The Shock of the New

In 1983, Mario Bros. was introduced to gamers around the world, Star Wars IV: Return of the Jedi was released and radio stations were blasting Run DMC and Michael Jackson.

Shirts, suspenders and flare trousers were the height of fashion and digital watches were all the rage. 1983 welcomed the G-Shock, created by Japanese inventor, Kikuo Ibe. Called the DW-5000C, it was way ahead of its time, and nurtured the image of the quintessential gent. Slick and fashionable. The gent’est of all gents, James Bond, had a very similar digital watch in Live and Let Die. The more you know.

Recently, Casio G-Shock have launched a homage back to the past with the same design of a watch that really made a company what it is today. Called the GMW-B5000, this watch is every bit of the suave gentleman. Nicknamed the ‘Full Metal 5000’, the watch has a beautiful, simple-yet-stylish look to it. Physically hefty, it’s 43.2mm vertically, 49.3mm across, and 13mm thick and sits on the wrist as a statement. The main face has an LCD screen shows the time and date, as you’d expect from any other digital watch. Using the buttons around the perimeter of the case, you can activate things like alarms, stopwatch functionality, timers, and more. The design around the screen is bricked which is a cool little design addition, but it’s also the reason the watch can stay self-sufficient by solar power.

RRP: $1149

Available from Pascoes, Loaded, Christies, WatchStation, G-Shock Auckland Intl Airport and all good G-Shock stockists