WHILE the new G-Shock GA-V01 series looks decidedly young, it harks back to the G-Shock’s very first day in the 1980s.
The story of G-Shock’s inventor, Kikuo Ibe, is well known. He set out to make an unbreakable watch after one given to him by his father broke. He got the inspiration from throwing a rubber ball, which later evolved into him dropping a G-Shock prototype from a window.
That same story now inspired the GA-V01, which looks and feels quite bouncy, with spikes on the side and soft plastic exteriors which make it feel almost like a toy. The toy-like exterior belies its toughness though: the hands, for example, according to AJ Sevilla, who works in visual merchandising and business development at Casio Computer Co., Ltd., bounce back (and act as a shock absorber).
“The hands aren’t that rigid. It actually has a little bit of play. It bounces back to the current time every time you drop it,” he said in an interview at the watch’s launch in Bonifacio Global City’s Atmos.
He also pointed to the watch’s curved glass crystal. “It’s very hard to manufacture something like that,” he said. “It actually enhances the shock resistance. It distributes the force when you drop it.”
Other features of the watch include water resistance up to 200 meters, a stopwatch, a countdown timer, alarms, a dual LED lighting surface, and a full auto-calendar to 2099, among others.
Back to the design: as we mentioned, the design is a bit toy-like, but some toys are famously known to withstand bites, kicks, and stomps from children. Mr. Sevilla said, “The whole watch is just one piece. When you drop it, it absorbs all the shock. You have less things to break.”
The young appearance of the watch is also timely (pun intended): it’s ripe for the young’s Y2K nostalgia (but maybe also their own parents’). “It’s a Y2K-inspired design — for the generations who didn’t experience G-Shock at its height.”
The watch is available in G-Shock stores in the Philippines starting at P9,800 and comes in four color options: classic G-Shock black, neon blue, neon yellow, and silver metallic.
The watch launched exclusively at Atmos on June 13, and will be sold starting on June 27 at the Casio Philippines website and on July 4 in select G-Shock stores nationwide. — Joseph L. Garcia
