Casio G-Shock MRG-121-8A
Casio's G-Shock premium line is prefixed MRG and lovingly called the Mister G. MR stands for "majesty and reality", so Casio were keen to place the range well above the mundane. New MRG's are priced up to A$10,000 which clearly excludes them from many watch collector's budgets, but this article is about a MRG that cost less than A$150.
The MRG-100 was launched in Japan in 1996 and was Casio's first full metal watch. The model featured here is the MRG-121-8A launched in 1997 in stainless steel, and accompanied by a titanium version MRG-121T. My watch was purchased in Japan, which seems to be the main source of the early models. It cost Y10,000 (around A$106.00) and with postage and GST landed in Australia for around A$148.
The watch features a solid metal case, a substantial solid metal bracelet with a more than substantial metal clasp mechanism, and has the crown on the left, not for "lefties", but to prevent the crown, and rather large crown guards from digging into the wrist. That crown placement is very sensible, particularly as the watch has a quartz movement and doesn't need winding.
It is quite a heavy watch, certainly by G-Shock standards, at 170 gm. Yet that weight seems to have the benefit of settling the watch on the wrist and I find it very comfortable. The case is 42mm wide (excluding crown and bump), 49mm lug to lug, and 16.8mm thick. It features a steel screw in caseback, a plastic bumper for comfort, and the crown is screwdown to maintain the 200m water resistance.
The MRG's of the 90's were quite different to today's versions. My watch only tells the time! That's right - no chronograph, no alarms, no world time, and certainly no GPS, or bluetooth. Where it does exceed today's MRG's is in the backlight. Casio introduced electroluminescent backlight technology in 1995 (3 years after Timex's Indiglo) and the photo shows a stunning backlight display. The watch also has lume on the hands and indices.
This watch qualifies as a vintage timepiece, and its appearance and function is certainly a tribute to Casio's foray into higher end timepieces. I notice that one online writer describes the early analog MRG's as his favourite because they just tell the time, and do it very well. There is some purity in that view.
Greg Smith - 9/1/2025
Comments
Post a Comment