Yesterday I put the most extreme G-Shock ever made on my wrist, and the setting was a dimly lit sushi bar. That’s hardly the muddy trail or rock face you’d expect from a G-Shock launch, but it turned out to be a pretty good place to try on a watch that is part tool watch, part most-expensive G-Shock ever made.
The MRG-D5000 is a new addition to Casio’s flagship MR-G line, announced today, and it is priced at $80,000. Casio is making just 20 of them worldwide.
What is so special about it? The case is made of blue sapphire crystal.
High meets low
I’ve long had a soft spot for watches with sapphire crystal cases, think Hublot and Richard Mille. Having a G-Shock built the same way is a lot of fun. It’s the perfect encapsulation of high/low, mixing high-end watchmaking with the everyday toughness and accessibility of a G-Shock.
The colour is the first thing that gets you. It’s a deep, classy blue that looks very rich. The transparency is hard to judge in my photos, and in the moody lighting of the restaurant, the see-through effect barely comes across, but in person it looks really cool.
The dial keeps the classic brick pattern from the original G-Shock display, here in a matching blue hue. The gold lettering and other front details are in 24K gold, which adds a bit of luxury to an otherwise very functional design.
Wearing an $80,000 G-Shock
It’s a chunky thing, almost a cuboid, with a substantial case height of 16.45mm. On any other watch I’d flag that as a problem. This is a G-Shock, though, and I’m happy to forgive it, because this is a watch that was always meant to be bonkers, and it probably is the craziest G-Shock ever.
It’s also more comfortable than those numbers suggest. The rubber strap is soft and flexible, it’s made from proprietary G-Shock rubber, and the watch sat nicely on the wrist. My one wish would have been a sapphire bracelet to go with it. That’s probably a step too far, and maybe a bit of a reach for a G-Shock, but a man can dream.
Perhaps the most disappointing part about the watch? The display is negative, which looks great and suits the moody vibe, but it’s not the most legible. If you want to check the time at a glance, it won’t be the easiest watch to do it with.
How do you build a G-Shock from sapphire?
The big challenge here is that you can’t screw into sapphire, because doing so would crack the crystal. Casio’s answer is a case with no screws at all. The outer case works like an interlocking puzzle, with the parts slotting together. We were told it G-Shock has taken inspiration from Japanese wood joinery, where beams join up without nails, screws or glue to form whole houses.
Casio calls this the MR-G Multi-Guard Structure. The company analysed the force transmitted to the sapphire when the watch takes a knock and built a shock-resistant structure around protecting it. The bezel and case are made up of multiple separate components. I’ll be honest, I don’t really understand how they’ve managed it, but it’s very impressive.
The caseback is DLC-coated Grade 5 titanium with a blue sapphire insert, engraved with all the classic caseback details, including the individual serial number that marks each of the 20 pieces. Inside, the module uses Gallium Tough Solar for durability under intense light and efficient charging.
Would I buy one?
If I had $80,000 / £67,000 to spend on one watch, would this be it? No, probably not. But if that money was burning a hole in my pocket and I already had a large watch collection, I can totally see myself buying one.
Like most people into watches, I’m a big fan of G-Shock. You could own a drawer full of Greubel Forsey and Romain Gauthier and still keep a G-Shock for wearing while you do the gardening. The MRG-D5000 is for the person who wants the most outrageous version of that watch, and it has plenty of charm.
The more affordable sapphire G-Shocks
Now, not everyone has $80,000 to spend, and Casio hasn’t left the rest of us out. It has announced two other blue sapphire models alongside the MRG-D5000.
The MRG-B5000SA is another MR-G model, with two-carat, facet-cut blue sapphire crystals set into the top and bottom of the case. The bezel is made from a super-hard alloy, and blue arc ion plating (AIP) is applied to both the case and bezel.
There’s also the GMW-B5000SB, a full-metal G-Shock with blue sapphire crystal stones set at four points on the front of the bezel.
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