Casio has officially announced the G-Shock 2500 Series, a nine-model collection of fully analogue watches that reimagine the DW-5000C, the original G-Shock from 1983.
The range starts at US$145 / £110 and goes on sale on 7 November 2026.
Where the 2500 differs from traditional G-Shocks that it goes completely analogue, swapping the screen for hands, with small seconds at 9 o’clock and a date window at 3.
It comes in three families: the resin GAC-2500 (US$145 / £110), the GMC-2500 with a metal-clad bezel and rubber strap (from US$280 / £230), and the all-metal GMC-2500D (US$350 / £300).
It also lands just weeks after the Blue Rose Project, the most expensive G-Shock ever made. It’s safe to say, the 2500 sits at the complete opposite end of the scale.
Why everyone’s calling it the CasioNaut
You may already know the 2500 by another name… Most of the internet first saw it when it leaked on Casio’s Japanese website a month early. It instantly went viral, because the squared-oval dial and the wing-like shapes on the sides of the case look a lot like the Patek Philippe Nautilus (perhaps the definitive luxury steel sports watch.
The internet christened it the “CasioNaut” and the “Gnautilus”.
Casio has form here. The GA-2100, which arrived in 2019 and is one of the best G-Shocks around, borrowed the octagonal bezel of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, another primo luxury steel sports watch, and fans nicknamed it the CasiOak.
Maybe we can expect a Casio OverG to complete the Holy Trinity?
And, from one quick leak, just like the Swatch x Audemars Piguet Royal Pop before it, the 2500 sparked a wave of AI renders on Instagram before anyone had seen the real thing.
Now the watches are official, and I’ve worn every single model.
Hands-on in London
I first tried the range at a launch event in London, where every model was laid out on a table ready to try on and photograph. That was a useful way to see how much the three families differ, and get an introduction to the entire range.
After the event, I was sent two to live with – a resin model in yellow and an all-metal model with a black dial. Here’s how I got on.
The resin model: light, cheap, and cheerful
Living with the all-resin model, the thing that stood out most was comfort. It’s really light, and the dial is the perfect size, big enough to read at a glance without looking like a dinner plate.
It’s the entry point to the range, and it feels like the most quintessentially G-Shock to me.
Now, I have teeny tiny wrists, around 15cm / 6in, so I found the strap a little too long. If I were keeping this one, I’d trim it shorter. That’s a fit issue rather than a design flaw, but anyone with smaller wrists should expect the same.
Elsewhere, the size is perfect, the metal GMC-2500 measures 46.7 x 43.8 x 12.9 mm (H x W x D), while the GAC-2500 is a little thinner at 46.7 x 44.5 x 12.7 mm.
The yellow is fun, too. I love colourful G-Shock watches (I have a tennis ball yellow 2100 and lilac Baby G). It’s cheerful and stops the watch feeling like a straight Nautilus homage. My absolute favourite though? It might just be the white model.
Legibility, and a learning curve
The dial is really legible and easy to read, which is the point of the design. Casio calls the concept “Depth in Shadow”: textured hands, raised bar indexes and a dimensional dial that catch the light as your wrist turns.
In practice, the dial has real character without ever becoming hard to read, and the two-eye layout keeps things clean and intuitive.
It’s even easy to read in low light, thanks to the lumed hands and powerful orange LED that illuminates the dial at the push of a button.
The functions are where I struggled slightly. The 2500 has a fan-shaped, three-cell window called Multi-Mission Date, which can show the date, elapsed stopwatch minutes, setting information and calendar details. It’s a clever way to squeeze digital-like utility into an analogue watch.
But without the screen of a traditional G-Shock, you don’t get a visual prompt telling you which setting you’re on. I found myself pressing buttons and waiting to see what changed, rather than being told what I was doing. It’s slightly more confusing than the digital models, and you’ll want the manual handy for the first few days. Once you’ve learned it, it’s fine, but a traditional G-Shock is more intuitive.
The all-metal model: a premium surprise
The all-metal model looks genuinely premium, much more than the price would lead you to believe.
It feels great on the wrist as well, a lot more substantial than the resin version. And like all G-Shocks, it’s solid as a rock.
All models, including the resin, feature a new magnetic shock-release structure, which loosely holds the minute hand in place so it can absorb an impact and return to the correct position automatically, without needing manual adjustment. I didn’t go out of my way to test that, but the build quality gives you the confidence not to worry.
Of course, it’s much more weighty on the wrist. The resin model comes in at 47g, it’s 68g for the steel-bezel, and 138g for the full-steel bracelet model.
The metal-clad bezel and brass dial are a great combination though. The sunray dial and brushed finishes catch the light in a way the resin can’t, which makes the metal version feel much posher and polished.
Which one is for you?
If you want the lightest, most comfortable option, the resin GAC-2500 is the one for you. It’s easy to wear all day, and at US$145 / £110, it’s hard to argue with. If you want something that looks and feels more expensive than it is, the metal models really are great.
Is it a Nautilus? Of course not, and Casio never claimed it was. But as a fresh, analogue take on the original G-Shock, the CasioNaut is more than just a meme. It’s a properly good, tough watch with real flare.
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