List of G-Shock square watches

No doubt Casio had a winner when they created the "Gravitational Shock" watch in 1983. The long name was soon changed to "G-Shock", and the rest is history. Designed by the Japanese engineer Kikuo Ibe, his goal was to "have a 10-year battery life, be water resistant to 10 bar, and survive a 10m fall onto a hard surface." That's how the DW-5000C was born in the early 1980s, and officially launched in April 1983. Today G-Shocks are a huge fashion icon, and popular all over the world. In this post I want to focus on the history of the so called "squares", which as the name implies, come with the square classic design that started it all.


1) DW-5000 Series | 1983



1. DW-5000C-1A
2. DW-5000C-1B

2) DW-5200 Series | 1984



This series was launched in 1984 and is essentially the same as the original G-Shock, that was launched the year before. It has the same 240 module and a liquid crystal display. The nickname of this watch is "The Hero", allegedly because this model saved the G-Shock series and lead it to success. It was discontinued in 1987, when the popular DW-5600 series was launched.

3) DW-5500 Series | 1985



1. DW-5500C-1
2. DW-D5500-1B
3. GW-5510BW-7JF
4. DW-D5500MR-4JF

The DW-5500 series is technically a G-Shock square, however the square is more rectangular than the classic G-Shock square with rounded corners, so I hesitated to include it on this list. Not only because of that fact, but because it's one of the ugliest G-Shocks ever made, it's an eye sore of a design. Just like the 5600 series, this one has several sub-series (DW-5500, G-5500 and GW-5500), but not many models are being sold today (you can still purchase GW-5510BW-7JF in Japan). I would never buy one of these, unless I'd plan to dress up like a 1980s movie star for carnival.

4) DW-5600 Series | 1987



1. DW-5600E-1V
2. DW-5600BB-1JF
3. DW-5600EG-9V
4. DW-5600HR-1

The DW-5600 series is one of the longest running and most successful G-Shock square series Casio has ever launched. It comprises of two types, the DW-5600C, the classic from the 1980s and 1990s, and the DW5600E, which is still sold today in various variations and comes in several sub-series.

4.1) DW-5600CF Sub-series



1. DW-5600CF-2JF
2. DW-5600CF-3JF
3. DW-5600CF-8JF

This sub-series is also called "The G-Python range", it's a military inspired DW-5600 series with camouflage colors (hence CF in the name). These watches are meant for soldiers, as well as urban street toughs.

4.2) DW-5600M Sub-series



1. DW-5600M-2
2. DW-5600M-3
3. DW-5600M-4
4. DW-5600M-8

This sub-series is called Military series, but it doesn't come with camouflage colors like the G-Python range above. These are fashion watches, not really to my liking, but they target a very young audience.

4.3) DW-5600SB Sub-series

1. DW-5600SB-2
2. DW-5600SB-3
3. DW-5600SB-4

This sub-series is a special color version of the DW-5600 launched in 2019.

5) G-5600 Series | 2002



1. G-5600-1JF
2. G-5600E-1
3. G-5600KG-3CR

The G-5600 series is kind of like the modernized version of the classic G-Shock, but with new features like Tough Solar and waveceptor technology. The quality of the band and crystal is also better, so is the module, which has features like world time and many more. I personally owned a G-5600-1DR and have reviewed it here.

6) GW-5000 Series | 2005



1. GW-5000-1JF
2. GW-5000B-1JR

This is a very similar series to the G-5600, but it's actually the direct replacement of the classic DW-5000 with modern internals and features such as the Tough Solar and waveceptor.

7) GW-S5600 Series | 2010



1. GW-S5600-1JF
2. GW-S5600B-1JF

This is a special edition GW-5600 watch, that comes with a carbon fiber band and case, as well as a titanium case back. This is a very durable watch as compared to the regular one, but it costs 2-3 times more. It's also harder to find outside of Japan. A 30-Years anniversary edition named GW-M5630D-1JR was launched in 2013, that looks a bit like the classic DW-5000C-1B.

8) GW-M5610 Series | 2010



1. GW-M5610-1 / -1JF
2. GW-M5610BC-1JF
3. GW-M5610-1BJF
4. GW-M5610NV-2JF
5. GW-M5610B-1 / -1JF
6. GW-M5610BA-1JF
7. GW-M5610R-1JF

The GW-M5610 series is the modern version of the DW-5600 and comes with the Tough Solar, waveceptor, and some other functions, and has one of the larger numbers of models for all kinds of flavors. This is the most common classic G-Shock square, and a favorite of many customers.

9) GX-56/GXW-56 Series | 2010



1. GX-56-1B / GXW-56-1BJF
2. GX-56-1A
3. GXW-56E-1
4. GX-56GB-1
5. GXW-56KG-3 / -3JF
6. GXW-56-4
7. GX-56DGK-1JR (Special Edition)
8. GX-56BB-1

The GX-56/GXW-56 Series is the so called "King of G-Shock", it's the largest G-Shock ever made, it's huge. Launched in 2010, this series is now close to extinct. Right now only the GX-56BB-1 is being sold, other models have been discontinued. There are a lot of fans of this series, and Casio made a big mistake to discontinue it.

10) GLX-5600 "G-LIDE" Series | 2008



1. GLX-5600-1
2. GLX-5600C-1
3. GLX-5600C-2
4. GLX-5600-7
5. GLX-5600A-3
6. GLX-5600-4

This series of G-Shocks are called G-LIDE line-up. They have a tide and moon graph functionality and 200M Water resistance. They were made for surfers. A special edition GLX-5600FAT3-2 was made, being a big success in Japan.

11) GB-5600 Series | 2012



1. GB-5600B-1JF
2. GB-5600B-1BJF

The GB-5600 Series, or the Bluetooth series, is basically a more advanced version of the GW-5600. It offers smartphone synchronization offering call and message alerts. It's a kind of a smartwatch with basic functionality, suitable for business people, managers, but also freelancers might enjoy it.

12) GW-B5600 Series | 2019



1. GW-B5600-2
2. GW-B5600BC-1
3. GW-B5600BC-1B

The GW-B5600 series features the classic square design of the 5000/5600 Series, but they use Bluetooth® and Multi Band 6 for outstanding timekeeping accuracy.

13) GMW-B5000 Series | 2018

The latest series is a steel version of the classic raisin rubber G-Shock, but it adds some contemporary features like Bluetooth, and it costs way more than it should in my opinion. This watch is massively overpriced.


Of course that's just my personal taste. I feel this watch betrays the original square a little: It's too fancy. You would not want to drop this one, but the classic raisin square is the quintessential beater watch. I wear mine all the time, I drop it and I bang it, and it runs really well. I never worry about it. I would worry about this one, though. But I have to say some models do look good like the GM-5600B-3 for example.



1. GMW-B5000D-1
2. GMW-B5000GD-9
3. GMW-B5000V-1
4. GMW-B5000GD-1
5. GMW-B5000TB-1

13.1) GM-5600 Sub-series



1. GM-5600-1
2. GM-5600B-1
3. GM-5600B-3

This sub-series is a version of the GMW-B5000 Series that has a resin band and a steel bezel.

14) GBX-100 "G-LIDE" Series | 2020

This is a completely new series that is announced for May 2020. It is a new edition of the "G-LIDE" series that is meant for surfers, but this will be the first square watch with a high-definition MIP LCD. MIP stands for "memory in pixel". These displayed developed by Sharp, are explained like this: "The Memory LCD combines matrix technology with a one-bit memory circuit embedded into every pixel, so information is retained once it's written. This allows design of products with ultra-low power consumption and long battery life. It also delivers higher resolution, shock and temperature tolerance than e-paper (electronic paper) displays." The GBX-100 series has a stainless steel bezel wrapped in a resin enclosure and band. It's slightly bigger than the traditional square. The launch price of the watch will be around 225 USD.



1. GBX-100-1JF
2. GBX-100-2JF
3. GBX-100-7JF

Last update of this post: March 6, 2020