Everything has a breaking point, for a super tough gshock it’s an usps small flat rate box. Lol I ordered a new strap from link below, I will keep you posted on the repair. www.pacparts.co...
That red attachment piece might have been a good place to use carbon fiber, to provide additional strength and resistance to tearing. Casio uses carbon fiber inlays on some of their straps.
I saw an interview with Kikuo Ibe who said that the strap is designed to be the weak point of the watch. When he created the first G-Shock he had machinists and factory workers in mind and it was better to have the strap break than to pull a worker's arm into a machine.
The plastic is strong but there isn't enough material to hold up. I think the guys at Casio were originally thinking that the strap would be metal bracelet so it wouldn't have been an issue until they decided to make the rubber strap. Maybe if they were to redo the rubber strap, the red plastic should be made from metal.
Im glad I found this video... Although a bit late to the party😂. I purchased the full Metal stainless steel Square and wanted the Resin one for a more daily experience and save scratching the Stainless Steel one. Just pushed the official resin version from a UK G shock parts seller for £42. So now have best of both worlds👍
Rob, I purchased a GMW-B5000-1 and the first one they sent me came broken in the exact spot yours broke. The red link was cracked and would squeak when it shifted. Fortunately the store had no problem replacing the watch (they could have potentially given me a hard time about it), but I really think the red links on the resin strap are a serious weak point. I think the watch was designed without the resin strap in mind.
Yeah, that are is a failure point on gshocks. The part where lug holes are drilled in is also plastic - on my 5600, those lugholes are starting to wear out (due to a couple of strap changes). A metal plate reinforcement there would be a good upgrade to the current construction.
I’m glad you made this vid because it really is a public service. I wanted to buy a metal Square with a resin band just so I could take it off the factory strap and put it on several zulus but your vid made me think twice. I had considered removing the bracelets but decided against it because the brackets are very comfortable and I’d probably damage them just getting them off. Before recovering them, I’d hoped they would have been quick release but nope. I’m not going to win against Loctite. We’ve all been there but you had the guts to make the vid. I salute you, sir!
That's too bad about the watch strap, but I'm glad to see this before I bought that exact model. This is exactly the kind of thing I like to know before buying a watch. I'm probably going to go with the bluetooth square with combi bracelet instead.
Update: a few months later, I bought the gold positive display Bluetooth square with combi bracelet. Such a great watch. My only concern is that all the links are held together by springbars, which does make it easy to resize, but I wonder about how hardy it will be. Fortunately, this model's resin strap has the standard design at the lugs, not like the full metal square above. I'll get a resin strap and a PVD titanium bezel from gshockcustomworks and the watch will rock even harder.
Just finished looking at the razor wire bracelet for my Turtle, but I'm not sure it suits it. Yeah, mucking around with watches is very relaxing - except when it is rage inducing
Casio should have provided a metal tubes fused with the strap. Some Citizen straps have metal inside. You can try polymer glue like J B Weld or locktite. I have J B Welded few plastic Casio lug holes. This is a costly watch,for peace of mind its better to replace.
Sorry to see that, Rob. That red accent does look great though. Given the cost of that watch, that’s pretty unfortunate. Casio should have done better with a “G-Shock”!
Plastic always and Almost always gives to Metal. G-shock should make those plastic pieces available for sale and also maybe held in with screws so you can replace them? Seems like a very weak point for sure. Thanks for sharing.
I ordered the all metal model because of this weakness. The case is metal and heavy and having that weight on those two plastic points is definitely a flaw design. Metal bracelet should go on metal cases...rubber/silicon straps should go on plastic frames ...
mine broke in that exact same piece while I was wearing it and typing on my computer. So, that piece of red plastic is junk it seems. I wore it for less than 1 year. under normal use.
You obviously own a bunch of gshocks, have you ever had one where the beeping is loud when you first bought it, but the sound seems to only be audible when held next to the ear after a year of use?
This is why my gshock "rangeman" has been relegated to being my bedside alarm.... my "hard use" watches have steel lugs with 2.5mm thick fat spring bars which costs $5 to replace when I bend them, not plastic lugs that will break from a fart and cost the same price as a new watch to repair....
I’ve had a shroud rip right off of my atomic, solar gshock from getting hooked on a nail sticking out. Lucky I had 2 more. I’m pretty dang hard on them though. Darn the luck!
I scratched up a skx trying to take the bezel off to lubricate it. Does anyone know of a parts supplier that sells a skx case with pre-installed crystal? I don't have any tools or experience installing a crystal and would just screw it up. It looks easy enough though to take the movement and dial out of the scratched case and switch it to a new one.
ytown4 I can sympathize. It’s not as easy as it looks. Hang in and take it as a learning experience. Everybody blows it now and then - those videos don’t get posted!
ytown4 take it to a local watchmaker and pay a professional to do it. Or look for recommendations for crystal fitters on Crystaltimes and DLW websites.
Any way you could do a demo on how to change the display polarity from positive to negative on the big metal G Shock? New to them and too scared to attempt it!
Wow, what a lousy design on that G shock band. Why even design it with that red plastic piece? They should have kept it all rubber so it lays flat as well. I like that band on your SKX.
Did you use JIS screwdrivers ? You should not use Philips or Pozi on JIS screws. To be fair the failure you saw wasn't, arguably, characteristic of likely stresses while you are wearing the watch. Thanks for the video, I really like your channel.
I have the gold one.. hmmm for my second gmwb, wondering buy the silver negative display (like yours in this video) with rubber then buy the original silver strap so it makes the silver one with negative display.. like my gold gmwb5000gd.. what do you think?
That's what i hate the most of my g-shocks , is the fact that they have this fucking wings or whatever they call it. I would just like them to fold like a normal strap....nobody throws them arround so that they can land smoothly on that curved strap. Normal strap with normal lug width period !
Is it common for the lugs to be a little bit lose? When I move my had I can hear the lugs clink around. And when I bend the resin band It seems super lose. Any advice?
