G-Shock Mr G Database MRG-1 Caliber 1556, July 1996
The white residue is actually a sign that the rubber is
drying out and that the band and protective cover needs replacement soon. During
it's 11 years of faithful service, the watch did not need a single battery
change! The watch stopped working on September 7th, 2007 and I noticed that the
protective cover had cracked. The band is still OK
The watch is still wet from washing...
Adam in NYC suggest to simply wash off the watch under the faucet. I used
liquid soap and then simply washed the watch between the hands and let it dry.
Since some Casio dials are from the softest clear PVC you can imagine, I NEVER
rub Casio crystals dry! Trust me, the next time you look at it under sunlight, the
dial might look as if an elf had been skating on it. All cellulose (tissue
paper), cotton and wrist hair have occasionally very sharp edges that will engrave softer
materials. And if you pull out your stereoscope, you will be surprised to see
what e.g. wrist hairs can do to highly polished stainless steel watch backs!
Shaking off excess water from the plastic display and
then let them dry is better in my eyes. This one might have a mineral glass
actually. It feels thicker and also the sound of it when tipping it with the
fingernail is different.
Also today - July 20th 2005 - Adam posted some additional information about this watch.... sold in July 1996 first at MSRP of JPY 24'000.
Check-list before cleaning (general, not G-Shock related):
1) Check the water resistance measuring, normally a water resistance of 30 m to 50 m should allow for rinsing
2) DO NOT follow the steps below if you have a VINTAGE watch at hand or if you are NOT SURE about the condition of the gaskets of the case back or the seals of push buttons or the crown! Brian Uziel had a good tip: solder flux brushes as used on delicate electronics, very soft, use those for watches you think will not sustain a rinse! Or use a good paintbrush with natural hair!
3) Use luke warm water and a mild soap and a soft fingernail brush, preferably a children brush or a soft tooth brush
4) Please note that you DO NOT NEED TO WASH your watches every day unless you sweating heavily or you were working e.g. in the garden. The normal cleaning is using a moist very soft cotton towel and simply wipe the watch clean. If there is dirt that does not go away wiping, then follow the instructions below.
Step 1 of 2: Wash the watch under the faucet and use a soft nail brush to brush the dust and rubber residues off
OK, just washing the watch with liquid soap, does not do the job as you can see from the picture above. So I used one of those nail brushes of my daughter. Like with good tooth brushes, make sure you check whether the end of the hairs are ROUNDED. Otherwise you will cut your gum or your dentist will tell you next time you had been using a too hard brush... The children nail brush below has sufficiently long and flexible hairs and is ideal for watch cleaning.
Step 2 of 2: LET THE WATCH DRY AND DO NOT WIPE IT DRY! Or use a dust blower to get excess water off the dial. And most importantly: NOW FOR 2 HOURS DO NOT EVEN THINK OF USING A PUSH BUTTON. That could be the burial for your G-Shock because you could push residual water into the watch case.
I intentionally used very soft tissue paper and very softly wiped excess water off. And as you can see from the shot above, paper residues will stick allover the watch dial. Use a dust blower - either from your photography set or from your watchmaker tool box. The dust blower below is from Bergeon as far as I remember and very powerful. It can blow e.g. luminous dots out of second hand meat balls. So always think, before pressing it too hard. Had to use the G as a holder, that dust blower likes to roll of the stage...
After having followed Step 1 and Step 2, your watch should look like this, clean and almost factory new. Of course there are situation even we WIS cannot fully control where watches are at risk to be scratched or beaten. Due to my experience, those high risk situations are in a not ordered sequence: Working around the house, standing on a ladder and doing some overhead work, playing with children, traveling.
As you can see, there is a matt area on the otherwise pretty glossy black rubber surface near the front lug of the watch. There is some chemistry going on in this rubber case. At least the band does not seem to have reached its final days yet. But I start thinking of getting a spare strap now for it and hope that I do not have to update this page too soon.
Also see "WATCH CLEANING 101" that we archived. It also contains interesting information about precautions of using a watch in the hot tub by Matt V. and Brian Uziel added interesting information about the tensile changes of water when adding soap and more.
Link to Archive main page with many great articles
CLEANING, RINSING WATCHES, SAUNA, HOT TUB ETC - WATCH CLEANING 101
