Toughness, timelessness: Casio executive on G-Shock's continuing milestones

MANILA, Philippines — During the early 1980s, an engineer at Japanese electronics company Casio named Kikuo Ibe set out to create an unbreakable watch — on the physical front and to stand the test of time.

This year, Ibe's creation, the G-Shock, marked its 40th anniversary, and Casio stepped up the celebrations for the watch series that continues to make its mark in the world.

The company brought its grand event "Shock The World" to Southeast Asia for the very first time to cement the importance of the region, given how popular the G-Shock series is in this part of Asia.

In an exclusive interview with Philstar.com, Casio's senior general manager of the Timepiece Business Unit Takahashi Oh discussed the timelessness of G-Shock, how it continues to adapt and innovate over the years, and the future of the watch as it looks ahead to a golden anniversary.

Oh has been with Casio for 30 years and worked on the G-Shock series for half that time, and since then he has felt the commitment of the brand's lasting nature.

"I've believed this brand would never die, and sure would reach 40 years," Oh said in Japanese, with a translator by his side.

The executive attributed the brand's lasting power to Casio's concept of "creativity and contribution," and that they never had to distance from it because through it they found the "toughness" that Ibe aspired for.

 "The direction was always one and the same," he noted. 

Casio is aware that adaptation is still a key factor in sustaining its popularity with customers, Oh noted. They had to go beyond making strong, waterproof watches and go into other kinds of "toughness," like protection from the sun and shock-proofing.

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"Lifestyle changes was another thing to add and we had to expect them," Oh continued. "So we started from simple ideas then combined new things, but the creative direction was still the same."

A new innovation that Casio has ventured into in the past five years were smart watches. Oh said the brand had to decide what kind of functions the watches have to feature, such as notifications, checking heart rate and solar charging.

"It had to