G-Shock GMC-B2100 looks and feels larger than GM-B2100 in our hands-on look

I unexpectedly came across the new (and still upcoming in some countries) full metal GMC-B2100 series at a G-Shock store in Asia and had a chance to compare the full analog GMC-B2100D-1A with the analog-digital GM-B2100AD-2A. While they both have the same octagonal shape and are similar in appearance, the GMC-B2100 is larger than the GM-B2100. Although we’re only talking about a difference of 1.5 millimeters in length and 1.9 millimeters in width, the difference is a bit more evident when seeing them in person.

They GMC-B2100 (left) and GM-B2100 (right) appear to be a very similar size in this photo, but the GMC-B2100 looked and felt noticeably larger to me when handling them.

While the GMC-B2100 clearly looked and felt larger on my wrist as expected, the GM-B2100 also felt rather large on my wrist. Maybe not too large, but it felt larger than a resin GA-2100 despite the GM-B2100 being 1-millimeter shorter in width. (I used to have a GA-2100 and never thought of it as large. Although the GA-2100 is clearly larger than a DW-5600, it doesn’t feel much larger when worn.) The GM-B2100 looking large to me may have been due to not being accustomed to seeing it on my wrist, or it may just be due to my wrist being on the smaller side at seven inches. The full metal style gives the watch the appearance of a more traditional watch, so that may also contribute to it looking large, as the mind is not expecting a traditional stainless steel watch to be that large. In the same way that the GA-2100 wears similarly on the wrist to the DW-5600, perhaps the same is true of the GM-B2100 compared to the GMW-B5000. It did feel very similar on the wrist to the GMW-B5000 and is nearly the same weight.

The GM-B2100AD-2A on my seven-inch wrist. It doesn’t seem as large in this photo as it did viewing it in the store.

My initial thought after putting the GMC-B2100 (below) on my wrist was that it was probably too large for me, but like the GM-B2100, I imagine that I could get used to wearing it over time. The GMC-B2100 also appears on the larger side in the fashion photos with human models on the Casio product pages. The watches do not appear to be overly large in those photos, but those models also appear to have larger wrists than me. If I looked at the GMC-B2100 alone without the GM-B2100, maybe it wouldn’t have seemed so large, although you can see in the photos that it does look clearly larger on my wrist than the GM-B2100.

The larger GMC-B2100D-1A on my wrist.

I feel like the GM-B2100 would be the safer choice for me based on its size, but I could probably learn to live with the GMC-B2100. For a full metal model, I prefer the style of the full analog GMC-B2100, but I like the overall functionality and price of the GM-B2100. It would certainly be a tough decision for me that would require a few more trips to the store.

For a comparison of the functions of the GMC-B2100 and GM-B2100, view our GMC-B2100 Specs Catalog page.

Update: Watch site and accessories retailer Monochrome published a hands-on review of the GMC-B2100A-2A at monochrome-watches.com, which includes a few wrist shots.

For reference, here is a wrist shot of my GMW-B5000D-1.

Dimensions (L x W x H) and Weight

GM-B2100: 49.8 × 44.4 × 12.8 mm, 165 grams
GMC-B2100: 51.3 × 46.3 × 12.4 mm, 171 grams
GMW-B5000D: 49.3 × 43.2 × 13 mm, 167 grams