should run for another ten years. But does this mean I'm going to start collecting vintage digital watches ( I still can't believe digital watches can be vintage)? No, I have too many hobbies as it is. This is a "one and done". I hope.