

The broad category of digital watches, however, ranges from small retro-styled units to some of the wildest behemoths in the G-Shock range. Many harken back to the earliest G-Shocks with squarish cases that appeared in 1981 from the drawing pad of renowned Casio designer Kikuo Ibe. These are any models that lack analog hands. In reality, it's tough to wrangle all of G-Shock's constantly evolving offerings into a coherent picture, but this guide should help you navigate your way to one (or 10) that suits you. Beyond that, Casio riffs endlessly with style and functionality, from resin-cased altimeter- and barometer-loaded models to precious-metal atomic-clock referencing dual-time world travelers. It’s a start.Īlmost all G-Shocks will have a stopwatch, a countdown timer, a backlight, and 200m of water resistance. The analog/digital divide is one way in which Casio cleaves its G-Shock offerings, so we have grouped this guide into three major categories: digital-only, analog/digital hybrids and all-analog. Then there are fully digital models, analog/digital hybrid displays, and an increasing number of analog-only models, too. That helps simplify things…a little: the brand regularly updates existing models with more design changes than mere colors.

The first thing to recognize is that many individual reference numbers are really just alternative colorways for many G-Shock models. Let’s carve up this beast of a lineup known as G-Shock, paring as we can along the way. In short, there's a reason that it's so common to find a G-Shock on the wrists of people in the physically roughest professions from military and police to firefighters and more. Some G-Shocks are even specially built to withstand the ingress of dust and mud - a somewhat different challenge than, say, water.
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A typical G-Shock watch is built to withstand a good shock, 200m of water pressure, plus other dangers a watch might encounter - and then some.īesides the water, hammer and drop tests other watchmakers use, you'll find Casio staff abusing prototypes and randomly selected watches in a range of ways (see article linked to above). The name G-Shock comes from the term "gravitational shock," and it seems to refer to mechanics in which shock is measured in the unit g. In those Japanese facilities is where R&D happens - and where G-Shocks are tested.
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Brand lore tells of its now-celebrity creator Kikuo Ibe dropping watches out of windows during development of the first models.īasic G-Shock models are made in China, Thailand and Japan, while the higher-end and special models are fully Japanese-made.
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That includes the brand's own laboratory-like testing facilities, amusingly brutal trials on Japanese TV and our own Gear Patrol staff running one over with his car. G-Shocks will actually be subject to abuse like few other watches to test their durability.

Casio How Tough Are G-Shocks, and How Are They Tested?
