For 40 years, Casio’s G-Shock line has equipped eagle-eyed horology buffs and alike with tough-as-nails watches that . Whether it’s to track the moon phases or replicate the look of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, G-Shock has four decades of watch-making under its belt (or, uh, watch strap). So to celebrate the Japanese brand’s big milestone, it tapped Boston-based Bodega to give one of G-Shock’s most classic models–the DW5600—a little facelift.
G-Shock had established itself as the pop culture watch in the early aughts thanks to the help of artists like Kid Cudi, Lil Wayne, and Pharrell, who were often spotted wearing the clunky, rugged watches in hard-to-miss colors. Its watches were essentially a blank canvas, and collaborations with streetwear brands—like Kith and Bape—gave G-Shock an endless well of limited-edition releases. G-Shock’s tapping Bodega for its 40th anniversary shouldn’t come as a surprise since the watch brand worked with the streetwear store for its 35th-anniversary timepiece, a reworking of the DW6900.
The G-Shock DW5600 is a humble but highly functional watch, the type of timepiece that could that could plausibly help one writer declutter his collection of Swiss wrist candy for a digital ticker. Its octagonal shape, shock resistance, and low-light legibility make it as much of a functional watch as it is a looker. (It also costs just $75.) All of which is to say: it doesn’t require much in the way of improvement. So Bodega and G-Shock kept all of the original ticker’s specs intact, wrapping the limited-edition 40th anniversary model—dubbed the “Anytime & Anywhere”—in a smoky gray translucent case instead.
The watch face features a world map, which comes to the surface when you activate the backlight (again, legibility is a huge part of the appeal here). The two brands really nail the whole “anywhere” and “anytime” motif with the additional of a banded carabiner, which replaces the strap so you can hang the watch from, well, anywhere. And for the truly outgoing folks, Bodega and G-Shock included a much-appreciated detail: a removable stainless steel bumper for added shock protection—and a little extra cool factor.
The limited-edition G-Shock x Bodega Anytime & Anywhere DW5600 is available on Bodega’s site, and its stores in Boston and Los Angeles.
Tyler Chin
