In this article, we will be covering the topic of the popular Casioak watch. This watch came onto the scene in 2019 and by 2020, had become extremely popular. Maybe you’ve heard of it, or perhaps you have come across this article in an attempt to find out what it is. In any case, we are going start this article off by answering the question of what a Casioak watch actually is.
Casioak is the nickname coined to describe Casio’s G-Shock model GA-2100. In fact, that nickname for the watch was first used in a post by a man named Steven Davila, on a Sottish watches Facebook group. This would go on to become the defining name for this watch.
So officially, it is the G-Shock GA-2100. But where’s the fun in that? It doesn’t slide of the tongue as easily as “Casioak”. It’s much easier to say that than to recite a seemingly random string of letters and numbers, right?
Anyway, we know that the Casioak watch is a a G-Shock. If you didn’t already know, G-Shocks are arguably one of Casio’s most popular series of watches. They are renown for their durability and toughness, producing some of the toughest watches on the planet!
So by now you may be wondering why this particular model of G-Shock gets its own special name. What is so special about the GA-2100? That is the part we will get into next.
Why Is It Called Casioak?
The Casio G-Shock model GA-2100 is called the Casioak, because it shares an uncanny resemblance to the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak collection of watches. In case you don’t know what that is, I will provide you with a brief explanation.
Audemars Piguet (sometimes abbreviated “AP”) is a luxury Swiss watch manufacturer. They create precision mechanical watches of an extremely high quality. Oftentimes, these pieces are created in limited quantities, which adds to the value due to the rarity of particular watches. Their watches range from the thousands, to the hundreds of thousands of dollars, so they are a true premium brand.
The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak first hit the scene in the 1970’s. It became what is known as a “luxury sports watch”. Since then, this watch has come to define the genre. This concept of a luxury sports watch was followed by other luxury watch manufacturers, most notably, Patek Phillipe with their “Nautilus”. However, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, being the one that started it all, continues to be held in the highest esteem among luxury watch enthusiasts.
Now you can see where the name comes from, as the GA-2100 is seen as a Casio themed Royal Oak type design. Thus the nickname “Casioak” was given to this particular G-Shock model.
Now that we know what this watch is, and how it got it’s name, let’s get into some details about the watch itself.
All About The Casioak Watch
In this section, we will be looking at the specs, design, features, and pricing of this watch.
Specs
There are different versions of this model, coming in different colors, but they all share pretty much the same specifications.
G-Shock GA-2100 Specs
- analog digital display
- mineral glass dial window
- quartz movement
- resin case and band
- case is 45.4 mm in diameter, and 11.8 mm thick
Design
The G-Shock GA-2100 has that octagonal design which made it so popular. We’ve already discussed how and why it got the name “Casioak”. But the interesting thing about this design, however, was that despite its resemblance to the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, it was never intended to be a copy or a homage to the luxury watch.
According to Casio’s product manager, Junichi Izumi, the watch was created to be a successor to the G-Shock DW5000, and took no inspiration from Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak. Casio’s actual goal when designing the GA-2100, was to create a slimmer variant of the iconic G-Shock.
After you get past the resemblance to luxury sports watches, the GA-2100 is a G-Shock watch through and through. It has both a digital and analog display on the watch face, which is not uncommon for G-Shocks. You can find a similar display on all of their popular Wr20Bar models. The band, also, is the typical slim band with the segments near the case that you see in many G-Shock models.
Now, that we’ve talked about the design a bit, let’s talk discuss its features.
Features
It comes with the typical basic G-Shock features. You have your timer, stopwatch, calendar, world time, and backlight. And like all G-Shocks, this one also has a water resistance of 200 meters.
So all in all, this watch does not deviate from the norm in terms of features. It’s all pretty basic stuff really.
So what about the pricing?
Pricing
This watch retails at prices similar to what you would expect from a mid level G-Shock. It is more expensive than the budget G-Shock models, but not nearly as expensive as the more premium models.
The interesting thing about the pricing of this particular G-Shock is that the hype, and demand surrounding this model caused large fluctuations in the pricing of the watch on online marketplaces. How much you end up paying depends on supply and demand, but at this time they are not too terribly expensive any way you look at it.
Check Casio G-Shock GA-2100 Prices On Amazon
G-Shock Casioak Watch: Final Thoughts
So what do I think of this “Casioak watch” phenomenon? I think it is an interesting example of how social media can heavily influence market trends. If the comparison to the Audemars Piguet watch had never been made, or the “Casioak” nickname had never been coined, then would this watch have still gained a similar level of popularity?
We can only speculate as to the answer to that question, but I think that without that initial spark from social media, it wouldn’t have turned into a hype machine. It could have been popular for sure, but it wouldn’t have gained anywhere near the kind of momentum that it gained in this instance.
And that concludes our little look at the G-Shock “Casioak watch”. I hope you enjoyed this read and found it informative!
