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The 40-Year History Of The Toughest Watch Of All Time

The 40-Year History Of The Toughest Watch Of All Time

To celebrate G-SHOCK’s 40th anniversary, Casio will be launching not just one, but three limited-edition renditions of its most iconic timepieces.

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The year was 1981, Alleycats was on the radio, Dr Mahathir just became our Prime Minister (for the first time), and everyone was grooving with their shirts tucked into their baggy pants.

(Credit: Kannan Retro via YouTube/ROCK Dulu – Dulu via Facebook)

Halfway across the world, a brilliant Japanese engineer named Kikuo Ibe assembled his “tough team” of watchmakers at Casio to create what would forever be known worldwide as the toughest watch of all time.

The idea came to him after losing his favourite pocket watch that was given to him by his dad which broke after an accidental fall.

Ibe’s ambitions were simple enough: create an unbreakable wristwatch that would withstand any sort of punishment thrown at it. But producing such a device would take an insurmountable amount of effort.

(Credit: CASIO G-SHOCK via YouTube)

The toughest watch of all time

For two years, Ibe and his team tinkered and toiled day and night, making nearly 200 different prototypes around the “triple 10” design philosophy — where their watch can survive a 10-meter drop, stay functioning while being submerged under 10-bars of water pressure and performed with a minimum battery life of 10 years.

They wanted to build something rugged and robust. Something that the common person can afford, comfortably wear and rely on while doing extreme tasks and backbreaking work (instead of those preppy dress watches worn by the elites to their fancy meetings and cocktail parties).

What they ended up with was the G-SHOCK, a watch so tough that you could drive a 25,000-kilogram lorry on it without a scratch!

40-year OG (original gangster)!

First unveiled to the world in 1983, the G-SHOCK slowly but surely became an iconic piece of hardware that’s adored by everyone from construction workers to the cool kids.

Even soldiers would wear these O.G. watches on the battlefield for their durability and multi-functionality — from being able to tell the time to having built-in GPS systems and even displaying the movement of ocean tides. The watches were so out of this world that astronauts would even wear ‘em in orbit!

(Credit: United States Navy/United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration via Wikimedia Commons)

For the last 40 years, the G-SHOCK has been perfected to a point where each watch is built to be shock-resistant, vibration-resistant, gravity-resistant, water-resistant, temperature-resistant, electricity-resistant, and as tough as nails.

“A shipping container dropped and it hit his wrist. Fortunately, he was wearing a G-SHOCK. The container hit the watch, and his G-SHOCK protected his wrist. The G-SHOCK is still all right, and their wrist also was fine. Was absolutely fine,” Ibe once said in an interview, sharing an account of how their line of super tough watches was able to survive the most extreme of impacts.

And throughout the years, the G-SHOCK has persistently evolved to include a variety of stylings and colours, and is made from a range of materials, from metals to resin, to state-of-the-art composites and renewable materials that are safer for the planet.

(Credit: CasioGshockMalaysia via Facebook)

To celebrate G-SHOCK’s 40th anniversary, Casio will be launching not just one, but three limited-edition renditions of its most iconic timepieces.

The exclusive anniversary lineup will feature two blazing hot solar-flare-inspired models and one cool collaboration with world-renowned street artist Eric Haze.

Blazing hot

(Credit: G-Shock/Casio)

Made to invoke the intense energy of our home star, the GWG-2040FR-1A and MTG-B3000FR-1A Flare Red models feature multicolour laminated bezels made with phosphorescent materials in G-SHOCK’s iconic brand colours that also glow in the dark.

The dynamic design of these watches is bound to shine brightly on the wrist as the timepieces are created in such a way that no two watches look alike.

The watches are also engraved with four stars to commemorate G-SHOCK’s 40-year accomplishments and a special G-SHOCK 40th anniversary logo designed by Eric Haze etched on the back case of the watches.

Hazy cool

(Credit: G-Shock/Casio)

Meanwhile, the brand new GMW-B5000EH-1 model was made in collaboration with Mr Haze and his iconic New Yorker street style as an exclusive tribute to the very first G-SHOCK ever made.

This uniquely designed metal watch features stylish artwork by Eric Haze that’s laser-engraved on the watch’s band, a commemorative anniversary logo engraved on its case back and a snazzy graffiti tag by Haze himself that fades in and out as the watch’s super illuminator LED backlight comes on.

There will only be 10 pieces of the Flare Red GWG-2040FR-1A and nine pieces of the MTG-B3000FR-1A models available in Malaysia, while only 10 pieces of the Eric Haze GMW-B5000EH-1 will be available for sale during an exclusive launch at the G-SHOCK Store Lalaport Bukit Bintang City Centre (BBCC), Kuala Lumpur from December 9 starting at noon.

The Flare Red and Eric Haze models are also available on Casio’s online store.

After that, the watches will be made available in all 18 official G-Factory and G-SHOCK stores nationwide from the third week of December onwards.

Head on over to the campaign page or Facebook for more information on the G-SHOCK Flare Red and Eric Haze and how you can get your hands on these special limited editions of the toughest watch of all time, today!


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