Casio has turned its familiar square G-Shock into a blue-sapphire engineering showcase. The new MRG-D5000 uses sapphire components in a specially developed shock-resistant case and bezel structure, with just 20 examples planned worldwide.
Price: ¥11 Million (About $69,000)
Where to Buy: Casio
Its Japanese suggested retail price is ¥11,000,000 including tax, and Casio plans to release it in December 2026. The remarkable part is not simply that Casio made an expensive digital watch. It is that the company found a way to build sapphire into a G-Shock structure designed to withstand impacts.
The challenge was shock resistance
Sapphire is familiar in watchmaking because it resists scratches. Using it in the exterior of a G-Shock presents a different problem: the material has to be incorporated into a structure that can handle impacts.
Casio traces the idea back to 2018. That year, the Dream Project led by G-Shock creator Kikuo Ibe produced the one-off 18-karat-gold G-D5000. Casio also displayed a sapphire-crystal concept watch in Basel, Switzerland.
The sapphire concept did not reach production. According to Casio, it could not yet deliver the shock resistance and other performance required of a G-Shock.
Development continued after Ibe’s retirement. Casio’s engineers found that dividing the outer case into multiple interacting parts could improve impact resistance. That work led to the Multi-Guard Structure, which reached production in titanium with the MRG-B5000 in 2022. The MRG-D5000 takes the idea further with a structure redesigned for sapphire.
What the Blue Rose Project means
Casio calls its sapphire-case development effort the Blue Rose Project, a reference to achieving something once considered impossible. The MRG-D5000 represents the project’s long-running goal: incorporating sapphire crystal into a shock-resistant MR-G outer structure.
But the Blue Rose name is not exclusive to this watch. Casio also applies it to the new MRG-B5000SA, which has two large lab-grown blue sapphire gemstones positioned at the top and bottom of the case. Its construction relies on high-strength metals, including COBARION and Ti64 titanium, and production is limited to 500 pieces worldwide.
The distinction is in how the watches use sapphire. On the MRG-B5000SA, it appears as gemstones within a metal structure. On the MRG-D5000, blue sapphire crystal forms part of the case and bezel structure itself.
A case designed around sapphire
Casio calls the MRG-D5000’s construction the Multi-Guard Structure for Sapphire. Rather than use a conventional one-piece outer shell, it divides the case and bezel into separate components. Casio says it reshaped the sapphire parts to reduce chipping risk and eliminated screw holes and other features that could give cracks a place to start.
The company compares the interlocking construction to traditional Japanese timber framing, which joins structural elements without screws or nails. That description applies to the sapphire outer assembly, not the entire watch: the MRG-D5000 still has a screw-lock caseback.
Casio says the design delivers the shock resistance expected of an MR-G. That is a manufacturer performance claim, not independent destructive-test evidence. What the production watch demonstrates is the structure Casio developed to make sapphire workable within the G-Shock format.
The sapphire takes months to produce
Casio says the blue sapphire starts as ingots that take several months to produce. It selects only sections that meet its requirements for color concentration and transparency before machining them into watch components.
Despite the unusual material, the MRG-D5000 still looks like a square G-Shock. Its stainless-steel face carries the brick pattern associated with the original design and receives a blue vapor-deposition finish. The MR-G logo, “SHOCK RESIST” marking, and other lettering are rendered in 24-karat gold.
The materials and construction have changed dramatically, but Casio has kept the silhouette recognizable.
Rubber, titanium, and a numbered caseback
The sapphire components are paired with a specially developed Dura Soft rubber strap bearing a three-dimensional G-Shock brick pattern. A new titanium clasp completes the strap.
The Grade 5 titanium caseback includes another blue sapphire insert. Each watch is individually numbered from 1/20 through 20/20 and engraved with “DREAM PROJECT.” Casio says the “D” in MRG-D5000 also pays tribute to the original Dream Project.
Who is the MRG-D5000 for?
The MRG-D5000 makes little sense if you simply want the most functional square G-Shock for your money. Far less expensive models already offer the shock resistance, digital timekeeping, and familiar design most owners need.
Its appeal is the engineering story. Casio moved from a sapphire concept it could not put into production in 2018, through the titanium Multi-Guard Structure of the MRG-B5000, to a limited-production watch built with blue-sapphire case and bezel components.
Price: ¥11 Million (About $69,000)
Where to Buy: Casio
That makes the MRG-D5000 a watch for serious G-Shock and MR-G collectors, particularly those interested in unusual materials and Casio’s engineering history. At ¥11 million in Japan and just 20 pieces worldwide, it is a demonstration of how far Casio can take one of its most recognizable designs.
