G-Shock #5 & #6: Carbon, the next generation

OK, maybe “generation” is the wrong term.  After the RM series release in 2010 Casio started putting carbon straps on GW-9300 Mudmen (Japan market release) but never with the clear exterior to show it off.  The G-Shock cognoscenti had to wait until August 2013 and the 4^th wave of the 30^th Anniversary!  Isn’t that odd?  Normally when Casio does a colorway (let’s call the carbon fiber straps a colorway of their own since they were called the RM series) they run it through a few different G’s over a couple of months (say a summer or a winter or whatever).  We only had those TWO Carbon G-Shocks for a little over 3 years!  Crazy!  The Frog?  Ignore that for now, let’s keep focused on actual carbon fiber straps with clear exterior urethane for the identifiers here.

Let me introduce the DW-6930D.  The first ever carbon fiber 6900!  Even crazier?  Still the only non-square carbon fiber G-Shock.  Pretty unique piece from a few different viewpoints right there.  As part of the 4^th wave of the 30^th anniversary it features 30 stars on the end of the strap. Even wilder is how shouty the face is. Gold mirror screen?  Check.   Gold reflective face?  Check.  Mirror gold light button?  Check.  This is the loudest carbon fiber G I’ve seen.

Let’s talk about the features of the DW-6930D before we get into more visual details.   It is 200m water resistant, EL backlight with afterglow.  Multi-function alarm, hourly time signal, can flash with the buzzer for these alerts as well.  1/100^th second stopwatch that will go to 24 hours.  Can do elapsed time, split time, etc.  The countdown timer works on full second intervals and can go to 24 hours as well as an auto-repeat feature.  Full auto calendar out to 2099, and 12/24hr time formats.  The battery?  CR2016 and it has the 3230 module.

Originally released with a suggested price of 24,000 yen this and its brother have some very nice eye candy.  First let’s start with the straps themselves.  On the long strap at the end is the 30 stars.  Wait, look at them again, those little stars have a height and are physical pieces UNDER the urethane resin layer!  You can watch the light reflect of the sides of them.  Further up the strap is the verbage “30^th Anniversary”, again, actual gold lettering under the urethane.  The cosmetics of these carbon fiber G’s are very durable because of all this.

These carbon fibers G’s cosmetics are surprisingly durable.  I have yet to see any yellowing/discoloring of the clear urethane (unlike the clear jelly Glorious Gold wave of the 25^th Anniversary) on any photo of one anywhere.  Since all the graphics and pieces are underneath, there is no stripes to crack or rub off, and they are safe to wear with cuffs as there is no wear marks unlike bright orange or yellow G’s which commonly get black marks from rubbing/contact with clothing.  You can wear these without great worry about them, the best of all worlds and exactly as Casio intended.

Back to the straps.  Over on the short strap near the bezel is the classic “Since 1983” while on the band keeper (which is also carbon) it simply says “G-SHOCK”.  All of the lettering and stars being in gold to go with the theme of this wave.  The gold continues over to the buckle, buttons, screws, and caseback.

The caseback.  Being a 30^th Anniversary G-Shock the caseback is engraved with the infamous Eric Haze 30^th logo.  It is very nice and adds an extra touch that this G is special.  I also like how the caseback matches the screws perfectly.

The brother.  Or the modern version of the RM series, the GW-M5630D.  If you remember, the RM series were kind of a bridge between the GW-M5600 and the GW-M5610.  This one is a 5610 though with the “30” for 30^th anniversary.  We’ll get into features shortly, for now just look at it.

I like how the Green mirror screen offsets the gold accents.  The purple solar panels also somehow match well.  Like the 6930 it shares the straps and coloring of the gold buttons, screws, buckle and caseback.

And have a look at that caseback will you?  Like the RM series this one is serialized as well.  Very unusual indeed as not many G-Shocks get this treatment.  Mind you, this numbering refers to a batch date, not and individual serial number.  You will also notice how much more pronounced the engraving is on the back vs the 6930. 

Original suggested retail was 33,000 yen.  This one has the 3159 module which of course is solar and atomic as well as 200m water resistance.  Full auto EL backlight with Afterglow, World Time of 29 times zones (48 cities + UTC) with city code display and daylight savings on/off.  4 daily alarms and 1 snooze.  Hourly chime, 1/100 second stopwatch up to 24 hours.  1 second count down timer again to 24 hours.  Calendar is good until 2099 and the watch has 12/24 hour time formats.  Button operation tone is also on/off switchable.  Finally, and really pretty cool: approximate battery life of 10 months on full charge with no further exposure to light.  Oughtta get you through a long winter pretty easily. Due to the lack of titanium this one is specified at 51.7g or almost 5g (10%) heavier than the RM’s.  On one side, 5 grams is nothing, but on the other side you can actually tell.

G-Shock #46: G-Shock x Be@rbrick and Be@rbricks Galore at Concrete The Hague.

I got a little problems with timing deadlines. I had an article planned for today, but I didn’t had the everything complete here in time for photography, so it all has to wait another week. I promise you, next week's article will be a great one! In the mean time I got quite stressed, but fortunately Gerard Nijenbrinks (Horloge Platform Nederland) and a mysterious friend called B-Shock inspired me on an idea to do an other unplanned article and helped me along the way.

Photo's above by B-Shock, taken at the Be@rbrick x G-Shock release party at Concrete.

On 27 September Casio Nederland launched the Second Medicom Be@rbrick Collaboration G-Shock for their 30th anniversary of G-Shock with a great party at Concrete in Den Haag (The Hague). I was very tempted to go to this launch party, but it’s a 90 minute drive. As I normally work pretty late, it would not have been easy for me to get there in time. After I saw live pics of the party by B-Shock, I was pretty jealous. Sapporo beer and fresh sushi. Those guys at Concrete know how to throw a release party!

Since G-Shock Benelux became active, I have heard the name Concrete dropped many times by people of Casio and G-Shock Collectors. Unfortunately, I didn't know if I should contact Concrete, as they had a quite arty website, but no web shop. With the release of this G-Shock x Be@rbrick model, this has also changed. Now the website is pretty clear with a quite extensive web shop (see photo above).

Impression of the Concrete Store in the Papestraat in The Hague. 

Look at that "My First Be@rbrick" watching you when you enter the store.

Photo's above made by Gerard Nijenbrinks for 50 Gs

There was a good reason that Casio chose Concrete for the launch party. Concrete is not only a selected G-Shock Trend Store, you find a large collection of Be@rbricks and other designer toys too. Also you can find a fine selection of urban fashion and sneakers. The first Be@rbrick Collaboration G-Shock model, by the way, was in The Netherlands way launched by Gorrili in Rotterdam, who has a similar collection of G-Shocks and designer toys.

My little Be@rbrick and Kubrick box.

A small selection of my Be@rbrick figures. On the right 2 Pepsi x Star Wars 70% Be@rbricks, which I  were attached to Pepsi bottles in Japan.

I love my glowing Kiks TYO x Kinetics Be@rbrick.

An Aki Hoshino Kubrick and a TRON Kubrick x Be@rbrick duo set

Medicom Toy is a company founded in June 1996, located in Shibuya (Tokyo). They are specialized in designing figures and toys for movies, television, comics and games. In 2000 they launched the “block type” Kubrick figures, followed in 2001 by the Be@rbrick figures. The first Be@rbrick figure was a special Kubrick, created to celebrate the 100th birthday of the teddy bear. All Be@rbrick figures are made up of 9 parts, with moving head. hands, wrists and legs. The basic design rule is that all 9 parts stay intact. Only the print differs. This sounds pretty limited, but with use of all kinds of prints and materials, there are even wooden Be@rbricks, there have already more than thousand different bears been released. With all the different color combinations and brand collaborations, collaboration with G-Shock is a pretty obvious good idea. A lot of the Be@rbricks are sold in blind boxes. A buyer does not know which model he gets. He or she only knows which series it’s from. This makes these cute Be@rbricks highly collectable.

I always find interesting new be@rs, like this new metallic Gloomy Bear version. Might end up on my wanted list soon.

A basic Be@rbrick is 7 centimeters high and referred to as 100%. As they come in different sizes, they are often referred to their size. Usual other than 100% sizes are the 400% and 1000% size, but there are also 50% and 70% size. When I was visiting Japan in 2010, a 70% be@rbrick was given away with a bottle of Pepsi. In the past there have been made a 150% and a 200% model, but these sizes are very unusual.

For this 2nd collaboration a DW-5600 is used. This black model has a white face plate and a negative display. It’s a little bit pity it has a negative display, because it means there is no special backlight design in the background, but it contrasts nicely with the white face plate. The case has a plain glossy black bezel with white lettering. The straps are glossy black with white stars, flowers and the typical “@” signs. On the back of the watch a big bear head, filled with an “@” is engraved.

The DW-5600MT-1 comes with the 3229 module, which means that the internal calendar is programmed until December 2099. As the DW-5600 is a basic model, you find basic functions on board. An Alarm Function with Hourly Signal, a 24 hour Stopwatch function and a 24 hour Countdown Timer.

The package is very unusual. The box is a huge. It is a cube with sides of approximately 16.5 cm. There are bear head shaped windows in the box, that give you a view inside the box. The actual watch box inside is a black bear head. When you open the head, you find the watch on a good quality watch stand, which can slide out of the head. A pretty clever designed construction.

My furry night company during the 2 hour photo shoot won't move from my side. 

The Be@rbrick x G-Shock is in The Netherlands only available at Concrete, so that is where I got this watch from. It retails for €129.-, which is a good price for such a cool collaboration model. This model is of course available in other selected stores in Europe for the same retail price. As a G-Shock collector it would be also very interesting to try to get the second G-Shock Be@rbrick. I have myself also a small modest Be@rbrick collection as I have bought some of these figures from time to time. Unfortunately I couldn’t find this second G-Shock Be@rbrick in The Netherlands, but I couldn’t resist. I have bought a 100% in Hong Kong, which means I will get it here in about 14 days from now. At the moment you still can get hold of these bears pretty easily. If you live in The Netherlands or Europe, you can try Concrete at info@concrete.nl. Actually it was the same way I got my watch. As I got this idea Friday afternoon, it was all a bit hasty, but the service of Dirk (I heard he is huge Be@rbrick collector) at the web shop was great. Even though I was a bit late, he managed to get my watch in the mail in time, so I got it Saturday afternoon. As I also own the first Be@rbrick G-Shock for their 30th Anniversary, I am pretty happy to have them both. It’s a nice set together, black vs White, DW-5600 vs DW-6900.

I like to thank Gerard Nijenbrinks, who works near the Concrete store in the Papestraat in The Hague and made a series of photo’s of the store and B-Shock for additional photo’s of the Be@rbrick G-Shock Launch photo’s on September 27, 2013. You both have been an inspiration to write this article. Also a big Thank You! to Dirk from Concrete for getting my watch here in time, the press note and the nice be@r. Thanks!