Casio seems to be gradually bringing the G-Shock and Pathfinder lines closer together. The first Casio Riseman was introduced back in 1997, but has been discontinued for some time. About three years ago, Casio introduced the G-Shock GW-400J which borrows from the Pathfinder line by integrating a thermometer. More recently, Casio announced the Ultimate Pathfinder (PAW1500) which, like the G-Shock line, is now water resistant to 200 meters (650 feet) rather than the previous 100 meters. And now Casio is reviving the Riseman line with the very strong Casio Riseman GW-9200.
Features include:
- New multi-band atomic timekeeping. Most of Casio’s atomic watches are multi-band now, meaning they calibrate with atomic clocks in Mainflingen (Germany), Rugby (England), Fort Collins (Colorado), Fukushima (Japan), and Fukuoka (also Japan). But the Riseman GW-9200 goes a step further by also calibrating with the 77.5 kHz atomic signal in China, making it the first 6-band atomic watch I’ve ever seen.
- Solar powered.
- Water-resistant to 200 meters, or about 650 feet.
- Barometer pressure indicator and differential pointer (graph) with a range of 260 to 1,100 hectoPascals (millibars).
- Altimeter with a range of -700 to 10,000 meters, altitude data storage, and altitude differential pointer (ascent/descent graph).
- Thermometer with a range of -10°C to 60°C.
- Stopwatch with a resolution of 1/100th of a second, and a maximum capacity of 24 hours.
- World time with support for 33 cities.
- Countdown timer with a maximum of 24 hours (a nice improvement over the Pathfinders).
- 5 daily alarms and one snooze alarm.
- Time transfer function which allows you to swap the primary time zone with a secondary time zone (simplifying frequent travel between two zones).
- Electroluminescent backlight with automatic illumination feature (the ability to automatically illuminate the LCD by tilting the watch toward you).
- Dimensions: 51mm x 48.8mm x 15.9mm, and 60.9g.
All that is keeping the new Riseman from being a true triple sensor Pathfinder is the digital compass which, unfortunately, is one of my favorite features of the Pathfinder line. However, the GW-9200 is clearly one of the most sophisticated digital watches on the planet. It looks fantastic, and has some additional small improvements like the ability to view the date and day of week simultaneously. I just hope that, unlike the GW-400J, we will be able to toggle between metric and imperial units for things like temperature and barometric pressure, however I’m guessing not, and I’m guessing it will not be released in the US (though I will be very happy to be proven wrong).
The Casio G-Shock Riseman GW-9200 will be available on June 28th, 2008 and will retail for ¥27,000 which, as of today, is about $260.
By Christian Cantrell
