Hands-On: Casio G-Shock GW9600 NASA Solar-Charged Watch Celebrating Calculators

According to Casio, this G-Shock reference GW6900NASA241 is part of the brand’s 50th anniversary in wristwatch manufacturing. So what does this have to do with NASA? Speaking of which, this is the fifth G-Shock watch to carry the branding of the US space agency NASA. The connection to NASA is loose in that NASA engineers and scientists used Casio calculators (and perhaps still do today). In fact, Casio is a calculating device company (that’s what digital watches are in reality) and on this 50th anniversary of its first watch (the Casiotron) it’s trying to remind people of that fact. This is a very cool watch and would have been even without the NASA branding.

To give this Casio G-Shock watch a better thematic and inspirational context, I’m including two of Casio’s marketing images for the GW6900NASA241 watch. One image shows an old “Casio Mini” calculator from 1972 (two years before Casio introduced its first wristwatch). You can see how Casio took inspiration from the colors of the Casio Mini calculator for this particular G-Shock GW9600 NASA watch. Another is a shot from the wrist of the watch showing someone wearing a pocket protector surrounded by pages full of diagrams and formulas. Such people work at NASA, but they also work at Casio. Perhaps this watch is an ironic joke that the people who work at Casio like to imagine they are at NASA. In any case, the actual inspiration for this watch is interesting and the resulting design is actually much more fashionable than you would expect the people who wear pocket protectors to demand.

While I really like many of Casio’s themed GW6900 watches, I don’t like that they’re mostly limited to Casio’s entry-level models. This means you usually have to sacrifice features and technology for a cool design or theme. In this case, Casio upped the ante (a bit) and at least used a “Tough Solar” module as the basis for this watch. While it would have been great to have Bluetooth as well, having Multi Band 6 (for atomic clock radio signals) and Tough Solar as part of the other core list of G-Shock watch utilities and tools is enough for me to enjoy wearing one of these watches and not crave additional features.

Casio uses a matte black resin for the case and strap. The GW6900 is very comfortable on the wrist, and this is especially true in this form. The watch is incredibly light at just 63 grams and not too thick at 17.7 mm (not too thick for a G-Shock). The case is 50 mm wide and has a lug-to-lug distance of 53.2 mm. There is a mineral glass above the dial and the case is water resistant to 200 meters.

A graphic behind the backlight is a common feature on limited edition Casio G-Shock watches like this one. On this watch, it’s a bit odd and also hard to make out. It appears to be the term “gravity,” along with the mathematical formula to determine it as a variable. On the back of the watch, the steel caseback has the term “Impact” engraved with the mathematical formula for it. On the strap loop, there’s a small American flag motif. As an American who likes NASA’s work, I appreciate these features, but I also find the NASA connection a bit arbitrary. Yes, this will help Casio get more attention for these otherwise cool watches, but it also kind of misses the deeper purpose of this watch, which is to celebrate Japanese calculators and the professionals who use them.

The main plus points of this Casio G-Shock watch are its aesthetic overall design, the little-more-than-simple electronic module inside and the really affordable price (under $200). The quirks behind the design features and the ambiguous relationship with NASA are just part of the charm. And if you are someone who wears or has worn a pocket protector, you will be hard-pressed to find other watches like this one that cater to your target audience. The price of the Casio G-Shock GW9600 NASA (reference GW6900NASA241) is 170 USD. For more information, visit the Casio website.