Few product brands final for more than 35 years. But the Casio G-Shock line is a cultural institution. Developed by engineer Kikuo Ibe subsequently he dropped and bankrupt a pocket sentinel given to him by his father, the 1000-Shock line includes the globe's most durable watch every bit deemed by observers from the Guinness Book of World Records after it survived the weight of a 25-ton truck. Today, the G-Stupor'southward appeal stretches from military machine personnel to outdoor adventurers who demand its resilience to weekend warriors who simply like its style, a countercultural statement confronting the high-priced sleek minimalism and app-driven versatility of the Apple Lookout man.

Over the decades, the line has expanded across a range of digital and analog designs and an assortment of sub-brands: Baby G, K-Steel and the epic-sounding Master of G. In that location'south also a make chosen Mr. G., and over the years he's had plenty of companion brands: Mudman, Frogman, Rangeman, and Gulfman—a veritable Justice League of tough watches fighting the supervillains Water, Dust, and Shock. (Casio has shifted away from such gender typing with its contempo Mudmaster serial.)

The G-Shock Mudmaster is an entire line unto itself. [Photo: courtesy of Casio]

Despite the hundreds of color and way variations over the decades, Casio still sells a model, the DW5600E, that is virtually identical to the original G-Daze watch that the company launched in 1983. Its hallmarks take included four corner buttons that are notoriously and intentionally hard to printing and a bulky, loosely octagonal face with a matching plastic strap.

According to Tadashi Shibuya, senior product manager of the time products division at Casio America, the lookout's toughness transcends the material choice and price brackets. "Whether a client is purchasing a $99 Yard-Shock or a high-terminate model at $seven,500, a shock-resistant structure and the ethos of absolute toughness are built in. While nosotros might exist improve known equally a resinwatch brand, we take several materials nosotros work with, including stainless steel, titanium, and carbon fiber."

Casio'southward pattern decisions assistance reinforce the watch's ruggedness. Merely ruggedness does not imply simplicity; the designs are often intricate, visually overwhelming affairs. On the analog front, you have the likes of the Casio Men's XL Series G-Daze Quartz 200M WR Shock Resistant Resin Color: Grey With Camo Face—also known as Model GA-100CF-8ACR—a spotter that pairs a busy name with a busy face up. Below its hands are iii smaller circular indicators and 2 LCDs for alternating time zones and the date.

Some G-Shocks are digital; some are analog. The GA-100CF-8A is both. [Photo: courtesy of Casio]

The digital Thou-Shock watches, on the other hand, tend to include printed text—lots of text. These indicators serve a range of functions that include the typical (branding), the functional (push button labels), and the quirky (announcement of features). The concluding feels unnecessary given that features need to be advertised only before the watch is purchased. Just there'due south a case for a kind of viral marketing chemical element for anyone else who happens to see your G-Daze.

This "Red Back" G-Shock is a collaboration between Casio and shoe-fan magazine Sneaker Freaker. [Photo: courtesy of Casio]

And Casio isn't shy about driving dwelling the message. The 21 words printed on the DW5600E face include "Illuminator" below the Casio brand and "Electro Luminescent Backlight" below the display. Both are redundant given that the ii buttons on the sentry's correct side are labeled as controlling functions related to the lookout man'south backlight. And if you were unaware that the G-Shock brand included shock resistance, the words "Shock Resist" appear to a higher place the product brand while the broader "Protection" appears at the top of the face up.

Shibuya explains G-Shock's verbosity. "Call back of information technology as a kind of, 'functional expressionism,'" he says. "Of grade, Water Resistance is indicated, that'due south manufacture standard, but our technology similar Tough Solar or Bluetooth, that's similar having V6 or Hemi on your motorcar or truck. Sure, part of information technology is marketing, but we desire to convey the functionality of our watches." Just if the G-Shock were a automobile, that vehicle'south visual identity would exist more similar a NASCAR race entrant than an SUV with a lone sticker boasting of all-wheel drive or the number of engine cylinders.

The G Shock DW 5600E in all its 1980s-aesthetic glory. [Photo: courtesy of Casio]

The One thousand-Daze paved the way for products that consumers bought even when they were designed for far more than extreme conditions. The Hummer has gone the way of the dinosaurs that fueled it while Canada Goose jackets drift from closets every winter. But unlike those brands, Thou-Stupor watches don't control a huge toll premium compared to pop fashion watches from Fossil or Swatch. So that may assist explain why its owners don't mind Casio doing a chip of bragging.

What happens to all this functional expressionism when Casio must deal with the constraints of a smartwatch brandish? The company has created an outdoors-focused picket based on Google's Vesture OS called the Pro Trek. It'due south marketed as being tough—that is, for a smartwatch—only it's not a G-Shock.

Shibuya says that the company gets asked all the time virtually how it might create a smartwatch that lives up to users' rugged expectations for its storied brand, but that whatever such production would have to exist a 1000-Shock first. "I believe y'all can residuum assured that information technology will exist uniquely G-Shock in its form cistron, unlike anything nosotros have seen before." If Casio carries its tradition forrard, you'll exist able to read all about information technology—correct on the face of the scout itself.