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Review | Casio G-SHOCK Aviator GW-A1100-1AER

Still, small points perhaps for what is, overall, a very nicely designed and finished G-Shock. And remember, we're not looking at a Swiss Made watch, we're handling a superb piece of technology which is designed to be rugged, practical and tough. It's just that it’s easy to forget this is a £500 watch and when you remind yourself, you have to question whether it is worth it.

The sub-dials are excellent. The triangular indication arrow at the top (which shows the 24 hour clock) is white and the lower, finished in red. These accents work really well and have been designed to look like the dials you would find on the instrument cluster of an aircraft. Some of the Aviator range really stands out as appearing military-grade and we are pleased to say this is one of them.

Not one to shy away from catering for all tastes, Casio also offer the option of blue or green detailing on the watch, rather than the red. The green works well with the military-inspired theme but the red remains our favourite, striking a subtle balance with only a few key details highlighted in this colour. As for the blue option? It's a matter of personal taste, but it wouldn't be our immediate choice.

This is a robust watch, measuring 52mm from side to side and 49mm from top to bottom; it has a depth of 18mm. However, whilst this sounds huge, even by today's standards of oversized divers and pilots watches, it really does wear much smaller. Yes, it is going to stand out - how could it not - but you don't need arms built like Schwarzenegger to carry it off. Part of this is due to the integration of the resin strap into the watch case and certainly, due to it's weight, it doesn't feel particularly bulky on the wrist. However, you will struggle to fit it under a shirt cuff if you plan to wear it to the office!

But to what it was designed for: action and adventure. And it’s in this environment that it excels. It is shockproof, of course, and can even surpass the 12g a pilot experiences in a fighter jet, but whether it will end up on the wrist of a pilot, traversing the skies in a military aircraft is questionable. The reality is that it’s far more likely to be worn by a weekend warrior taking part in an extreme sport or hiking; and in this respect the watch works exceptionally well.

With its Triple G rating, in addition to being shockproof, it benefits from being impervious to impact and vibration and is water-resistant to 200 metres (20 bar); it’s ideal for surfing, snorkeling and swimming.

We have mentioned the compass and it performs accurately for basic orienteering purposes and you can set it up to point to either magnetic North or Polar North (i.e. the North Pole). Here the attention to detail is evident again - the second hand is made from carbon fibre, which is both light and strong. This means it can be made longer than standard to lead its double life as a compass needle. Clever.

You can also use that oversized second hand as a 1/100-second stopwatch or chronograph and it even benefits from a flyback feature: as standard, you would have to stop, reset and then restart a chronograph to time an event, had you already set the chronograph running. However, with a flyback complication you can use the reset function, without first having to stop the chronograph.

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