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This 12 months, Casio G-Shock is celebrating the twenty fifth anniversary of its high-end MR-G assortment with the discharge of a really fantastically completed and refined limited-edition watch impressed by Hana-Basara Samurai armor. My understanding is that Hana-Basara is a celebration of these significantly daring Samurai who had been, for lack of a greater phrase, completely dripping with swag. Enter the brand new limited-edition G-Shock MRGB2000BS3A Hana-Basara, an $8,000 piece from the model’s top-of-the-line assortment that reveals off an impressively excessive degree of expertise.
Hana represents “ostentatious or good” armor, whereas Basara is each derived from the Sanskrit phrase for “diamond” and eludes to the Basara Busho, who had been apparently warlords that loved “armor with unique and creative designs, even in battle.” Not content material to let the Hana-Basara rely merely on historic items for inspiration, G-Shock commissioned armor-maker Suzukine Yuzan to create an unique piece of Samurai armor. Sadly I wasn’t in a position to get any pictures of this armor, although you’ll be able to catch glimpses of it within the video on the web page for the watch right here.
Getting the fundamentals out of the way in which, the Hana-Basara is a part of G-Shock’s MRGB2000 sequence that is available in DAT55G titanium case with brown AIP (Arc Ion Plating) measuring 49.8mm-wide, 16.9mm-thick, and with a lug-to-lug top of 47mm (54mm in the event you measure from the raised heart hyperlink). It’s water resistant to 200M and options Powerful Solar energy, radio-controlled time synchronization, twin time zone, 24-hour chronograph, 24-hour countdown timer, alarm, and an LED display.
Taking a look at what makes the Hana-Basara so particular, let’s begin with the bezel. Again in 2017 G-Shock launched a MR-G watch with a bezel product of Cobarion, a cobalt-chrome alloy that’s 4 occasions as onerous as titanium whereas boasting a vibrance that’s nearly shiny in look. Whereas that earlier piece had a basic flat bezel, the Hana-Basara has a wonderful facet-cut bezel carried out by craftsman Kazuhito Komatsu. The hardness of the Cobarion presents a problem when creating such clear and sharp strains, with Komatsu using methods from his specialty of gemstone chopping so as to create this bezel.
Kazuhito Komatsu can also be the person behind Hanashinju pearls, that are faceted pearls and in contrast to any I’ve seen earlier than. I’ve by no means seen one in every of these in individual earlier than, however they appear remarkably intricate from pictures. Really, the Hana-Basara helmet’s maedate crest options one in every of Komatsu’s faceted pearls. It is a tribute to essentially the most ostentatious Samurai, in spite of everything. (Yow will discover a hyperlink to Hanashinju pearls right here, in the event you’re curious).
The woven sample of the chainmail-inspired (kusari katabira) dial comes along with crimson, inexperienced, gold, and black accents which might be fairly judiciously used and well-executed. With mirror sprucing and guilloche designed to evoke a standard folding fan, there are many stunning particulars to understand beneath the lens of a loupe. One small but spectacular element that I initially missed is the curve on the indices, which may be very refined and designed to evoke a sword’s curve.
A fast take a look at the bracelet might depart you considering it’s a easy black DLC, however it’s in reality a really darkish inexperienced. Particularly, this hue is kurogane-iro, which is just the darkish shade of inexperienced that’s achieved when iron reaches very excessive temperatures. It’s a refined contact however one which helps to cohesively tie the varied parts of this watch collectively.
I’ve talked to a few people who have informed me their allocations of those items are promoting rapidly and it’s out of inventory on the G-Shock web site, so the dialog about whether or not or not the watch is well worth the value is principally moot. Personally, I feel the worth is fairly cheap when you think about the standard and craftsmanship on show right here. Clearly, the pool of consumers is fairly self-selective when you think about the Venn diagram of G-Shock fans and folks with this sort of cash to spend. A very spectacular show of expertise and execution, the Casio G-Shock MRGB2000BS3A Hana-Basara is restricted to 400 items with a value of $8,000. You may study extra at gshock.com.
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