Casio G-Shock G-5500-1JF

In April I mentioned the reissue of the G-Shock II DW-5500 and how the look of the Mudman I was wearing was inspired by it. Well, I have since picked up one of these G-5500s and am wearing it today. As far as I know it was only released in Japan (although made in Thailand) but I bought mine from a seller in Austria who shipped it to the U.S.A. quickly and cheaply. The original DW-5500 was somewhat of a flop. It was probably too modern a design for the times considering the public had just gotten used to the design of the original G-Shock DW-5000C. I actually like the design of the 5500 quite a bit. The vertical and horizontal symmetry is very appealing and the red buttons and wide strap are nice details. The addition of solar power is a nice update, but the omission of atomic timekeeping is a little disappointing. The Dawn Black version of this watch does include the atomic timekeeping, so it actually makes this one a little more unique. I really like this model as it's chunkier than the 5000s/5600s but with a charm all its own. Casio has released the 5500 in a number of colors recently, including the camo-like Jam'n Color as well as red, green and white. The Dawn Black version was the first one I got (and will be appearing on this blog in the future) and since then I've been hooked on the design and always on the lookout for new and interesting versions to add to my collection.