Seven years ago, the ‘Casi-Oak’ broke the internet, and now G-Shock have returned with another design that has already gained the nickname ‘Casio-Naut’. This is the brand-new G-shock 2500 Series but is it as good as it’s predecessor? Can it live up to the hype the GA2100 generated? And most importantly, do I like it?
We have had both the resin and steel versions in the studio. I’m going to share my first impressions, compare it to the 2100 series and say whether I think it’s worth buying. But first, let’s look at the specs of this brand-new analogue G-Shock.
Introducing the G-Shock 2500 Series
Like almost all Gs, these watches have 200 meters of water resistance. They are constructed very similarly to all previous G-Shocks with a mineral glass crystal, screwed on case back with O-ring seal, and waterproof pushers for the functions and light. Don’t let the dainty little analogue hands fool you, these are just as tough as any digital G. Although, as these are press samples, we didn’t test that theory ourselves!
The case dimensions for both the steel and resin are 46.7 x 44.5 x 12.7mm. Pretty comparable dimensions to that of the GA2100 but I’ll come onto the differences in how they wear later. The steel model weighs 138g while the resin weighs 47g. You can definitely feel that heft from the steel when in-hand and on wrist.
In terms of functions, they have a stopwatch, date wheel, and light. The calendar is fully automatic adjusted until the year 2099 meaning it should account for shorter months and leap years. A feature I’ve always been impressed with on G-Shocks, especially given the price point.
To activate the stopwatch simply press the ‘mode’ button and you’ll notice the small seconds hand flip to 0, ready to begin timing. Push ‘start’ to begin timing and your date wheel slowly rotates to the track the minutes which I think is a very cool way to integrate the functionality into a fully analogue dial.
You are limited though in that you don’t get the alarm, countdown timer, world time zone tracking or Bluetooth and solar that feature on other G-Shock models. But I am sure that at least some of those functionalities are soon to come for this series. But then again, I don’t find myself missing them. This isn’t meant to be a fully kitted out, do-it-all watch like the other models. This is G-Shock having restraint in design with a more traditional dial layout without compromising on the durability we love from them. This watch serves a different purpose.
The light function is what you would expect but somehow seems brighter on the steel! Perhaps it’s just the reflective surfaces on the dial but even on video in a dark room it comes across as brighter. Perhaps it is just slightly better.
The Design and Nickname
This watch has already been nicknamed the ‘Casio-Naut’ after the ‘Casi-Oak’ was nicknamed for its resemblance to the royal oak. This watch clearly has a resemblance to the Pate Philippe Nautilus with it’s squashed octagonal case and, as I refer to them, ‘elephant ears’ on the sides of the case. But that’s sort of where the resemblances with the Nautilus end. This watch should be considered more as an analogue version of the original DW5600. Fortunately, we also have a 5600 series model in the office and side-by-side you can see the similarities clearly.
For me, the steel bracelet is not my favourite. At this price point you can’t expect amazing bracelets but I’m not a fan of how this one moves from side to side. It reminds me of the look and feel of a 70-year-old Rolex, which is not a complement. I do really like the steel case with this design so I’m keen to see the steel case on the rubber strap which also helps bring the price down a bit. Another slight nit-pick is that the date wheel on the steel variant is not colour matched to the dial whereas it is on the resin model. They have matched the tone of the font, but I feel like it would look a bit more cohesive in a matching colour or even just pure black rather than this shiny grey.
Comparing the 2500 to the 2100
We only have the resin variant of the ‘Casi-Oak’ so to keep things fair I’ll only compare it to the resin ‘Caio-Naut’. I’ve also owned the green GA2100 for around five years so it’s a watch I’m very familiar with.
Starting with the ‘Casi-Oak’, I still really like the circular dial, day of the week indicator, and digital screens that give it that slight functionality advantage. It retains the alarm and world timer features while still having the analogue dial and day-of-the-week indicator. It wears great on my 6.75-inch wrist and feels comfortable. But I really like the fully analogue dial and short lug to lug of the ‘Casio-Naut’. I’d argue despite being slightly thicker, that short lug-to-lug makes it wear better. Despite being pitched similarly with the ‘Holy Trinity’ comparisons levelled at both models I truly see these as completely separate approaches to the G-Shock design. One blends analogue and digital while the other fully leans into the old-school time telling approach. They could quite easily sit alongside one another in a collection and they do look great together.
The ‘Casio-Naut’ is a little more expensive starting at £110 for the resin whereas the ‘Casi-oaks’ start at £99. Not a big difference but worth noting. The steel variant on the bracelet is £299 and the comparable steel 2100 (GM-2110D-8A) is £279 so we can assume that in every variation the 2500 will command a slight premium.
Is It Worth Buying?
Short answer, yes! This is the G-Shock that shows us that traditional dial design doesn’t have to be sacrificed in the name of durability. While the 2100 series took the analogue G-Shock to the next level, the 2500 series take it a step further with the complete omission of all screens. This is the G-Shock for those that are coming from the traditional, mechanical world of watches and entering the world of G
Will you pick one of these up when they go live next week? Let me know in the comments below.
