The digital indicators allow the wearer to navigate the five different modes in which the watch can operate. You’ve got: Timekeeping Mode, which allows you to configure and set the time in your designated home city, switch between 12- and 24-hour timekeeping, and display the alarm countdown; World Time Mode is used to look at the time in 48 cities across 31 time zones; Stopwatch Mode, which is self-explanatory; Countdown Timer (also self-explanatory); and Alarm Mode, which allows for 5 different alarms per day. A big gripe I have with the Casio G-Shock G-Steel GSTS110D-1A is that reading the text written around the indicators can be quite difficult, even with the backlight. Until you’ve remembered what the text says, it’s going to be pretty frustrating to squint and make out the words. The photos actually make the text look easier to read than it sometimes is in person. It’s less of a problem on the larger indicator on the right side, which has a silver ring around the black font to make it pop a little more.
It might sound like a piddling complaint, but the beep sound when you press the buttons and hear the alarm is so shrill and obnoxious that I feel a distinct kind of annoyance. Though, maybe that’s the intention of the alarm? Moving on to watch size, as you would guess, this watch is big. From lug to lug, the Casio G-Shock G-Steel GSTS110D-1A is 52mm wide (59.1mm lug to lug) and sits 16.1mm high on the wrist. I didn’t really mind the width, and maybe that’s because of the fact that there’s no crown that would otherwise press against my hand if I moved my wrist. It does sit high on the wrist, but that’s really built into the DNA of a G-Shock.
Overall, this Casio G-Shock G-Steel GSTS110D-1A watch represents a move in the right direction by Casio. Asking buyers to pay into the thousands of dollars for a watch with a quartz movement and features that are very cool but often not very useful for most people was probably tough for a lot of people to justify with the MT-G and MG-R – although it is, of course, true that the quality of execution was considerably better on those higher-priced pieces.
Here’s a tangent alert, but I promise it comes back to this watch. I’ve always felt that there is a certain kind of brand that can do very little to affect its reputation, for better or worse. Think, on one hand, of brands like Mercedes-Benz, Chanel, and Rolex. These brands have created a reputation that is almost impenetrable in terms of not just prestige, but the fact that the acceptance of that prestige applies to an audience beyond their consumers. BMW, Fendi, Vacheron Constantin (and many others) are all as good or better, but chances are, if you asked your neighbor, friend, or cousin to name the best and most well-known manufacturer from an industry they have no in-depth knowledge about, they’d reply with some of the names from the first list.
When compared to the big guns whose names, over decades and through several generations of consumers, have somehow been laser inscribed into the minds of the masses, the perception of some other, alternative brands insinuates something lackluster. Is it fair? No. For the most part, brands that are caught in what is, for lack of a better phrase, some kind of “perpetual reputation cycle” can never shake off how they’re viewed.
And yet, G-Shock seems to have stubbornly gone the opposite way. Even though they arguably sell very well basically all across the planet, they’re not the trendiest or most impressive at a party; but the brand is clearly going in a direction that, more and more, allows it to appeal to a larger number of consumers and “watch people” who would have previously scoffed. And that brings us to the Casio G-Shock G-Steel, which (at least to some extent) was certainly designed to please that latter group of people who simply did not want to get a “normal” G-Shock in plastic (or they did but ended up hardly ever wearing it) as they wanted something more in every department.
Which brings us back to where we set off: the Casio G-Shock G-Steel GSTS110D-1A ticks pretty much all the boxes with its analog time display, most all the functions you could possibly need, a rugged steel construction topped off with a decently made and comfortable bracelet, all at a truly affordable price to boot.
If you have been in the market for a more “grown-up” G-Shock that is nonetheless a watch that can go everywhere and survive some rough treatment – while also not looking horribly out of place at dinner or an event that’s nice but not formal – the Casio G-Shock G-Steel GSTS110D-1A is a serious contender. The price of $350 is in line with what I would expect to pay for this watch, and it’s probably going to be a success in terms of sales and buyer satisfaction. gshock.com
Necessary Data
>Brand: Casio G-Shock
>Model: G-Steel GSTS110D-1A
>Price: $350
>Size: 52mm
>Would reviewer personally wear it: Yes.
>Friend we’d recommend it to first: Someone looking for a tough watch that can be worn out to casual events.
>Best characteristic of watch: Relatively restrained case design and style while still maintaining the toughness and “attitude” of a G-Shock.
>Worst characteristic of watch: Black urethane can “cheapen” the look, even though its addition is critical in making a steel watch be this tough.
