The HOA Prez G-Shock
It was about 40 bucks, but in my mind, it's worth a lot more.
I’m a firm believer in watches for special occasions, and this trip to the courthouse was, indeed, a special occasion. I ended up President of my HOA during the pandemic. I didn’t plan to take the job, it just sort of happened.
It was, as I had hoped, my last trip to court during my time on the board.
I’ll spare you the details, but the short of it is that the pandemic led to a lot of HOA-related litigation. It’s not hard to imagine why: people stayed home more. And in January of 2023, we were wrapping up a years-long conflict in court and, not wanting to get there late, arrived in Manassas, Virginia very early.
So to kill the time, I went to nearby Walmart and found a DW5600E-1V for under $45, during the very beginning of the Walmart watch fire sales. It was also my first G-Shock, after long having been in the Casio F-91 fanbase.
Glowing profiles abound for this watch, because there is nothing really bad to be said about it: pretty much any variant you want, minus analog hands, exists. Solar, bluetooth, virtually any colorway you want.
Coincidentally, it is my birth-year watch: 1983. And, that year this model was also celebrating the big 40.
It’s the watch from Heat and many other movies. A similar model was worn by Keanu Reeves in Speed. It’s been on the space shuttle and ISS and is space approved by NASA. It is also a watch very well utilized in the GWOT. Teddy Baldassarre threw it from a helicopter many times. It routinely makes the top 10 list of many varied categories for watches. I consider it a must-own, and also like to give it as a gift. (Along with cast-iron skillets.)
Ultimately, the case was a success for the association, and whenever I have a tough physical assignment ahead, I reach for this watch.
I would also use it during meetings to time things in open forum during HOA meetings, not that this was a tough assignment, but sometimes it can be! The newer modules have muted buttons, which I prefer in the GWM5610, but this being my HOA watch and Zoom being muted, I would use it anyway.
The “Square” has always been, from afar, my favorite of the G-Shocks aesthetically, and perhaps that’s also due to my love of the humble F-91. (I now have 4 squares and eleven total, as G-Shocks are addictive.)
Of course, all good things come to an end and I retired from the HOA board, knowing that a move was likely (and my mom was not doing well). On my last day as HOA President, I put on the watch as sort of memoir to remember the experience by.
I got a call. A car had almost fallen into the drainage pond and was saved by a humble fence post. I went out to take pictures and document it for the management company, but just another day in the HOA business. I remembered that I was wearing the DW5600E-1V for a very special reason and snapped a photo.
Nearly a year later, I don’t miss the HOA life. Though, I do miss Virginia’s fall beauty, some of my neighbors, and friends.
—Casual Time #13 by Jim Swift
The Watch: DW-5600E-1V, the “quintessential” G-Shock. $74.95, but prices vary by model and module.
Resin, metal-backed case, Digital movement, Mineral glass, antireflective, Water resistance 20 bar, 48.9 × 42.8 × 13.4 mm, 53 grams.
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