In February I reported that the number six in my watch had come loose. Miraculously, that problem fixed itself over time, as the digit disappeared into a crevice in the watch face. The joy was short lived, though, as one by one the other digits also became loose. Needless to say, I was very thankful I had not invested in fixing the number six… Oddly enough, the other digits also disappeared into the crevice. Number 2, from the '12', disappearing. Now, the watch was still usable, but the final nail to its coffin was when the coating at the underside started chipping so that the watch became abrasive. At this point I had to ditch it and start looking for a new watch.

I browsed some watch retailers and makers, and even had a chat with ChatGPT as to what kind of a watch I should get. ChatGPT highlighted the Casio G-Shock 2100 series as potentially interesting to me. I don’t really like the bulky look of some of the G-Shock watches (see: the GA-010 series), but the 2100s are sleek, and they’ve got so many variants of it.

I didn’t want to order a watch from an online store, because I want to know how it looks and feels before I commit to it. Sure, you could return it, but that’s always a hassle, so I visited a local retailer in a brick-and-mortar store. There, the Steel Edition GM-2110 with an orange watch face caught my eye. I must say none of the product photos online really do justice to the watch, it looks really great in person. In the end, yes, it blew up the budget I had set for myself, but I can justify it as being a birthday present to myself.

Auto-generated description: A person is wearing a Casio G-Shock wristwatch with a vibrant orange face and a metal bezel.

PS. Fun fact: the fan community has nicknamed the 2100-series “CasiOak”, thanks to the octagonal bezel, reminiscent of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. The Royal Oak’s price point, however, is “if you need to ask, you can’t afford it”…