On the map: How G-Shock took over streetwear with adventure-focussed watches

“A durable watch that would not break even if dropped” these were the words the founding father of G-Shock, Kikuo Ibe, proposed in a Casio meeting back in ’81. Everyone was agog (probably, we weren’t there). It’s important to note that the technology of the ’80s was, of course, a world away from today’s, now, you can drop your phone in the toilet and it’ll most likely be fine. Back then, though, watches were a much more fragile luxury. In fact, Ibe had seen his dad’s pocket watch smash in front of his very eyes at work one day, which is actually the origin story for G-Shock’s tale. Fast forward forty-four years, and the watch brand has become one of the most emblematic of all time – not just because their designs are really bloody durable, but also because they look sick, which is why you’ll have spotted them on the wrists of everyone from Central Cee to Pharrell Williams as of late.

It’s safe to say that G-Shock watches are having a bit of a moment. Between recent collaborations with everyone from Crocs (who knew we needed shoes with built-in watches?) to Undefeated, G-Shock epitomises forward-thinking fashion. It’s not just about the clout that it’s harboured from celebrity sightings and streetwear collabs, it’s about the novelty of a product that does more than just looking good. After all, functionality is at the core of G-Shock ethos and it’s that genuine quality that keeps both brands and customers coming back to it time and again.

Back to Ibe’s (almost) villain arc. The Japanese engineer was head of exterior design at Casio, G-Shock’s parent company, when he dropped said monumental proposal. It took two years for him to realise his dream because completely switching up the watch game, you’ll appreciate, takes a bit of time. In 1983, the DW-5000C was created by an original team of just three members (who, in a bit of an Avengers-style gag, called themselves ‘Project Team Tough’). The result was actually nothing at all like Ibe had expected despite having a degree in mechanical engineering from Tokyo-based Sophia University – and the team spent a significant amount of time chucking prototypes out of a third-story window to see if they’d smash. Unsurprisingly, they did most of the time, and Ibe got so fed up that he gave himself just one more week of trial and error before calling the whole thing quits. 

On the last day, Ibe took a panic walk into a local park and saw some kids throwing a rubber ball. A light-bulb moment ensued and he realised that the inside of the watch needed to be placed in a hollow structure, akin to floating mid-air. We’re not engineers, so we won’t try to explain how all this worked, but the point is that it did. And over the next few years, Project Team Tough continued stepping up their game to create not only their OG shock-resistant model, but also one that could withstand low-temperature (working in up to a chilly minus-thirty celsius) and a mud-resistant one, too. Since then, the original DW-5000C and its offshoots have garnered the attention of everyone from outdoor enthusiasts to actual soldiers to celebrities — the re-make of the original, the DW-5000R, has been worn by Eminem, Gwen Stefani and members of K-pop group ITZY to name just a few takers. 

As G-Shock continued to evolve on the technology front, making them suitable for pretty much every climate from deserts to the deep sea (think: thermal sensors, to-the-millisecond stop-watches, glow-in-the-dark settings and water resistance), it was actually Japanese streetwear culture that put them on the fashion map when the DW-5900C dropped in in 1992. It had something of the ‘gorpcore’ appeal before the outdoorwear-as-streetwear concept even became a thing, and once the model was launched outside of Japan, it became a massive hit with the US West Coast skateboarding community. The triple graph dial is very skatepark-ready, to be fair. It also garnered plenty of attention by being worn by Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) in the 1998 cult classic, The Big Lebowski. 

Whether it’s the current rise of gorpcore — which the ’90s-esque 6900 style more taps into — or the nostalgia trip (the 5600 is, perhaps, the watch equivalent of a Tamagotchi), these are definitely the brand’s most en-vogue styles right now. When G-Shock dropped the DW-5000 Origin Revival last year, it completely sold out (rumour has it that there’ll be a second drop soon enough). Meanwhile, Eminem has been spotted in a 110, Florence Pugh in a 5600, Ed Sheeran in a 6900 and Justin Bieber in a 2100. Essentially, it’s about bridging that gap between our current penchant for nostalgic fashion and desire for top-notch technology — taking watches made for adventure and turning them into adventurous statement pieces. That’s why staying culturally relevant is what G-Shock does best. Other than creating really sturdy watches.