Casio loves a colorway cycle. Since 2019, the 2100 series has been re-dressed in just about every palette imaginable, and most of those releases boil down to new paint on familiar hardware. Every so often, though, the brand goes back in and touches the parts that matter. This time the hands, the hour markers, and the dial surface itself all got redone. The result has now landed stateside as the G-SHOCK Luxe Black Collection, which covers the GA2100LXB-1A, GA2100LXB-1A9, GM2100LXB-1A, and GM2100LXB-1A9.
Full disclosure: I’ve never owned a CasiOak. I’ve watched the line sharpen with each generation, and the devoted following and modding culture around it only make these watches more attractive. I don’t need another watch. Somehow that argument gets weaker every time Casio does something like this.
The changes center on the dial. The matte black surface is micro-textured to absorb light and suppress reflections, and Casio developed new slimmer hour and minute hands with extended proportions to preserve legibility against all that darkness. The hour markers are vapor-deposited, silver-toned on the 1A models and gold-toned on the 1A9 models, and a vapor deposition treatment around the glass adds depth to the whole package. According to Casio, every dial element was individually reconsidered for this series. That’s a different approach than we usually get from a 2100 refresh, and at first glance the press photos back it up.
Beyond the dial, this is standard 2100 territory. You get 200 meters of water resistance, world time across 48 cities, five daily alarms, a 1/100th-second stopwatch, and the hand shift feature that swings the analog hands away from the digital display. The resin GA2100LXB models come in at $145, while the GM2100LXB versions run $260 and add a black ion-plated steel bezel.
What I think is worth knowing before you spring for the pricier pair is that these are metal-covered watches, with a resin case and strap sitting under that bezel, and they shouldn’t be confused with Casio’s full-metal offerings. Whether the bezel alone justifies a $115 jump is a question I’ll leave with you. Japan got this collection back in June. US buyers can order now through G-SHOCK.com, the G-SHOCK SoHo store, and select retailers.
Casio could have phoned this one in with another all-black colorway, and it would have sold anyway. Instead, we got new hands, new markers, and a dial built specifically for the blackout treatment. I’ll keep telling myself I don’t need another watch. The Luxe Black doesn’t make that argument any easier.
Co-Founder & Senior Editor
Michael Peñate is an American writer, photographer, and podcaster based in Seattle, Washington. His work typically focuses on the passage of time and the tools we use to connect with that very journey. From aviation to music and travel, his interests span a multitude of disciplines that often intersect with the world of watches – and the obsessive culture behind collecting them.