Casio designer Kikuo Ibe wanted a watch that would not break when dropped, and after about two years of prototypes found his answer in a children’s rubber ball.
One line, 200 prototypes
The proposal Kikuo Ibe put to a Casio company meeting ran to a single line: “A durable watch that would not break even if dropped”. Ibe was then in charge of watch exterior design. The idea came to him after he dropped a watch at work and it broke.
At the time, watches were sensitive instruments that needed careful handling. Project Team Tough was formed in 1981 to build Ibe’s watch, and it made more than 200 prototypes over about two years.
Cushioning alone did not work. One heavily padded test model grew to the size of a softball. Ibe threw prototypes from a third-floor lavatory window onto the ground 10m below, then strengthened whatever had broken, only for another part to fail.
The floating module
The answer came on a Sunday. In a park next to the office, Ibe watched children playing with a rubber ball. He saw that a watch floating inside such a ball would survive even the strongest shocks.
The result was five levels of shock absorption around the module, the heart of the watch, which sits in a hollow case as if suspended. On the first model the case touched the module only at certain points, and a covering of urethane wrapped the whole case. Casio still explains the principle the same way: the module floats inside the case, which relieves shocks from outside.
From DW-5000C to GA-2100
The first G-SHOCK, the DW-5000C, arrived in 1983. Casio says its big, rugged form barely sold at first. Then a North American television programme showed what it could do, and it became a worldwide hit. In the 1990s, skaters and surfers took it up for its toughness and style.
The square shape grew into a family. The DW-5600C of 1987 started the long-selling 5600 line, and the AW-500 of 1989 was the first analogue-digital G-SHOCK. The DW-6300 FROGMAN of 1993 was the first G-SHOCK diver’s watch, with ISO 200-metre water resistance. The DW-6900 of 1995 introduced three round displays in a row.
Metal came in 1996, the 13th year, with the MR-G. Its first model, the MRG-100, took two years and kept the hollow case, now in forge-cast stainless steel. Casio says the metal G-SHOCK was a personal passion for Ibe. The GMW-B5000 of 2018 rebuilt the original DW-5000 in full metal, and the GA-2100 of 2019 put the octagonal bezel of the first G-SHOCK into a slim, compact case.
A line of Casio
G-SHOCK belongs to CASIO COMPUTER CO., LTD., whose head office is in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. In August 2017 the brand passed 100 million units shipped worldwide. Casio describes the work as unfinished, with G-SHOCK still evolving in structure, materials and functions in pursuit of greater toughness.
Casio also says the square design of the first watch remains the standard for G-SHOCK design today. It began as one line on a proposal.
At a glance
- Founded: 1983, with the DW-5000C (Project Team Tough formed in 1981)
- Creator: Kikuo Ibe, Casio
- Based in: Tokyo, Japan (Casio head office)
- Known for: shock-resistant watches built around a floating module; the square DW-5000C and its descendants
- Independent: no; a line of CASIO COMPUTER CO., LTD.
Sources: Casio’s own websites (G-SHOCK brand history, shock-resistance technology page, the “Five stories about G-SHOCK” articles on the origin and the full-metal G-SHOCK, Casio corporate history and company profile).