Casio has turned to pop group XG for two new G-Shock collaborations, and both lean hard into color without giving up the brand’s usual tank-like formula. The XG G-Shock duo is set to launch in Japan on June 12, with a wider release still unannounced after the watches briefly surfaced on Casio’s US site earlier this week.
The more attention-grabbing model is the GM-S5600XG-1, a square G-Shock with rainbow vapor-deposited glass over the digital display. Casio says the finish will vary from watch to watch, which is a neat way of saying no two will look identical, and the colors shift with wrist angle. That is the sort of detail sneakerheads love and watch buyers can pretend is purely accidental.
GM-S5600XG-1 and GMA-S110XG-4A pricing
The square model costs ¥36,300, or about $228. The second watch, the GMA-S110XG-4A, is cheaper at ¥25,300, roughly $158, and takes a bulkier analog-digital shape with a pink resin band and bezel made through a color-molding process that creates a marbled pattern unique to each unit.
- GM-S5600XG-1: ¥36,300, about $228
- GMA-S110XG-4A: ¥25,300, roughly $158
- Both models: 200 meters of water resistance, shockproofing, stopwatch, timer, alarm, and LED backlight
- Battery life: three years for the square model, two years for the analog-digital model
What Casio changed and what it left alone
Beyond the XG branding on the dials and case backs, these are still classic G-Shocks underneath the styling exercise. That is probably the right call: Casio has spent years proving that a familiar platform with one sharp visual hook sells better than a wild redesign that forgets why people buy G-Shock in the first place.
Casio is also continuing with bio-based resins for both bands, part of a broader push to use fewer traditional plastics in its watches. The company has not said when, or if, these models will leave Japan, but the earlier US listing makes an international announcement feel more like a timing question than a possibility.
A familiar G-Shock play with a louder paint job
This release fits a pattern Casio knows well: take a proven shape, add a limited-edition collaborator, then let scarcity do the rest. The brand has also been busy elsewhere in the lineup, including more premium G-Shock models with dive features and metal-heavy designs, which suggests Casio is covering both ends of the market at once instead of betting on a single hero watch.
If the Japan launch gets a quick follow-up overseas, the XG pair could become the kind of collab that sells out on design alone. If not, expect them to do what most good regional releases do: make everyone else wait, then complain loudly online.