G-Shock celebrates 40th anniversary in tropical paradise
Legend has it, one day while walking the streets of Japan, Kikuo Ibe, bumped into a fellow pedestrian, and the mechanical watch gifted by his father, fell off his wrist, shattering it. This was the moment that Ibe-San came up with the concept of a truly tough watch. It was a timepiece so tough it could withstand drops, or any abuse one can encounter. Thus, the Casio DW-5000C, the brand’s very first G-Shock was born.
Fast forward 40 years, G-Shock still remains a true trailblazer in creating fashionable and trendy timepieces, while maintaining true to its credo of building a truly tough watch. In celebration of G-Shock’s 40th anniversary, the Shock the World (STW) event brought KOL’s, media representatives, enthusiasts, dealers and friends of the brand, over to the tropical paradise of Bali, Indonesia.
The weekend long celebration highlighted all past accomplishments of the brand, with glimpses of future plans and offerings. Discussing the future direction of G-Shock was the Executive Officer and Senior General Manager of Timepieces Business Unit, Oh Takahashi.
Takahashi-san reiterated that the brand’s credo of Absolute Toughness, created with innovative and playful designs and is 200m water resistant, vibration and centrifugal resistant, which are features that sets the G-Shock above its competitors. A total of over 5,000 models have been created in the G-Shock line in the last four decades.
For its 40th year, a new product line-up was revealed, centering on fashion, the arts, music, and sports. The star of the show was Casio’s Dream Project #2. This computer aided design technique, used AI technology to optimize the design, featuring an 18-karat yellow gold bezel and case and band. Hand polished by skilled craftsmen gives the timepiece remarkable shine and brilliance. The one-of-a kind watch still retains all the G-Shock features – a shock resistant case, water resistant up to 20-bar, solar charging system, a multi-band radio control, dual time, stopwatch and date display.
The highlight of the weekend was the appearance of Ibe-san the father of the G-Shock himself. In the world of watch enthusiasts, Ibe-san was a rock star, who did not give up on his dream of creating the world’s toughest watch. Capping the festivities were performances by Warren Hue and Niki and DJ sets of Jnaro, Dub will, Equal who, at the Potato Head Beach Club, that lasted well until the early morning. All attendees were in high spirits during the event, and was probably one of the most entertaining, energetic, global launch in the watch industry.
