The full video of the press conference from the G-Shock 35th Anniversary event at Madison Square Garden Theater is available on YouTube (watch it above starting at Kikuo Ibe’s speech). We’ve transcribed the Kikuo Ibe (creator of G-Shock) portion of the conference. Ibe introduced the Sapphire Crystal G-Shock and while it may be more of a symbol of G-Shock innovation than an actual future release, Ibe seems serious about creating this watch that will never scratch and always look new (even though the MR-G models with sapphire crystal and DLC coating already do a good job of that). As usual Ibe conveys his always-striving spirit and never-give-up attitude and reminds us why G-Shock is special.
Kikuo Ibe at The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York City, November 9, 2017:
“Thank you very much from my heart. This is my big heart. [Ibe shows a large pink paper heart on his chest, crowd reacts and applauds] Thank you very much. I am really happy to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of G-Shock tonight. It’s been a crazy and wild ride and I never would have imagined 35 years ago that we would be here at Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City. I’m honored and humbled to be on this journey.
As a token of appreciation to all of you, tonight I’d like to show you a prototype that no one has seen. [crowd cheers] Thank you. Everybody knows my first dream was to create an unbreakable watch. Obviously that dream came true or we wouldn’t be here this evening. Another dream was to create a G-Shock with metal that still maintained its toughness. I was the project leader of the young team that made this dream into a reality by developing a shock absorbing structure. Then I wanted to create a watch that fused toughness with the softest metal. This dream was realized in 2015 when we unveiled a pure gold G-Shock. To achieve this we had to re-engineer how the module was protected in a new structure we called new shell. The new shell construction used in the pure gold model was inspired by the way a shell naturally protects the body of the creature inside it. It is still in prototype stages but the team is now working harder than ever to bring it to market and I truly believe that you will soon be able to wear this model.
Tonight I want to show you another dream, one that takes G-Shock into a new direction. One in which we fuse one of the most fragile material with G-Shock’s hallmark toughness. Do you know what the most fragile material in the world is? It’s crystal. Let me show you. [music and video] This is a G-Shock made with sapphire crystal. [Ibe displays sapphire G-Shock on his wrist, crowd cheers] To achieve that we had to develop a new shock-resistant structure. We are calling it all guard structure. It is still under development. I am working so hard to bring this to you. When I achieve this, G-Shock will be both shock-resistant and have the ability to maintain its original unused look.
Because G-Shock is built to provide ultimate toughness, I think our customers have scratched them and banged them up. It’s a kind of history but this new G concept is completely the opposite. It will resist resist scratches and signs of wear. This challenge isn’t easy but I do believe it’s possible, something for everyone to look forward to from G-Shock. As well as always my promise to you as you can see today is to never stop evolving, never ever give up and make G-Shock the strongest and toughest brand in the world. Thank you, thank you very much, thank you.”
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