Kikuo Ibe, Optimism, and His White Casio G-Shock

When I think about some of the most influential watches of my youth, Casio is definitely up there. That iconic black plastic casing and strap found its way onto my wrist in about third grade as my very first watch. Actually, now that I think about it, I've pretty much had a watch on my wrist every day since.

Casio's G-Shock line, invented by Kikuo Ibe in 1983, was originally crafted as a watch designed simply to withstand a fall due to the forces of gravity. Unfortunately over time, it's become more of an ultra aggressive line of bro-y, tactical-style watches that I have no interest in whatsoever.

I was recently able to snag a re-release of the original Casio G-Shock designed by Ibe himself. Its retro vibe and iconic status scratched me right where I itched. I also recently stumbled onto this great little video by A Blog to Watch, interviewing the man behind this icon.



I instantly noticed that he also still wears his original design... but in white. I love this timeless, yet postmodern reinterpretation of what he imagined decades ago. With a little more digging, I came across this great article by Hypebeast analyzing Ibe's everyday carry, or ECD. Sure enough, there's his white G-Shock, pretty much front and center.

My favorite moment of the vid is how he describes his vision of a peaceful future. He says...

I like to imagine being in space with a friendly alien 

next to me and we are both wearing G-Shocks.

I love the wisdom and optimism of this little short film. In fact, I think a white version of his original design in some ways is sort of a physical embodiment of his optimistic outlook... almost the complete opposite vibe of the more recent militaristic models. Let's just hope some space marine sporting a tact-ed out version of a G-Shock doesn't take out his little alien friend first.