Newer G-Shock devices have brought in analogue watch faces, metal, bright colours, and all sorts of flourish. However, the original variant from 1983 represents an iconic and classic look, which the new DW-5000R replicates faithfully. The octagonal watch face gets a bit of bulk and weight, and the colour scheme is exactly the same as the original model with black, white text, and red accents.
The watch feels a bit heavy on the wrist, but I didn’t really mind the wrist feel of it; it gives a solid feeling of sturdiness. Notably, it’s also made in Casio’s ‘mother’ factory in Yamagata, Japan, so you can expect it to last a long time and keep to its shock-resistant expectations. While Casio does different colour combinations even with its all-digital watch faces, this one sticks to the basics with the classic black digital watch font and grey background.
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The case is made of stainless steel like the original watch, and the band and positioning of specific elements have been replicated as accurately as possible. That said, the DW-5000R is a bit larger than the original DW-5000C, and materials and functionality are modernised. This is a modern digital watch in every way, with the throwbacks limited to the aesthetics.
The display shows the time, day, and date, and there are four buttons to cycle through screens and control features. The mode button lets you cycle through the alarm, timer, and stopwatch, the adjust and start buttons let you set these functions up and use them, and the light button illuminates the display for visibility in the dark.
Although the water resistance rating on the G-Shock DW-5000R is marked as 20 bar on the watch face, it’s worth pointing out that this is the same as 200m - the rated water resistance of the original 1983 model. This is the only major change in the look (apart from the slight difference in size), and what helps you differentiate this new variant from the original.