Casio & G-Shock Watches: A Timely Celebration
The year 2024 marks 50 years since Casio launched their very first wristwatch, and just over 40 years since the Tokyo-based electronics company unveiled their robust and now iconic G-Shock brand.
Join me as I learn more about the history and heritage of these nostalgic timepieces, and why their vintage designs remain as popular to this day.
Contents: Casio & G-Shock Watches: A Timely Celebration
The Birth of an Icon
The very first electronic digital watch went on sale in April 1972. This was the Pulsar P1 by Hamilton, which used power-hungry red LEDs to display the time for a few seconds, at the press of a button. The P1 cost a hefty $2,100 US dollars when released, which is roughly equivalent to around $13,000 USD in today’s money.
The almost identical Pulsar P2 followed a year later and was worn by James Bond in the film Live and Let Die.
The popularity and novelty of the Pulsar watches led to other companies exploring the development of their own digital watches.
Casio hadn’t previously ventured into the watch market at this time, but the technology they’d already developed for their popular range of calculators provided them with a running start.
Casiotron QW02
By 1974 Casio were ready to launch their first offering, the Casiotron QW02.
This stylish timepiece made use of an LCD screen to display the digits, rather than an LED screen, which made it far less draining on the battery than the Pulsar watches were. This allowed the time to be permanently displayed on the watch face, without the need to activate it by pressing any buttons.
The Casiontron also featured a calendar function and highlighted the current day of the week.
Digital calendars had already featured on a few other watches by this point, but the Casiontron was the first watch to automatically differentiate between longer and shorter months. This saved the wearer the need to reset the calendar at the start of a new month.
As part of their 50th anniversary celebrations this year, Casio have recreated the Casiotron watch, but have added some upgrades. The new version boasts a smartphone link, radio-controlled time updates, and solar charging, as well as the basics we’ve come to expect from Casio nowadays: daily alarms, world times, a stopwatch and countdown timer.
The 2024 version is limited to 4000 pieces worldwide.
G-Shock DW-5000C
“A durable watch that would not break even if dropped.” This was the vision of G-Shock creator, Kikuo Ibe.
Watches were delicate pieces of engineering and were accepted as being incredibly fragile. Ibe wanted to change this, but a solution was much trickier to develop than he had anticipated.
Several failed prototypes led to him almost giving up on the concept, until he was inspired when seeing a group of children playing with a rubber ball.
This led him to the idea of housing the fragile watch workings inside a hollow casing, protected by multiple layers of shock-absorbing materials.
By 1983, his first G-Shock model was finally ready to release to the market. The DW-5000C did everything Ibe had set out to achieve.
Everything except generate sales, that is. The squared shape and bulkiness of the design didn’t immediately appeal to the mass markets. But popularity eventually skyrocketed after the robust features of the G-Shock were demonstrated on a television programme in America.
Through the Years
But once sales did start to pick up there was no stopping Casio.
At a very conservative estimate, they have released more than many lots of G-Shock models since 1983, and at least approximately loads of unique designs in their Casio Vintage range during the last half century (you may be able to tell that I’m struggling to find accurate numbers here!). Many of these models have been released in multiple different colour versions as well.
While some of the designs have gone on to become staple pieces in the ranges, perhaps with minor tweaks and new features added over the years, other designs were released strictly as limited editions.
The Most Expensive
In 2023, the G-Shock G-D001/Dream Project #2 was released as a one of a kind piece to celebrate 40 years of G-Shock. The watch boasted an 18K yellow gold case, case back and strap.
The unique piece had a pre-sale estimated selling value of between $70,000 and $140,000.
It was sold at the Phillips New York Watch Auction in December 2023, and actually ended up selling for an eye-watering $400,050, with all proceeds being donated to environmental organisations.
The watch case was designed with the aid of artificial intelligence. 40 years’ worth of G-Shock design data were used by a custom AI system to develop a 3D model, “optimised for factors including structural strength, material characteristics, and processing methods”. The full specification can be found on the auction listing page on the Phillips website.
For Dream Project #1 back in 2019, to celebrate the 35th anniversary of G-Shock, 35 solid 18K yellow gold watches were produced. These were made in the style of the standard ‘Full Metal’ watches, and each sold for $70,000.
The Most Sought After
The OG collectable piece from the G-Shock family dates all the way back to the launch of the brand.
Limited to only 8 pieces, the original G-Shock development team were each presented with a version of the DW-5000C as a celebratory gift, customised to include the words “Project Team: Tough” in blue letters, in place of the standard “Water Resistant 200M” text.
In 2023, to celebrate G-Shock’s 40th anniversary, the company released a limited edition replica of this design.
One model in the Casio range that’s highly sought after by collectors is the TM100. Released on a limited run in 1987, and only in Japan, this model is also known by some as the ‘walkie talkie watch’.
This nickname, however, is not particularly accurate, as the watch actually acted as a one-way FM transmitter rather than the typical two-way transmitter/receiver found in a walkie talkie.
The novelty feature allowed the wearer to tune a nearby radio to an unused frequency, match the watch to the same frequency, and then use the in-built microphone and telescopic aerial to broadcast their voice to the radio.
I imagine this would have been a bit of short-lived fun for children and tech geeks at first, but perhaps not a particularly useful feature in the long run. Especially as the maximum broadcast distance was only around 60 metres.
But the rarity and uniqueness of this model still makes it highly collectable today.
Overly Complicated?
Along with the novelty offered by the TM100, over the decades Casio have sought to reinvent their designs by including other often unexpected features, more accurately known as ‘complications’.
But were some of these features a work of genius, or just overly complicated gimmicks? I’ll let you be the judge.
- 1983: Scientific [CFX-200]
This was the first ever digital watch to include a scientific calculator. And if that wasn’t enough to keep the maths nerds happy, it could also calculate a wide range of different unit conversions. - 1987: Phone Dialler Data Bank [DBA-80 / DBA-800]
Not only could this watch model be used to store the phone numbers of your nearest and dearest, by holding its built in speaker up to your landline phone’s receiver, it could also be used to automatically dial their numbers for you too. - 1992: Flip Top Data Bank [IA-1000]
This may look like an ordinary analogue watch at first glance but flip the top open and you’ll reveal a wealth of hidden surprises. A digital LCD display and 20-button keypad allowed the wearer to store phone numbers and short memos, as well as make use of the obligatory calculator function. - 1990: Blood Pressure Monitor [BP-100]
If you thought that today’s breed of all singing and dancing smartwatches (sorry, I know this is a swear word to many watch enthusiasts) brought blood pressure monitoring to your wrist, it may surprise you to read that Casio already achieved this over three decades ago.
- 1993: Wrist Remote Controller [CMD-10]
Now this one I would have loved as a child! Using your watch to control not only the TV, but the VCR as well? That’s some proper space-aged technology right there. And, apparently, an unexpected side effect was that the watch could also be used to unlock some cars. What’s not to love? - 1994: Cyber Cross [JG-100]
Sticking with the infrared tech used for the remote controller watch, Casio used it the following year to include a multi-player dungeons and demons game, which you could play with friends who had the same watch. - 1994: Radiant Thermo Sensor [TSR-100 / TSR-110]
If you didn’t have any friends, or if playing games was too childish for you, the same year also saw the release of Casio’s thermo sensor watch. Simply point the sensor towards an object and press the big yellow button to find out the object’s surface temperature. The device could measure temperatures from -20C to 200C. - 2000: Wrist Audio Player [WMP-1]
As we entered the new millennium, there was no stopping Casio. Cue the world’s first wristwatch to feature a built-in MP3 player. With a whopping 32mb storage capacity, this was enough for around an hour of music at a super crisp low quality of 64kbps. Ok, so it was perhaps never going to change the world, but I’m sure it would have been sufficient enough at the time to entertain on a daily work commute. - 2000: Wrist Camera [WQV-1]
And that wasn’t the only world first for Casio that year. The year 2000 also saw the company release the first ever watch with a built-in digital camera. The model’s LCD display was capable of showing full-screen black and white previews of your photos. A year later, the WQV-10 was released, which featured an upgrade to a colour LCD screen.
Collaborations
Casio certainly haven’t been shy of creating a brand crossover or two during the last half-century. Not only with their vintage and G-Shock ranges, but also with their Baby-G range, which is aimed primarily at women.
With literally hundreds of mashups over the years, there’s far too many for me to write about here. So below are examples of a few recent ones to have caught my eye.
Admittedly, with the Uno release, I find the Casio redesign of the Uno cards more appealing than the watch itself. But, unfortunately, these cards were only available if you purchased the watch from the Casio store in London and, sadly, not available online.
Casio in Popular Culture
As well as deliberate crossovers like these, Casio have also had a fair share of their standard release watches championed by well known TV and film characters.
In 1979, the Ridley Scott directed sci-fi horror classic film, Alien, was released. One of the film’s protagonists, Officer Ellen Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver), wore a pair of specially adapted Casio F-100s throughout the film.
Both watches were worn together on a single strap, created by the film’s prop department, and led to an increased demand for the watch from fans of the movie. However, the timing was unfortunate as, that same year, Casio had shifted their focus away from promoting the F-100 and were pushing a newly released watch model instead.
This wasn’t the only time a Casio watch made an appearance in a mainstream movie though.
Marty McFly, in Back to the Future, is seen wearing a CA-50 calculator watch throughout the first film of the trilogy. This watch was introduced by Casio in 1984, with the film released in 1985.
Although, for the second and third films he went on to wear the upgraded, but very similar, CA-53W, which was released in 1988.
The CA-53W has also made a few guest appearances on the small screen, most famously worn by Walter White, the lead character in Breaking Bad.
And, of course, who could forget Mr. Bean? His watch of choice, back in the 90s TV series, was also the CA-53W.
My Collection
I know you didn’t ask, but I thought I’d finish up by sharing my current Casio and G-Shock collection with you. I’ve shown them here in the approximate order I acquired them.
I’m still pretty new to this, so it isn’t much of a collection at the moment, but I imagine I’ll be adding more in good time.
Next On My Wishlist
And, in no particular order, I already have my eye on several other recent or upcoming releases.
- GM-2100BRW-1AER
Rainbow Brick Wall Series - GA-B2100MF-1AER
Multi Fluorescent - DW-5600EP-2ER
Energy Pack Series - GBM-2100A-1A2ER
Metal Covered 2100 (Bluetooth + Solar) - GA-2100MNG-2AER / GA-2100MNG-7AER
Manga Series (below)
The eye-catching G-Shock Manga series was released in May 2024 as a limited edition. Sadly I wasn’t quick enough, or indeed cash affluent enough at the time, to order one of these.
It didn’t help that I can’t decide which colour I prefer, so I’d have probably needed to buy one of each! Because of this, I think these will most likely remain on my wish list for a while now, until I can eventually afford to pay reseller prices for them.
And finally, it may have been out of production for many years now, but after I recently discovered the existence of the Casio FS-10 from way back in 1985, I may have to make it my mission to find one.
I mean, look at it! Not only is it oozing with retro charm, but it was also released the year that I was born. Which is somewhat confusing, because I’m actually only 28.
Unfortunately, due to the very nature of this watch’s ultra-thin (3.9mm) design, the film material used to make the bonded watch face and strap wasn’t particularly durable. So, despite this being the first Casio watch to sell over 1 million units, it’s difficult to find one today in a good condition.
Still Going Strong
Even after 50 years, Casio are still knocking out new designs at a surprising rate and remain as popular as ever.
Explore their current ranges or look back over some more of their history in detail with the links below.
- Casio Watch 50th: Our Heritage
- Casio Watches Store
- G-Shock Watches Store
- Casiold: Specialist Vintage Watch Store (Unofficial)
- Casio G-Shock Database (Unofficial)
