A Casio Computer Co. product planner who masterminded a hot-selling new G-Shock watch proudly showed off the black, yellow and red colour variations.
But while the G-Shock Nano looks identical to the standard G-Shock, it is only one-10th the size of its traditional rugged counterpart.
The company has been inundated with orders and inquiries about the ring-size version since its release in November. Supply shortages are still ongoing.
Kazuyasu Kojima, 56, who developed the miniature model, recently showed off the G-Shock Nano at the company’s Hamura Technology Center in Hamura, western Tokyo.
Though unorthodox as a watch in concept, the G-Shock Nano boasts a particularly strong presence and considerable fashion appeal.
“Our company has a unique history of having manufactured a rather unusual ring product,” Kojima said. “In this sense, the newly developed ring with timekeeping functions can be seen as a product that reflects our very roots in particular.”
Kojima was referring to the corporation’s first hit product, rolled out in 1946 immediately following the founding of Kashio Seisakujo, the predecessor of Casio.
The ring-mounted pipe was designed to hold a cigarette, allowing users to smoke it down to the very end while working at offices and elsewhere.
The distinctive item quickly earned widespread support among smokers and reportedly helped raise funds for Casio’s subsequent development of calculators.
Against this historical backdrop, Casio released its first finger ring watch in December 2024, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the beginning of its watch business.
The case of that Casio Ring Watch measured 25.2 millimeters in length, 19.5 mm in width and 6.2 mm in thickness.
The multifunction watch was equipped with a time display, a calendar feature, an LED light, a stopwatch gimmick and an alarm, much like a G-Shock.
Despite all that, the timekeeping ring was not given the umbrella brand name G-Shock.
“The product’s shock resistance and waterproof property did not reach the criteria required for it to be called a G-Shock,” Kojima said.
TINY, ULTRA-TOUGH, STILL FUNCTIONAL
A year later, in November 2025, Casio put up a ring-size G-Shock for sale. The watch case measured 23.4 mm long, 20 mm wide and 7.5 mm thick, slightly larger than the preceding ring model.
The super-small G-Shock Nano successfully achieved waterproofing capacity up to 20 atmospheres and a level of durability comparable to that of a standard G-Shock wristwatch.
“The most difficult challenges in our endeavor involved the watch crystal and waterproofing around the side buttons,” recalled Kojima.
Although the crystal for normal watches should be secured using a gasket, crafting a gasket thin enough for the ring-size model turned out to be impossible. A specialized adhesion method was therefore employed to fix the crystal.
In the meantime, the side buttons were outfitted with a pair of gaskets to ensure water resistance.
“Simply scaling everything down to one-10th the original size did not work,” said Kojima, looking back on the difficult path he traced. “We had to overcome many other obstacles, too.”
The exterior design of the G-Shock Nano was modeled after the classic DW-5600C line of the G-Shock that was made commercially available for the first time in Japan in 1987.
Careful attention was paid in particular to the details, such as protecting the case with a urethane material and rendering the bracelet length adjustable to accommodate different finger thicknesses.
The G-Shock made national waves in 1997 when a model inspired by the environmental organization International Dolphin and Whale Conference, commonly known as “Irukuji” (Dolphin-whale) in Japan, sparked an explosive craze.
The semi-transparent design of the collaborative model enabled watch lovers to observe its inner mechanism. The see-through exterior was so novel at the time that long lines of customers formed outside retailers on the day of the watch’s release.
This episode is still remembered and famed within Casio in talking about the “first G-Shock boom.”
According to Kojima, insiders at Casio have repeatedly discussed “intriguing plans to create a miniature version of the G-Shock someday” since then. However, they had no sufficiently compact internal components on hand for a long time.
“A small yet inoperative watch is just a toy,” Kojima said. “Our conclusion then was that such a thing is not what a watchmaker should make but what a toymaker should.”
Nearly 30 years later, advances in high-density implementation technology for large-scale integrated circuits (LSIs) made it possible to miniaturize internal watch parts.
Producing dedicated ultra-small custom batteries became additionally feasible, turning what had once been considered a distant dream into a reality.
The battery in the G-Shock Nano comes with a two-year warranty. Replacing the cell means that the ring watch can be used for years beyond that period.
“The G-Shock Nano was born as a product from the fusion of our long-held aspirations and the latest technology,” Kojima said proudly.
The G-Shock Nano carries a price tag of 14,300 yen ($88). It has been sold through a lottery on four occasions through the corporation’s online shopping site since its arrival in the market.
Whereas the new product has remained in short supply on a continual basis for now, Casio has reportedly gradually become able to deliver the G-Shock Nano to mass retailers in a relatively stable manner.
Asked if the G-Shock Nano will trigger the “second G-Shock boom” in the near future, Kojima expressed a cautious stance.
“We release more than 100 models every year, with the G-Shock Nano representing solely three of them,” he said.
Kojima, however, continued, “I feel enormous astonishment and joy that the G-Shock Nano has garnered backing from not only G-Shock collectors and watch enthusiasts but also a much broader range of people including women.”
-The Asahi Shimbun
But while the G-Shock Nano looks identical to the standard G-Shock, it is only one-10th the size of its traditional rugged counterpart.
The company has been inundated with orders and inquiries about the ring-size version since its release in November. Supply shortages are still ongoing.
Kazuyasu Kojima, 56, who developed the miniature model, recently showed off the G-Shock Nano at the company’s Hamura Technology Center in Hamura, western Tokyo.
Though unorthodox as a watch in concept, the G-Shock Nano boasts a particularly strong presence and considerable fashion appeal.
“Our company has a unique history of having manufactured a rather unusual ring product,” Kojima said. “In this sense, the newly developed ring with timekeeping functions can be seen as a product that reflects our very roots in particular.”
Kojima was referring to the corporation’s first hit product, rolled out in 1946 immediately following the founding of Kashio Seisakujo, the predecessor of Casio.
The ring-mounted pipe was designed to hold a cigarette, allowing users to smoke it down to the very end while working at offices and elsewhere.
The distinctive item quickly earned widespread support among smokers and reportedly helped raise funds for Casio’s subsequent development of calculators.
Against this historical backdrop, Casio released its first finger ring watch in December 2024, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the beginning of its watch business.
The case of that Casio Ring Watch measured 25.2 millimeters in length, 19.5 mm in width and 6.2 mm in thickness.
The multifunction watch was equipped with a time display, a calendar feature, an LED light, a stopwatch gimmick and an alarm, much like a G-Shock.
Despite all that, the timekeeping ring was not given the umbrella brand name G-Shock.
“The product’s shock resistance and waterproof property did not reach the criteria required for it to be called a G-Shock,” Kojima said.
TINY, ULTRA-TOUGH, STILL FUNCTIONAL
A year later, in November 2025, Casio put up a ring-size G-Shock for sale. The watch case measured 23.4 mm long, 20 mm wide and 7.5 mm thick, slightly larger than the preceding ring model.
The super-small G-Shock Nano successfully achieved waterproofing capacity up to 20 atmospheres and a level of durability comparable to that of a standard G-Shock wristwatch.
“The most difficult challenges in our endeavor involved the watch crystal and waterproofing around the side buttons,” recalled Kojima.
Although the crystal for normal watches should be secured using a gasket, crafting a gasket thin enough for the ring-size model turned out to be impossible. A specialized adhesion method was therefore employed to fix the crystal.
In the meantime, the side buttons were outfitted with a pair of gaskets to ensure water resistance.
“Simply scaling everything down to one-10th the original size did not work,” said Kojima, looking back on the difficult path he traced. “We had to overcome many other obstacles, too.”
The exterior design of the G-Shock Nano was modeled after the classic DW-5600C line of the G-Shock that was made commercially available for the first time in Japan in 1987.
Careful attention was paid in particular to the details, such as protecting the case with a urethane material and rendering the bracelet length adjustable to accommodate different finger thicknesses.
The G-Shock made national waves in 1997 when a model inspired by the environmental organization International Dolphin and Whale Conference, commonly known as “Irukuji” (Dolphin-whale) in Japan, sparked an explosive craze.
The semi-transparent design of the collaborative model enabled watch lovers to observe its inner mechanism. The see-through exterior was so novel at the time that long lines of customers formed outside retailers on the day of the watch’s release.
This episode is still remembered and famed within Casio in talking about the “first G-Shock boom.”
According to Kojima, insiders at Casio have repeatedly discussed “intriguing plans to create a miniature version of the G-Shock someday” since then. However, they had no sufficiently compact internal components on hand for a long time.
“A small yet inoperative watch is just a toy,” Kojima said. “Our conclusion then was that such a thing is not what a watchmaker should make but what a toymaker should.”
Nearly 30 years later, advances in high-density implementation technology for large-scale integrated circuits (LSIs) made it possible to miniaturize internal watch parts.
Producing dedicated ultra-small custom batteries became additionally feasible, turning what had once been considered a distant dream into a reality.
The battery in the G-Shock Nano comes with a two-year warranty. Replacing the cell means that the ring watch can be used for years beyond that period.
“The G-Shock Nano was born as a product from the fusion of our long-held aspirations and the latest technology,” Kojima said proudly.
The G-Shock Nano carries a price tag of 14,300 yen ($88). It has been sold through a lottery on four occasions through the corporation’s online shopping site since its arrival in the market.
Whereas the new product has remained in short supply on a continual basis for now, Casio has reportedly gradually become able to deliver the G-Shock Nano to mass retailers in a relatively stable manner.
Asked if the G-Shock Nano will trigger the “second G-Shock boom” in the near future, Kojima expressed a cautious stance.
“We release more than 100 models every year, with the G-Shock Nano representing solely three of them,” he said.
Kojima, however, continued, “I feel enormous astonishment and joy that the G-Shock Nano has garnered backing from not only G-Shock collectors and watch enthusiasts but also a much broader range of people including women.”
-The Asahi Shimbun
