THE CASIO G-SHOCK MR-G HAMMER TONE
Casio’s New G-Shock Is $6,200 and Armor Plated
WATCHES By ANDREW CONNOR
The Casio G-Shock is the epitome of the cheap beater watch.
The entire line was created with the goal of surviving a 10-meter fall, withstanding 10 atmospheres of water pressure and having a 10-year battery life; most cost less than $500.
These attributes have made them the tool watch of choice for those with physically demanding jobs. Yet for 20 years, Casio has been keen to make the G-Shock a premium product in the form of the MR-G series, featuring the brand’s top-of-the-line craftsmanship and engineering.
Their latest version, the $6,200 MRGG1000HT Hammer Tone, is its wildest yet.
When 300 MRGG1000HT Hammer Tone watches go on sale in June to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the MR-G, they’ll be fortified using a traditional Japanese metalworking technique called “tsuiki” — a process of shaping thin pieces of metal through meticulous hammering, which has been traditionally used on Japanese armor and copperware.
Casio employed the skill of Bihou Asano, a third-generation artisan in the field, to perform the tsuiki metalworking on the Hammer Tone, featured prominently on the “Oboro-gin” (silver-copper alloy) bezel and bracelet links.
The rest of the watch is made from DLC-coated titanium.
Like the G-Shock MRG-G1000 it’s based on, the Hammer Tone features a quartz analog movement with GPS synchronization that can update the watch’s time based on its location and can keep it accurate within a second.
The movement also features both local and world-time displays (with 40 time zones), solar battery regeneration, an alarm and a perpetual calendar.
And like the rest of the G-Shock lineup, it meets the brand’s rigorous requirements for shock and water resistance and looks like a cross between a balled-up armadillo and a Transformer. (In a good way.)
