What kind of watch can you get for around £50,000? You could opt for a nice Patek Philippe or A. Lange & Sohne, some beautiful, exquisitely-made Swiss timepiece. Or you can instead go for the latest Casio G-Shock – the most expensive ever released.
This isn’t the first time Casio has released a watch around this value; the last time was the solid yellow gold GW-5000 revealed at Baselworld in Basel, Switzerland in 2015. However, it never made it to production because the concept watch failed to meet Casio’s impact and waterproof testing standards, and could never be sold.
Just in time for the G-Shock’s 35th anniversary, Casio has successfully overcome these hurdles and revealed the waterproof and impact resistant G-D5000-9JR. No images have been revealed thus far (what you are actually seeing is the GW-5000 from 2015), but expect it to look similar regardless.
Once again, the square case, screws and bracelet will be made from solid yellow gold making for one hell of a statement piece. Gold isn’t normally considered the most durable watchmaking material, but Casio have somehow managed to find a way for the 18k gold case to survive their drop and hammer tests, as shown in the video below.
It’s also a perfect timekeeper as, like other G-Shocks, it’s more than just a digital watch. It receives radio signals from different stations around the world so that it can correct itself constantly. Provided it keeps charged – which thanks to its solar cell shouldn’t be an issue – it’ll never go out of sync.
Really though it is all about that gold. It’s a substantial weight of precious metal and pretty much the single reason the piece is priced at 7.7 million yen – just over £52,500. Needless to say, this isn’t a regular production piece and is limited to 35 examples to coincide with the G-Shock’s 35th anniversary.
The “G-D5000-9JR” will be available to buy through Casio’s online store (g-shock.jp) on May 15, with orders expected to be shipped before the end of the year.
