Casio G-Shock
Dream Project ‘Pure Gold’, Reference G-D5000-9JR | A limited edition yellow gold multifunction digital display bracelet watch, Circa 2020
Estimate
600,000 - 1,500,000 HKD
Lot Details
Description
Casio G-Shock
Dream Project ‘Pure Gold’, Reference G-D5000-9JR
A limited edition yellow gold multifunction digital display bracelet watch, Circa 2020
Dial: tough solar display
Calibre: quartz
Case: 18k yellow gold, screw down case back
Case number: limited edition 1 out of 35
Closure: 18k yellow gold Casio G-Shock bracelet and folding clasp
Size: 50 mm length x 43 mm width, bracelet circumference approximately 185 mm
Signed: case, dial and movement
Accessories: Casio G-Shock Warranty, instruction manual and presentation box
The story of G-Shock, ironically, begins with a broken watch. Kikuo Ibe, the engineer behind G-Shock, dropped his father's watch after bumping into a pedestrian on the street, unfortunately damaging it beyond repair. This prompted Ibe to form the ‘Project Team Tough’, an assembly of eight engineers dedicated to a simple yet revolutionary goal, an indestructible timepiece that could survive any environment.
For an agonising year, Ibe and his team tested more than 200 prototypes without much progress. The breakthrough finally came in 1982 when Ibe was watching a girl bounce on a ball, where he came to a revelation of suspending the movement inside a hollow, protective structure. This ingenious innovation came to be known as the ‘floating module’. In a bid to simulate real-world scenarios, the team famously hurled these prototypes out of the third-floor window at Casio’s research and development center as a proof of concept. Ibe, in an attempt to simulate the extreme, even went as far as running the prototype over with a car. The result was undeniable. In April of 1983, the DW-5000C was released and flawlessly achieved the Triple-10 goals Ibe had set for himself. 10-bar (100 meters) of water resistance, a 10 year battery life and the ability to survive a 10 meter drop. By every metric, Ibe had surpassed even his own expectations.
The genesis of the present lot was with Yasuyuki Iima, the founder of Japanese watch retailer Eye Eye Isuzu, where he wanted a symbolic product for the iconic Japanese watch. Appropriately named the ‘Dream Project’, it was made to commemorate the 35th anniversary of its founding and was strictly limited to 35 pieces, with the first piece reserved for Iima. Its design was based on the celebrated octagonal shape of the DW-5000C and was strikingly made entirely out of 18k yellow gold, down to its screws. Weighing a hefty 297 grams, it still somehow manages to retain the same shock resistance as a standard G-Shock, and thus combines Ibe’s initial goals with a completely unorthodox and undeniably striking aesthetic.
Casio G-Shock Dream Project ‘Pure Gold’ 型號G-D5000-9JR
限量版黃金多功能數位顯示鏈帶腕錶，約2020年製
附帶證書、説明書及盒子