- jason_recliner
- ASSHAT
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5000, Pimped
https://wornandwound.com/a-g-shock-clas ... -mrgb5000/
If it thinks, it stinks
X's 2. I'll relinquish my household's interest for $75. PayPal accepted.DocKlock wrote: ↑March 5th 2022, 7:34am" . . . built out of titanium. And not just your run of the mill titanium." Well, I guess that helps justify the price.
As a service to fellow Lords, I will relinquish my "one per household" to first person that mails me either $3,500 or $4,000 in $20's and $50's. Quick, well, fairly quick, turnaround is guaranteed.
I'm hanging on to mine - as the demand rises to Rolex proportions, it'll be Katie bar the door on those babies when the waiting lists start.smellody wrote: ↑March 5th 2022, 9:26amX's 2. I'll relinquish my household's interest for $75. PayPal accepted.DocKlock wrote: ↑March 5th 2022, 7:34am" . . . built out of titanium. And not just your run of the mill titanium." Well, I guess that helps justify the price.
As a service to fellow Lords, I will relinquish my "one per household" to first person that mails me either $3,500 or $4,000 in $20's and $50's. Quick, well, fairly quick, turnaround is guaranteed.
It's crazy expensive but there's evidently a lot of expense in production. Likely more than a typical $3-4k 'luxury' steel dive watch.
Hell, just configuring the by-hand segment of the assembly line in the contours of the letter G formed in the logo font must have cost Mr. G at least a billion yen. Not to mention all that .750 titanium in the case and bracelet. Then there's all the brand new technology; multi band auto sync / set, bluetooth, a stopwatch that does lap times. too, and solar power - easily 10's of billions yen more in R&D.jason_recliner wrote: ↑March 5th 2022, 9:06pmIt's crazy expensive but there's evidently a lot of expense in production. Likely more than a typical $3-4k 'luxury' steel dive watch.
I was referring in particular to Sallaz-polishing a 25-piece bezel and bracelet links. But yeah, forming and finishing each component from exotic Ti alloys probably isn't cheap either. Would it cost US$3,500? Of course not. Would it cost a lot more than a 2- or 3-piece stainless steel case and bracelet with basic polishing and brushing? By golly, I believe it would!3Flushes wrote: ↑March 6th 2022, 5:03pmHell, just configuring the by-hand segment of the assembly line in the contours of the letter G formed in the logo font must have cost Mr. G at least a billion yen. Not to mention all that .750 titanium in the case and bracelet. Then there's all the brand new technology; multi band auto sync / set, bluetooth, a stopwatch that does lap times. too, and solar power - easily 10's of billions yen more in R&D.jason_recliner wrote: ↑March 5th 2022, 9:06pmIt's crazy expensive but there's evidently a lot of expense in production. Likely more than a typical $3-4k 'luxury' steel dive watch.
Why, this watch is a bargain, by golly.
/s ------ just in case it wasn't clear
^^^Thatjason_recliner wrote: ↑March 6th 2022, 5:20pm...Would it cost US$3,500? Of course not...3Flushes wrote: ↑March 6th 2022, 5:03pmHell, just configuring the by-hand segment of the assembly line in the contours of the letter G formed in the logo font must have cost Mr. G at least a billion yen. Not to mention all that .750 titanium in the case and bracelet. Then there's all the brand new technology; multi band auto sync / set, bluetooth, a stopwatch that does lap times. too, and solar power - easily 10's of billions yen more in R&D.jason_recliner wrote: ↑March 5th 2022, 9:06pmIt's crazy expensive but there's evidently a lot of expense in production. Likely more than a typical $3-4k 'luxury' steel dive watch.
Why, this watch is a bargain, by golly.
/s ------ just in case it wasn't clear
No watch that retails for $3,500 costs $3,500 to make. But this would cost considerably more to make than $3,500 steel dive watches.3Flushes wrote: ↑March 6th 2022, 6:26pm^^^Thatjason_recliner wrote: ↑March 6th 2022, 5:20pm...Would it cost US$3,500? Of course not...3Flushes wrote: ↑March 6th 2022, 5:03pmHell, just configuring the by-hand segment of the assembly line in the contours of the letter G formed in the logo font must have cost Mr. G at least a billion yen. Not to mention all that .750 titanium in the case and bracelet. Then there's all the brand new technology; multi band auto sync / set, bluetooth, a stopwatch that does lap times. too, and solar power - easily 10's of billions yen more in R&D.jason_recliner wrote: ↑March 5th 2022, 9:06pmIt's crazy expensive but there's evidently a lot of expense in production. Likely more than a typical $3-4k 'luxury' steel dive watch.
Why, this watch is a bargain, by golly.
/s ------ just in case it wasn't clear
That said, the design of the bezel, most which is unseen, is impressive, but it is all that is new tech in this Mr. G (AFAIK this bezel hasn't been used previously in the series). The tortoise shell polishing of what is seen, is machined, so what? Titanium is comparatively cheap regardless of formulation - it is the third or fourth most common element on the face of the earth, IIRC. The alloy used is unlikely proprietary, there are 1000's of readily available Ti alloys in existence. The natural gas required to provide the 2,000°F to initially produce the metal probably costs more these days than do the elements required to make it - Titanium, argon, and magnesium.
It all sounds quite grand in the marketing, but the hype amounts to much adieu about, well, not much - at least not much new.
I reckon you'll find there's heaps of guys with money who want one. We don't give a fuck about Sean Connery and Steve McQueen and car racing. We like hip-hop and house.
I don't want an automatic dive watch. I want a G-Shock.
I can relate - years ago an in-house mechanical movement mattered to me. It just depends what you like and value. Now, if it keeps time, I'm not that fussed.DoctorIvey wrote: ↑March 6th 2022, 9:22pmI don’t know, I think it’s a point to consider. A 5k G with the exact movement as a 55 dollar Walmart wartch is hard to swallow. Seiko does some impressive stuff with Marinemaster quartz movements and if I spend 5k on a steel diver with a sellita or Miyota engine you can slap me. Not even sure Bamford has the cajones to charge that. I agree with you though that the average G customer who loves Lebron and thinks Courvoisier is the most ut beverage probably thinks a movement is something you leave in a gold plated commode.
Sarcastic - /s = sarcasm ← a universal symbol - I thought the tone was clear, clarified in case, and yet was not. Perhaps koi can add /s to the of WL smilies.jason_recliner wrote: ↑March 6th 2022, 6:45pmNo watch that retails for $3,500 costs $3,500 to make. But this would cost considerably more to make than $3,500 steel dive watches.3Flushes wrote: ↑March 6th 2022, 6:26pm^^^Thatjason_recliner wrote: ↑March 6th 2022, 5:20pm...Would it cost US$3,500? Of course not...3Flushes wrote: ↑March 6th 2022, 5:03pmHell, just configuring the by-hand segment of the assembly line in the contours of the letter G formed in the logo font must have cost Mr. G at least a billion yen. Not to mention all that .750 titanium in the case and bracelet. Then there's all the brand new technology; multi band auto sync / set, bluetooth, a stopwatch that does lap times. too, and solar power - easily 10's of billions yen more in R&D.jason_recliner wrote: ↑March 5th 2022, 9:06pmIt's crazy expensive but there's evidently a lot of expense in production. Likely more than a typical $3-4k 'luxury' steel dive watch.
Why, this watch is a bargain, by golly.
/s ------ just in case it wasn't clear
That said, the design of the bezel, most which is unseen, is impressive, but it is all that is new tech in this Mr. G (AFAIK this bezel hasn't been used previously in the series). The tortoise shell polishing of what is seen, is machined, so what? Titanium is comparatively cheap regardless of formulation - it is the third or fourth most common element on the face of the earth, IIRC. The alloy used is unlikely proprietary, there are 1000's of readily available Ti alloys in existence. The natural gas required to provide the 2,000°F to initially produce the metal probably costs more these days than do the elements required to make it - Titanium, argon, and magnesium.
It all sounds quite grand in the marketing, but the hype amounts to much adieu about, well, not much - at least not much new.
Titanium isn't a precious metal but it costs a lot more than stainless steel. Presumably your reference to the GAI of Ti was flippant? I've worked on a deposit that's 60+% Fe. The ore sells for around US$150/tonne.
Ti64 isn't particularly special. It's Grade 5 Ti. The DAT55G is some cool stuff, however, produced in Japan and suitable for forging. And Cobarion is fucking trick.
But what really makes Ti expensive is how difficult it is to work. That's why most Ti cases use large, simple forms, unlike this one. The Sallaz polishing is done by hand, requires a lot of skill, and takes a lot of time. It's particularly difficult to Sallaz polish hardened Ti. The surface can distort due to excessive heat. So you have to work slowly and with light pressure application relative to steel. The attention to detail on this watch is such that the bevels on the bracelet dimples have been polished as well. Using relatively expensive Japanese labour.
So I don't understand why US$4,000 for a steel dive watch is considered reasonable but not US$4,000 for this G. Anyway, I'm off to the AD in a bit to see what's what.
This really is the crux of the matter. It would take a long time to make one, it would take a lot of skill (it's hard to polish Ti to a high standard) and I don't expect Casio will make many. It will be mass produced but on a relatively small scale I imagine. I like that in a luxury product.3Flushes wrote: ↑March 6th 2022, 10:20pm
Using the Sallaz technique, an individual craftsman working by hand with a grinder can only finish six watchcases a day. I'm not certain what that translates to in terms of the visible portion of Mr. G's bezel, but I think it's safe to assume it would be considerably more. Considerable enough to be of sufficient quantity for a mass produced watch marketed to the world?
Casio refers to the case 'cover' as a bezel, not just the actual 'traditional' bezel. A lot of the press releases refer to master polishing, Sallaz, etc, and the thing costs US$3,500. So I've got no trouble believing they polish all the shiny surfaces by hand. They probably polish the DLC version too as the coating takes on the appearance of the base medium.3Flushes wrote: ↑March 6th 2022, 11:59pm^^^My take was only the bezel is Sallaz finished - and the Worn Around nor Casio site explicitly tout the hand finishing of the bezel, leaving the term to suggest hand finishing to those who know what the process is or to those who care to do their homework. Again, the "traditional" form is done by hand but there are machine processes for black polishing that use glass bead blasting and diamond dust polishing discs that produce a beautiful finish.
If Casio used the traditional form, I have to believe they would trumpet the fact by highlighting the process and it's hand crafted result in their literature. I'm therefore skeptical Casio polishes the bezels by hand, or that all 25 parts of the bezel, some of which are springs and silicone, are polished as stated.
I just don't see how they could possibly scale the production of bezels to meet the quantity required, even at the limit of just one per household - it just doesn't pass the smell test. I do think you are correct in your assumption that they probably are not going to make runs comparable to the standard G's, but I think it's because they know there is a far more limited market for $3500 to $4000 G Shocks.
Which reminds me- given they wouldn't bother polishing the bezel on the black model, it places an even higher than $500 premium on the DLC coating.
I have scoured the web and the Casio site and can only find reference to Sallaz polishing - I can't find any reference to master polishing or by hand anywhere- can you direct me or post one? You'd think if they were going to show off the G shaped assembly line in a promotional video that they would showcase such a highly artisanal master craft performed by masters, wouldn't ya? Go figure.jason_recliner wrote: ↑March 7th 2022, 1:15am...A lot of the press releases refer to master polishing, Sallaz, etc...3Flushes wrote: ↑March 6th 2022, 11:59pm^^^My take was only the bezel is Sallaz finished - and the Worn Around nor Casio site explicitly tout the hand finishing of the bezel, leaving the term to suggest hand finishing to those who know what the process is or to those who care to do their homework. Again, the "traditional" form is done by hand but there are machine processes for black polishing that use glass bead blasting and diamond dust polishing discs that produce a beautiful finish.
If Casio used the traditional form, I have to believe they would trumpet the fact by highlighting the process and it's hand crafted result in their literature. I'm therefore skeptical Casio polishes the bezels by hand, or that all 25 parts of the bezel, some of which are springs and silicone, are polished as stated.
I just don't see how they could possibly scale the production of bezels to meet the quantity required, even at the limit of just one per household - it just doesn't pass the smell test. I do think you are correct in your assumption that they probably are not going to make runs comparable to the standard G's, but I think it's because they know there is a far more limited market for $3500 to $4000 G Shocks.
Which reminds me- given they wouldn't bother polishing the bezel on the black model, it places an even higher than $500 premium on the DLC coating.
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