G-SHOCK is a line of shock-resistant watches manufactured by Casio, designed to resist mechanical stress, shock, and vibration. The name stands for 'Gravitational Shock.' Known for extreme durability with 200m water resistance, the collection spans digital, analog, and hybrid displays, featuring advanced technologies including GPS, Bluetooth, solar power, and atomic timekeeping.
G-SHOCK was conceived in 1981 when Casio engineer Kikuo Ibe accidentally dropped and shattered his father's mechanical watch. He envisioned a watch with 'Triple 10' resistance: 10-year battery life, 10-bar water resistance, and survival from a 10-meter fall. Ibe assembled 'Team Tough' and created over 200 prototypes before discovering the solution—observing how a rubber ball's center remains unaffected during impact, he developed the 'floating module' concept where the quartz mechanism floats in a urethane foam cradle. The first G-SHOCK, the DW-5000C, launched in April 1983. Initial sales were slow in Japan, but a famous American TV incident where a news channel tested claims from an ice hockey commercial—and the watch survived—launched G-SHOCK to global popularity. By 1998, over 19 million units had sold worldwide, and by September 2017, Casio celebrated 100 million G-SHOCK sales.
Current Casio Computer Co., Ltd.
