Casio G-Shock Solar MTG-9100J

I'm back to an old G-Shock today, and as it was sunny I thought I'd blog one of their Solar models. 

This watch is the MTG-900J (I think is the Japanese model the MTG-900). It is one of the MT-G sub-line of the Casio G-Shock watches. The MT-G watches are the metal watches in the G-Shock line, and so have the impression of being the smarter and more luxurious watches. Casio stated that this line, and maybe more specifically this series, set the benchmark for men's metal digital. 

This model is an all LCD design with the normal 200m water resistance, and has Waveceptor radio control, and the Tough Solar system as well. It is powered by a 2639 module (some have 2638 modules), which gives the watch world time, time memo, alarm (x4), and stopwatch modes. 

The display is a 3 line LCD which is dominated by the large time display across the centre. The top line is a dot matrix showing day and mode descriptions and along the bottom is the date. In the top left of the display is the charge marker for the solar power, and in the bottom right is the radio reception marker. 

This model came out in the mid 2000s (I found a review from 2007) and it can be found in the Casio G-Shock archive on their website. 

Casio Lilana LNA-2LJ

Today's watch is a complex watch for its size. It's also my sisters birthday, and the model number contains her initials.

The watch is by Casio, and is part of their Lilana line of watches. The Lilana range isn't mentioned much on any of the websites I've found, but it gets a special mention in the Casio Japan company history. In that listing, it says that the Lilana watches were first released in November 2004. The line was designed to be for cool watches for women, but doesn't seem to be around anymore as the Casio Lilana website has a front page but nothing else. The line had a tag line of "True Time & Solar Power" and this refers to he fact that the watches have both radio control and solar power. The line also had its own logo with a round symbol with a swirly flower pattern, and this could be found on the watch back.

This model is the LNA-2LJ (or more specifically the LNA-2LJ-5AJF). It was released on November 27th 2004 making it one of the first Lilana watches. It is a 3 hand dial design with a date window at the 4 o'clock position. It has solar power, and works on the 40 and 60kHz radio control frequencies. The date is also done with a perpetual calendar, so it will auto correct based on which month it is. There are two hidden buttons on the side which control the adjustment and mode (where the seconds hand turns to various places to designate whether it is receiving a signal, show whether it is am or pm, and other things). This is all powered by a Casio 3717 module. The watch is also 5 bar water resistant, but the amount or resistance is only shown on the label and not the watch case.

This particular version has a brown face and a Pinky beige strap, but the design came in a range of colours including all black, and black with a white strap.

It was a pretty expensive watch when it first came out, with a retail price of ¥36,750 (after tax). Some of the original posters can be seen on the ZonaCasio blog at link (in Spanish).

Orient Radio Controlled Perpetual Calendar MA VY00

A quick post today of a watch I've been trying unsuccessful to fix.

The watch is by Orient Watch Company who are one of Japan's largest producers of mechanical watches. The company started in 1950 but is now a subsidiary of Seiko Epson.

It is a 3 hand dial watch with no other windows. Inside it's simple exterior is a more complicated watch. The watch has a perpetual calendar, so is correct throughout the months. There is a set of markers around the centre that goes up to 31, so pressing one of the buttons will show the date. It is also radio controlled on the Japanese 40KHz frequency to keep it on track.

The full model number seems to be MA VY00-C0 CA.

RCW Radio Controlled Watch

Today's watch is a hard one to find anything about as the model name is the abbreviation used for its main feature.

The watch seems to be by/called RCW, but there is no record of them as a manufacturer. It is a Japanese radio controlled watch which works on the Japan Standard Time Frequency.

It has a dual colour LCD display with red and black text. The main time display is across the centre and has a pseudo dot matrix look - the numbers are made up of small blocks, but the blocks are only in the layout of a normal figure 8 pattern digit. Along the bottom are another 5 1/2 digits for date and seconds (or time during the other functions). The top red LCD part is a dot matrix array (3 groups of 5x6) for the day, or mode description.

The watch has a standard set of stopwatch, alarm, timer, and dual time functions, and is a rugged looking model.
On the back,  it mentions the watch is 10 bar water resistant and gives the model number as FI-22064.

Casio Waveceptor WV-50H

I was travelling today, so thought I'd use one of the watches with the radio control to save me changing the time zone.

The Casio Waveceptor range are the Casio watches that use the radio control on different frequencies to connect to stations around the world and automatically set the time.

This Waveceptor is the WV-50H which is a radio controlled watch with a 25 time zone world time. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work in Europe as I had to change the time manually anyway.

The watch uses a 2408 module and has a 2 line LCD display. The hours are in large digits along the bottom, with day, date, and seconds along the top. It also has an alarm and stopwatch, as well as a date alert option, and there is an electro-luminescent backlight.

I don't know when this first came out, but the date starts from 2001. I think the original price was somewhere between $30 and $40.

Q&Q Radio Controlled watch HZ24

It's back to a normal size watch today yesterday's giant model.

This is a watch by Japanese brand Q&Q, who are part of the Citizen watch company. Their website states they are the #1 brand in analogue watches, but also sell digital watches and clocks.

It is a radio controlled watch working on both the 40 and 60kHz systems (meaning it should be worldwide compatible), and has a 3-hand dial. Time can also be manually set by pulling out the middle button and using the bottom button to move the hands. Manual setting spins the seconds hand very fast, but it takes a long time if you want to change more than a few hours. The other button puts the watch into receiving mode, pausing the time until it is ready, then turning the hands to the correct place.

It is 5 bar water resistant, and is meant to have a 10 year battery life.

The back repeats the watch functions, and has the initials CBM. There is a model number on the face HZ24-205 WLP.

Casio Lineage Ana-Digi Waveceptor Tough Solar - LCW-M200

It's still sunny here, so I'm taking the chance to get through more of my solar watches.
Today's is part of the Casio Lineage range of watches. It is one of the Tough Solar watches, which are solar powered but rugged enough to take a few knocks. It is also a Wave ceptor, so will update automatically based on signals from transmission stations - this one is multi band 5, so can connect to one of 2 Japanese stations, or ones in the USA, UK, or Germany.
It is an Ana-Digi watch with a 2 hand electronic dial, and an LCD display at the bottom. The LCD display is a mix of dot matrix and normal digits (the seconds are shown in the normal digits). The watch uses a 4709 module, and the LCD display shows time, world time /time zone, battery charge, alarm, stopwatch, and signal settings.
The full model number is LCW-M200, and it has a strap part number of S-1108L.

Casio Waveceptor Solar WV-100J

Over the last few days, I've been blogging more novelty watches, so I've gone for something serious today.
Over the years, Casio has produced many lines based on their key features - for example, Casio Illuminator, Casio Databank, Waveceptor, and Tough Solar. Today's watch, the WV-100J, actually falls into all of those categories, but is mainly under the Waveceptor range.
The Waveceptor range are watches which synchronize with various broadcast stations around the world to make sure that the time is always correct. There are two stations in Japan, one in the US, and two in Europe (UK, and Germany) - this model was for Japan and the US only, and doesn't appear to have the option to synchronize with the European stations. It is however possible to manually set the watch either by time zone (so you're covered while travelling), or direct setting.
It is also a solar powered watch, with a ring of solar panels around the edge of the LCD display. At the edge of the LCD, in the top left lies the power meter with 4 blocks, and if the power gets down to 1, some functions start to become disabled. There is also a power saving Recovery mode (which is indicated by a block in the top right of the display) which activates if you use the alarm and/or Illuminator el-backlight too much in a short time.
All this and more is powered by a 2514 module, which has time, date, 4 alarms, dual time, and stopwatch. The data memory stores 315 letters, and will keep small memos - memos can also be attached to alarms to display a message as the alarm sounds.
The watch has a round LCD display, with the time in the centre (4-digits), and seconds below. Above the time is a band of dot matrix (35x5) which normally has date and day, and shows messages depending on where you use it. Around the edge of the LCD are the function markers, signal strength meter, alarm indicators, and power meter.
It is made from steel and plastic, and is 5 bar water resistant. The strap has a part number of S-911L.