The insider's 'vintage' G-Shock of choice
Why the insider's 'vintage' G-Shock of choice is the £200 DW-8300 The Casio G-Shock DW-8300 'Stargate' (AKA the 'Gundam' or 'Heavy Metal') is a watch from 1995 with a cult following… Adrian Hailwood Since it's inception in the mind of Casio's head of watch design, Kikuo Ibe, in 1981, the G-Shock has become a gateway to watch collecting. While the latest releases generate plenty of interest, some accruing high resale values, nearly 40 years of production means that "vintage" G-Shocks are very much a thing. And if the watch can also tie into one or more pop culture references, so much the better.
The original DW-5000C was neither small nor skinny, embodying the "triple ten" development concept of ten metres' fall resistance, ten bar water resistance and ten-year battery life, but the watches of the mid 1990s seriously piled on the pounds. The December 1995 model, DW-8300, added a huge metal case front surrounding the classic rectangular digital display. Safeguarding this was an enlarged set of resin bumpers, taking the dimensions up to 56.7 x 53.3 x 19.7mm. Casio's European distributor dubbed this watch the "Heavy Metal" for obvious reasons.
Yet despite its hulking appearance, the watch is both comfortable and stable on the wrist due to a pair of resin wings that protrude down from the underside edge of the top and bottom of the case and grip the wrist as the strap is fastened. Type DW-8300 into Google and the other nickname for the watch becomes apparent. It seems that the props manager for the TV series Stargate SG-1 felt that the "Heavy Metal" looked both futuristic enough to be standard equipment for Stargate Command personnel as well as tough enough to withstand instantaneous travel across the cosmos.
If Stargate SG-1 is the cultural link for the West, the DW-8300 inherits another nickname from its 1994 predecessor, the DW-6400, that is: "Gundam". Predating Casio's G-Shock range by a couple of years Mobile Suit Gundam is a Japanese anime series that still runs today. Featuring giant fighting robotic exosuits, Mobile Suit Gundam created a new genre in anime and spawned numerous copycat films and series. The DW-6400, although not an official collaboration, was said to look like the head of a "mecha" (robot) and the subsequent DW-8300, with its similar looks, inherited the name. As you might have expected, Casio went on to produce official branded watches to celebrate later anniversaries of the series.
Whether as a Stargate troopers' trusty companion or the head of a machine, these outsize Casios are huge fun. The other appeal is the price; despite their "collectible" status these watches can easily be found for £200, often far below.
Even with collecting on a budget, however, condition is everything. You need to be sure that your DW-8300 has no missing LCD segments or bleeds to the screen and that the strap is flexible and without splits. The original box is a nice touch, but if you are going to use and abuse this digital behemoth, hardly necessary.
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