This past weekend marked the 55th anniversary of the moon landing, unquestionably one of the greatest achievements in the history of humanity. When Neil Armstrong set foot on the lunar surface, it changed the world forever. We all know the story of Omega, the Speedmaster, and how that chronograph became the “moonwatch,” but there are plenty of other brands and watches that have attempted to jump on the moon landing and NASA bandwagon in some way. Some of these are successful, some of them are not. But one series of releases that I’ve always thought of as genuinely pretty charming are G-SHOCK’s NASA themed watches, the fifth iteration of which was recently unveiled.
I think one of the reasons these watches work is because you could argue that NASA and G-SHOCK are organizations that share a certain ethos of problem solving rooted in science. NASA, of course, is in the business of solving problems related to the foundations of physics. The fundamental challenge of getting to the moon, after all, is escaping the earth’s gravity. There’s no moonshot if you can’t get out of low earth orbit. G-SHOCK, on the other hand, has a far more niche interest: creating the most indestructible, shock resistant watch possible. Through materials research and a lot of trial and error, they’ve been the kings of tough watches for decades.
The new GW6900-NASA241 takes design inspiration from an unusual but appropriate source: old-school Casio calculators. You can imagine that a calculator would have been an indispensable tool for NASA employees as they planned and executed the missions that would ultimately land us on the moon, and this watch is designed to have a nostalgic pull for those of us who grew up relying on calculators in the days before cell phones were always in our pockets and the solutions to complex math problems could be solved by asking Siri.
The mostly black watch is based on the classic GW6900 G-SHOCK case, which measures 53.2 × 50 × 17.7 and is made of resin. Red, yellow, and blue accents to the text are the specific callbacks to Casio calculators here, but there are some additional design flourishes as well that make this watch feel special. WHen you hit the backlight button, the word “Gravity” appears on the screen, along with the actual equation for gravity (F = (m₁m₂)/R² for those of you who are more than a few years removed from a physics lecture). If you flip the watch over, you’ll find the force of impact formula engraved on the caseback, which is kind of fun considering the whole point of these watches is to, you know, resist impact.
As with other recent popular G-SHOCK releases, this one will be allocated via a lottery format. You can sign up for the lottery via G-SHOCK’s website (today is the last day), and if you’re chosen, your payment method on file will be automatically charged. The retail price is $170. G-SHOCK
