A G-SHOCK with platinum leaf on the dial sounds like a watch that belongs behind glass. Casio has built the MRG-B2100HR-1A for a wrist instead, using its shock-resistant MR-G construction as the canvas for an unusually hands-on 30th anniversary design. There will be just 800 worldwide, and the finish on each dial is a little different.
The dial is where I’d look first. Its raised grid takes inspiration from kigumi, a Japanese woodworking technique that joins pieces without nails. Metal-leaf artist Hiroto Rakusho applies powdered platinum leaf to the lattice by hand. Those flecks catch light against the black dial, so this isn’t a printed pattern trying to look expensive. Casio says Rakusho personally finishes every one of the 800 watches.
A bezel that changes as you move
The color around the octagonal bezel and across the bracelet comes from a different process. Casio uses an ultrashort-pulse laser to form microscopic textures in the metal. Those textures create iridescent structural color, which shifts with the viewing angle. The blue, green and pink you see in the photos are part of the metal’s surface treatment, rather than a painted rainbow.
That distinction gives the watch two very different kinds of detail: hand-applied platinum on the dial and precisely made color on the exterior. It also means a still photo can’t show the full effect. I’d want to turn this one under real light before deciding which color dominates.
The G-SHOCK underneath the art
The bezel is assembled from 27 separately polished components. Casio uses the hard cobalt-chromium alloy COBARION for its top section, DAT55G for the bracelet and Ti64 titanium for the case, case back, buttons and crown. The multi-piece construction is part of Casio’s shock-protection system, so the elaborate finish hasn’t replaced the point of a G-SHOCK.
The everyday features are familiar MR-G territory: solar charging, radio-controlled time adjustment, Bluetooth connection through the Casio Watches app, an LED light and sapphire crystal. You also get an MR-G 30th anniversary engraving, an individual serial number on the case back and a special presentation box. This is a collectible, but it can still keep its own time accurately without becoming another watch you have to charge every night.
Casio’s international product page lists the MRG-B2100HR-1A for November 2026. The announcement doesn’t give a U.S. price or U.S. release date. With only 800 planned worldwide, those details are worth checking before anyone starts making room in the watch box.
