We Spoke to the Man Behind G-Shock About the 20 Year Anniversary of MR-G

Image via G Shock

What was behind your search to create the unbreakable watch?

When I joined high school, my father gave me a fast watch. Which unfortunately I dropped and it broke into pieces. That’s how I got into creating a tough, unbreakable watch.

How did you begin creating the G-Shock?

For G Shock, shock resistance is the key and there are actually 5 stages of absorbing shocks. The last stage, the fifth stage, of absorbing shock is that it’s actually a hollow structure. That’s how I started to create the concept of G-Shock.

You worked as an engineer at Casio at the time; did they support this new idea?

Casio as a company values the challenging spirit of engineers. They take it as very, very high value. So as soon as I mentioned the concept, they were fully on board.

You’ve said in the past that you thought G-Shock would be worn by people who worked outdoors. Were you surprised at the watch’s widespread appeal?

Originally, when I thought of G-Shock as a concept, I thought about the people who are working on the road, construction workers, that type of thing. But then I came up with a concept of merging a fashion item and a tough watch. That’s how G-Shock arrived, and because it’s a combination of a fashion item and functionality, I realised that it appeals to skateboarders and anyone into outdoor sports.

Is it true that people were worried that if you built the unbreakable watch you might put yourself out of business?

It was a concern I heard from the watch repairer in town. They were losing their business because the G-Shock didn’t need repairing. However, I’m really happy that people are collecting G Shock watches. People are owning more than one G-Shock watch, and I’m really happy to hear that.

Are you surprised that they have become collector’s items?

I wasn’t expecting anyone to collect them at all, because I developed this watch for people to be able to use in all different situations. So having G-Shock fans collecting, I’m extremely happy about it.

Do you actually still have your first G-Shock, and does it still works?

I have it in a drawer. I checked it before I came to London and it’s still working.

When you set about designing the first MR-G 20 years ago, you tried to design a watch that could be worn in both formal and a casual way. Was it difficult to combine the style of that with the technology that makes the G-Shock unbreakable?

Elegance, which a metal watch has, and functionality, which the original G-Shock has, are completely opposite. So I found it very challenging to mix the two elements together. It was very challenging.

With the new commemorative MR-G for the 20th anniversary, you’ve clearly made it very special with things like the technique to make it, the fact that all the watches are unique and there are only 300. Why did you want it to be so special and commemorative?

The current limit of 300 is purely because, one, it’s all handmade and we couldn’t possibly make more than that and one person has spent a huge amount of time making a watch, and that’s why it’s limited.

Obviously with it being handmade, it’s a pretty special watch. Why did you decide to make it so special?

What we are trying to do with MR-G is to value the Japanese craftsmanship, and also what we are trying to do is combine that with newest, latest technology. So it does take a lot of time to combine those, and I’m very very happy that I can actually manage to put those together with this watch.

After the success of both the G-Shock and the MR-G, what else do you want to do?

I would like MR-G to be a more popular, well known brand. With the support of you guys in the UK — I value London very much as a centre of the world — so I would like MR-G to be very popular in the UK. 

The commemorative 20th anniversary MRG-G1000HT is available now, and you can get it from www.g-shock.co.uk.