I've only had this watch for a short while, but thought I'd share my first impressions of it.I chose the Casio GS1100-2A (Giez) for a few reasons.First, I'm not a big fan of digital watch displays ... I prefer the traditional analog style with hour, minute and second hands. Secondly, as an owner of a rather expensive dress watch that must be sent back to the factory every few years for battery replacement, I wanted an everyday watch that wouldn't require a lot of maintenance. Finally, although I really didn't need a chronograph, I travel a lot and wanted a watch that could handle multiple time zones. Ultimately, the Giez offered more of the features I was looking for than the others watches I looked at.
The Giez is part of Casio's G-Shock line, meaning that it's designed to withstand harsher conditions and isn't as sensitive to being hit or dropped.The casing both looks and feels solid, nothing cheap about this watch.I chose the GS1100-2A because of it's blue face.For me, the blue face appeared to be slightly easier to read than the black face of the GS1100-1A (which otherwise is the same watch).I also just liked the color.
The display itself consists of a traditional watch dial with three smaller chronograph-style dials within. The hour and minute hand work as you would expect, but what at first appears to be the second hand is in fact not the second hand at all.Seconds are displayed by the small inner dial at the bottom center.The large hand that looks like a second hand is really used as an indicator to assist in selecting city time zones, as well as some other functions. In the stopwatch mode, this same hand serves to measure 1/20th second increments.
The two other inner dials on the main indicate the day of the week (mo,tu,we,etc...)and the hour of the day (using a 24-hour scale.) There's also a small window to display the current date.
The Giez comes with a resin watch band.I would have preferred a metal band (simply for style), but the resin band is suitable for harsher environments, and so it's standard on G-Shock watches.
Another feature of the GS1100-2A is that it uses Casio's "Tough Solar" technology to keep the battery charged.Unlike non-solar watches, the battery in the Giez is rechargable, and depends upon the solar receptor (on the face of the watch) to keep it charged.Without light, the battery will last only about 5 months, as compared to the 2, 5 and 10-year lifespans of non-solar watch batteries.The manual contains a guide as to how much light the watch should get each day in order to keep going.If you're outside in direct sunlight (50,000 lux), you'll only need to expose your watch for about 8 minutes and if you're inside, with your watch exposed to direct sunlight through a window, you must keep it exposed for about 30 minutes per day.On the other hand, if you're inside (and not near a window on a sunny day), only exposed to typical fluorescent lighting, you'll need to keep the watch exposed to light for about 8 hours. Assuming you're wearing your watch, that means you'll have to wear it outside of your sleeve so that it can charge properly. Casio recommends that when you're not wearing the watch, place it somewhere that will be exposed to bright light.This may not be convenient for everybody.
In terms of accuracy, like many quartz watches, the Giez maintains an accuracy of +/- 20 seconds per month.However, it has one additional feature to help that along.The GS1100-2A is also part of Casio's Wave Ceptor "Atomic" line of watches.Each night (the exact time depends upon your home region) the Giez will attempt to receive the UTC time signal generated by the NIST Atomic Clock in Colorado and synchronize its time. Doing this nightly will keep your watch accurate to less than a second of the atomic clock's time. It also makes sure your weekday and date settings are correct.If you have the automatic Daylight Savings Time feature activated, the watch will even adjust itself forward and/or back one hour at the proper times of the year.
The actual time synchronization signal is broadcast by a 50,0000 watt transmitter in Fort Collins, Colorado, which (depending upon atmospheric conditions) can be received up to 2000 miles away.This covers the mainland US, but folks in Hawaii and Alaska may not be able to get the signal. Even then, geographic conditions (such as mountains) and other obstacles (such as buildings and tall trees) can also inhibit reception. So, there's no guarantee that your watch will be able to synchronize automatically.I live in New Hampshire and was worried about that after hearing that the Northeast is particularly difficult in terms of time signal reception. The first day I got the watch, I tried a manual synchronization from inside my home office on the first floor.Even though I put the watch near a window as instructed in the manual, the synchronization failed.Before I went to bed however, I placed the watch on an upstairs window sill that faces west.(The manual recommends placing the watch by a window.) During the night, the watch will make up to 6 attempts to receive the UTC signal and synchronize itself. Supposedly, the signal is best received in the early morning hours. The next day I woke up and immediately went over to the window to check on the watch. The Giez provides a way to let you know if the last synchronization attempt was successful and sure enough, it had worked fine. Of course, what that means is that if I want to keep the watch synchronized with the Atomic clock, I'll have to make sure to take it off and put it on the window sill each night.That's not going to be a big deal for me, but it may be to some.The transmitter in Colorado is not the only one in the world, there are also transmitters in Japan, the U.K. and Germany. Most Casio Wave Ceptor watches will recieve the US and Japan signals (helpful for those traveling to Japan.)However, the GS1100-2A also recieves the the U.K. and Germany signals, which most of the other Wave Ceptor watches do not. Unless you'll be travelling to those areas of the world, that extra functionality won't be useful to you. (I travel a lot, so that was a factor for me.)
As far as operating the watch is concerned, it's obvious that the more features a watch has, the more buttons (and button sequences) you'll need to learn.The GS1100-2A has a stopwatch and an alarm.It also can be used as a world time watch, with settings for 29 time zones. There are 4 buttons on the watch (one protruding from each quadrant of the case).Depending upon the function you want, you must press one or more of those buttons in specific sequences, and/or hold them in for specific lengths of time. Some won't want to be bothered to memorize those sequences while others won't mind ... but it's something to be aware of.So far I've learned only a few of the basic sequences, but I'm still referencing the manual for most operations. It took me a bit of time to initially set up the watch because of that.The manual is complete, but a bit confusing in some sections.It could have been written better.
Interestingly, when the watch is adjusting it's time, or transitioning from one world time zone to another, or changing from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time, motors inside the watch actually rotate the hands automatically, so there's no need for you to manually turn a knob.
All in all, I like this watch.It's quite solid and appears to be well built.I can tell it's going to last awhile.It has a good feature set, and it's a bit more stylish than many "geeky" hi-tech watches. Like many hi-tech watches, there's a bit of a learning curve in terms of it's operation;And as I stated earlier, in order to take advantage of the Solar and Atomic Synchronization features, you may have to alter your daily habits in order to accommodate the need for light, and to alsoposition the watch near a window at night in order for it to receive the time signal. If the the solar feature isn't of interest to you and you don't want to have to think about keeping it charged, I'd definitely look at a different watch. Most of the non-solar watches offer much better battery life.Also, if you're living in a city (in between tall buildings) or if you are nestled in between high mountains where signals may not get through, you might not want to pay the extra bucks for the atomic time feature. I lucked out and can get the signal, but others may not be that lucky.
The retail price of this watch is $300.00.I paid about $200.00, but I've seen it advertised on-line for a few dollars less (although shipping costs may offset that.)
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Casio Men's GS1100-2A G-Shock GIEZ Series Multi-Band Solar Atomic WatchProduct Description: This Casio men's G-Shock watch has a classic analog display but is filled with high-tech features. The stainless steel case is shock resistant and houses a blue dial that has white dashes for indexes. Three sub-dials provide chronograph functionality, and there is a date window between the four and five o'clock positions. The watch runs on solar power, and will last for four months on a full charge without need for further sunlight. The watch calibrates itself to the official US atomic clock for unsurpassed accuracy. The watch has a daily alarm, world time for 29 time zones, and a calendar pre-programmed until the year 2099. It has a black resin band and is water resistant to 660 feet (200 meters).
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Great watch! Love the G Shocks! We now have 6 of them, all different and love them all!
There was another review on here that I was reading before I bought this watch that I am sure had some influence on my decision to purchase it. I am really glad that I did get it. The other review said something to the end that this watch is, "REALLY Attractive, Better than the pictures. So what are you waiting for?" He was right on! This watch looks great in the picture here but it is much MORE attractive than the pic. Not only that but the watch is very functional; has day, date, 12-hour Moon/Sun dial, a great custom metal band, is durable. It has a little weight to it but is not a boat anchor. It's not hydro-phobic which is a must! The only down that I found that may have been mentioned elsewhere as well is that the bezel that rotates is "slightly" off. Meaning that it does not click into place directly over the numbers as it ought to. I do not know if it is just the watch I got or common for the watch. This is mostly apparent at 12. It is not so noticeable at the other number positions. The bezel on my watches is being used to time things and is always being turned anyway so it is not a big deal but if you want to set it directly on twelve and like to leave it there eternally it may bug you if your watch does what mine does. This off-ness is slight but it is the second Casio that I own that does this. I'd buy it again in a second. Killer price on Amazon. Better than "the Bay".
Overall, I am pleased with this watch.Nice styling, seems to be solidly constructed etc.It functions very well; I'vee had no problems at all with syncing with atomic clock (in New Mexico).Most functions are intuitive, though I had to spend a few minutes with the manual.Dual time function is good if you have to keep track of a second zone.Very comfortable, high quality flexible rubber strap, easy to read glowing hands, very cool LED backlight.
It's a quality good looking watch and you'll be happy with it.
I am a diabetic and use a watch with multiple alarms to keep me on schedule. My Citizen Nighthawk had broken for the fourth time in the ten years I've owned it. Rather than spend the $125.00 to have it repaired again, I decided to look for something to replace it. Of the dozens of watches I researched, this one came up with all of the features I was looking for at a very reasonable price. So far, it's working fine. Check back with me in a couple of years, to see if I'm still as happy.
Great looking digital watch that has a large digital screen with a bright back light easy for my legally blind husband to read.He flound the watch to look classic and the fit was very comfortable.Would strongly recommend this watch for the price and design.
This is a very nice watch. Large (about 7mm), easy to read time digits. 10 year battery. Date, day of the week and seconds always displayed. Backlight. And accurate to boot! An entirely satisfactory, basic, economical digital watch.
Ever since I navigated my sailboat around the world using a $10 Casio watch as my primary timekeeping device (before GPS, of course) I've been a big fan of cheap Casio watches, but I have a drawer full of working ones with broken bands. The metal band cheap-o's are mostly the three-button classic with small numerals. As I get older, I need the bigger numerals. This one is absolutely perfect. At $14 it is the ultimate statement of function and substance trumping snobbery.
I bought this because it looked nice and was priced nice.However, it has one major flaw which drives me crazy-- the buttons on the side are *very* easy to push in, so much so that I am constantly bumping into them and changing the mode, time/date screen, etc. It'll do for now, but I'll get another kind of watch when this one goes.
I was disgusted with TAG Heuer for no longer making repair parts for my favorite old watch. I was even willing to spend the ridiculous money they asked for replacing the battery and gaskets... about $100 every two years. I'll never get another TAG since they don't support their customers. 
I purchased this watch for myself about 2 months ago. I challenge anyone to find a better looking watch in this price range. It looks like a million bucks! I love the red hands, the chrome rings around the chronograph dials, the illumination tick marks, and how comfortable it is to wear. It's heavier than it looks, but not at all clumsy or bulky. It's a great watch to wear everyday, or for when you need to dress up. 
--- Warning:Long, opinionatedreview ahead ---
For such a price I think Casio did well,it really looks like an expensive watch.I have no idea if the glass scratches easily or not,as mentioned in the previous review...If you like big watches like me,this model will be the right choice.I uploaded 3 pictures that are quite different from the advertised one,you will notice how nice it's looking on the hand.
The learning curve on this watch if you use it for fishing may take some time.The moon phase is nice to know about and the sunrise and sunset is pretty cool too, but I didn't give this watch 5 stars because for the money it didn't give me the one option I used more than any other on previous cheaper watches, a timer.This one has the stopwatch but there is no timer you can set for say 10 or 15 minutes.It keeps great time so far, but that's typical of Casio.The backlight is very bright, enough so that you can almost use it as a flashlight, and the option on this model where you can set it for the backlight to come on everytime you hold your arm a certain way is cool.If you're looking for a good water proof timepiece and you don't really care about the timer issue, this is the one.And yeah I'm vain about what it looks like on my arm; it looks manly and cool.