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BEHIND THE
STORY BIRTH OF G-SHOCK

A “Miracle Moment” Arrives

BREAKING THROUGH
With development apparently going nowhere, Ibe made a Suddenly, an inspiration struck him: “If you attached a watch
decision in despair. In one final effort, he would set a time to that ball, it could endure severe shocks.” The idea that
limit of one week on his own initiative and spend all his sprang to mind in this miracle moment expanded to
A Tunnel with waking hours on research. If that were not enough, he would complete a unique structure in which the module at the heart
consider resigning from his job.
of the watch floats in the air within a hollow structure inside
the case.
No Exit After another week without success, the fateful day arrived.
Ibe stepped outside the laboratory building to catch a
breath of fresh air in a park next door, where he saw a child
bouncing a rubber ball.
HARD DAYS

The team’s initial approaches to overturning common sense began
from zero. They first assumed it would be best to cover the entire
watch with a soft material. A few dropping experiments put that idea The Ultimate Form
to rest without delay. They found that a watch would break no matter
how much shock-absorbent rubber was adhering to the case exterior.
And the more cushioning material they attached, the more the size As Origin
increased. The experimental model soon swelled to the size of a
large softball.
A 5-step shock-absorbent structure that protected the module, or
heart of the watch, with five cushioning materials was eventually "BIRTH OF G-SHOCK"
devised, solving the size problem. But a new problem concerning the
strength of the electronic parts soon arose. When the team members It was not long before the first G-SHOCK, the model DW-5000C, was
tried to reinforce the parts, they became caught up in a vicious cycle launched in 1983. The square design with its symbolic importance
in which strengthening one broken part led to breakage of another. was created in pursuit of shock resistance alone, with nothing wasted.
The ultimate form for achieving this single function, it has been
This unanticipated process of trial and error continued day after day: handed down to the present as an eternal standard. Belief engenders
The developers would drop a prototype with reinforced parts from the fruit. G-SHOCK’s origin is the story of an unwavering belief that
window of the 3rd-floor men’s room and watch it break on the ground inspired a relentless quest and produced a tough spirit that promises
10 meters below. They would then analyze the broken parts, never to fade away.
strengthen them and try again. The cycle seemed endless.
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