G-Shock: Casio's Historical Origins & Trendsetting Evolutions

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theORIGINS: Casio's G-Shock

History Of G-Shock

Developing a legend

With the launch of its first watch in 1974, Casio entered the wristwatch market at a time when the watch industry had just discovered digital technology. As a company with cutting-edge electronic technology developed for pocket calculators, Casio entered this field confident that it could develop timepieces that would lead the market.

In developing its own wristwatch, Casio began with the basic question, "What is a wristwatch?" Rather than simply making a digital version of the conventional mechanical watch, we thought that the ideal wristwatch should be something that shows all facets of time in a consistent way.

Based on this, Casio was able to create a watch that displayed the precise time including the second, minute, hour, day, and month - not to mention a.m. or p.m., and the day of the week. It was the first watch in the world with a digital automatic calendar function that eliminated the need to reset the calendar due to the variation in month length.

Rather than using a conventional watch face and hands, a digital liquid crystal display was adopted to better show all the information. This culminated in the 1974 launch of the CASIOTRON, the worlds first digital watch with an automatic calendar. The CASIOTRON won acclaim as a groundbreaking product that represented a complete departure from the conventional wristwatch.

Casio's G-Shock: GRAVITYMASTER feat. Triple-G Resist construction — resistant to the forces of impact, vibration and G Forces | Model: GWA1100R-4A | Retail Price: $650

Durability

Using a triple protection design for the parts, module, and case, the G-SHOCK offered a radical new type of watch that was unaffected by strong impacts or shaking. Its practicality was immediately recognized, and its unique look, which embodied its functionality, became widely popular, resulting in explosive sales in the early 1990s.

The G-SHOCK soon adopted various new sensors, solar-powered radio controlled technology, and new materials for even better durability. By always employing the latest technology, and continuing to transcend conventional thinking about the watch, the G-SHOCK brand has become Casio's flagship timepiece product.

In 1983, Casio launched the shock-resistant G-SHOCK watch. This product shattered the notion that a watch is a fragile piece of jewelry that needs to be handled with care, and was the result of Casio engineers taking on the challenge of creating the world's toughest watch.

Concept & Birth

G-Shock is the ultimate tough watch. It was born from a developer's dream of "creating a watch that never breaks." Guided by a "Triple 10" development concept, the design teams sought a watch with 10-meter free-fall endurance, 10-bar water resistance and a 10-year battery life.

— RiRi —

At a time when it was commonly believed that watches were breakable items, G-Shock's development represented a challenge to common sense. The number of experimental prototypes built for endurance testing reached over 200. And the structural development and parts improvement took approximately two years.

— Em —

After a long, hard process of trial and error, G-Shock was finally launched. A shock resistant structure that overturned conventional thinking about watches was realized through breakthrough thinking, including the ideas of a hollow-structured case, all-directional protective covering and the use of cushioning material to protect critical parts.

These were the fruits of technological development that insisted on "toughness" and a revolution in watch design. Since launched, G-Shock has continued to evolve for 25 long years, carrying on the toughness of spirit and uncompromising passion that led its developers to persist in their unshakable belief.

Design + Structure
Design

Case design offering protection against free-fall shocks
A prominent bezel configuration was adopted to prevent the buttons and glass from contacting flat surfaces, thus protecting them from shocks when falling at any angle. This design concept stressing protection from shocks is basic to every G-Shock case design, and the same protective structure is employed not only for our urethane cases, but also for our mm teal cases and analog watch cases.

Urethane band that acts as a shock absorber

The band actually acts as a shock absorber itself, protecting against shocks from behind. We have established strict standards for the combination ratio of urethane resin employed. Neither too soft nor too hard, the superb specified combination realizes an ideal balance between shock resistance and comfortable wear-ability.


Shock-resistant metal band that prevents drop shocks

This band is constructed of scratch-resistant pieces. Damage from shock is prevented, even if the watch is dropped, by a structure that defends against shocks by employing wide intervals at the connection points between the band pieces, and adopting a flexible, 150-degree range of band movement.

Structure

Born from the breakthrough idea of a hollow structure
The case employs a hollow structure in which the module is "floated" to protect it from shocks. A full urethane bezel provides all-directional enclosure to prevent direct shocks from striking the glass and buttons. And cushioning material provides extra protection for the key parts such as the crystal oscillator inside the module. These and other shock-resistant technologies, exclusive to G-Shock, are spread generously throughout the body and the module interior to raise toughness to the highest levels.


Hollow-structure case


If we tried to absorb shocks simply by encasing the module with urethane resin or other such materials, the case would grow to immense proportions.

G-Shock realizes high shock resistance by supporting the module inside the case at just a few points, thus creating a situation as if the module were floating in air.


All-directional covering

Direct shocks to the buttons and the glass surface are prevented by a protective urethane-resin bezel design. Shock resistance has been ensured by inserting cushioning material between the bezel and case in metal models with lower shock-absorption capabilities.


Protection of important parts with cushioning material


The crystal oscillator and other important parts inside the module are individually protected with cushioning material. This prevents contact failures and improper operation due to distortions that could otherwise occur inside the module if the watch experience a sudden strong impact. — G-Shock