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15,000 euros for a G-SHOCK. That is not a typo, and it is not some one-off from an auction. That is the list price of the MRG-B2100HS, the watch with which Casio marks 30 years of the MR-G line. Next to it stands the MRG-B2100HR at 7,500 euros. Both carry a dial finished by hand by a Japanese master craftsman – one in gold leaf, the other in platinum leaf.
I have followed every new MR-G for years. These two are the most extreme the line has produced – and at the same time the quietest. No new movement, no new function, no chase for a record. Instead: one man, one brush, metal leaf.
Is this the most expensive G-SHOCK ever?
The question comes up straight away, so let me answer it straight away – honestly: no.
The most expensive G-SHOCK is still the G-D5000-9JR from 2019, the anniversary model machined entirely from 18-karat gold for the brand’s 35th birthday. 35 pieces, 7.7 million yen – about 43,000 euros at today’s rate. That is a different league, and against it 15,000 euros looks almost modest.
What the MRG-B2100HS is, as far as I can tell: the most expensive MR-G currently sold through normal retail channels in Europe. And for most of us that is the number that actually matters – a gold one that never reaches us is no use. If you know a more expensive one, put it in the comments.
Prices and availability
- MRG-B2100HS (gold leaf) – 15,000 euros RRP, from November, exclusively at G-SHOCK Stores and selected watch retailers. Casio states an edition of 150 pieces worldwide, each with its own serial number.
- MRG-B2100HR (platinum leaf) – 7,500 euros RRP, from November, at selected watch retailers and in the Casio online shop. 800 pieces worldwide, also numbered.
Both carry the „MR-G 30TH“ logo and their own serial number on the case back. If you want one, talk to your retailer early – at these numbers it will not be decided in November.
The dial: by hand, by Hiroto Rakusho
The pattern on the dial is not decoration, it is a quotation. It picks up Kigumi, the Japanese joinery technique in which complex structures are built entirely without nails and without metal fasteners – wood holds wood, purely through the shape of the joint. On the watch the lattice stands in three dimensions.
Onto that lattice Hiroto Rakusho applies the metal leaf. By hand, leaf by leaf, one watch at a time. Rakusho was born in 1962 in the Nishijin district of Kyoto. He is certified by Japan’s Ministry of Economy as a master of traditional craftsmanship and recognised by the city of Kyoto as a master artisan. He learned metal leaf work from his father, Jisaku Nishiyama, and has run his own brand since 2002.
Because this happens by hand, no two dials look exactly alike. The fine gradations between light and dark, the shimmer of powdered metal leaf – every single piece differs. Casio calls the design concept „haruka“, eternity. Rakusho created an original artwork for it: the sphere you can see in the header image.
Structural colour: colour that is not colour
Here is the part that fascinates me most on the technical side. Bezel and bracelet shimmer – without a single drop of paint.
Structural colour is a physical phenomenon. The tones come not from pigments but from microscopic surface structures that refract light. It is exactly how butterfly wings work, or certain minerals. Casio creates those structures with an ultrashort-pulse laser, at the micron level, on every single component.
The effect: the colour shifts with the viewing angle and with the light. Casio itself notes that for this reason no two watches look exactly the same. For an industrially produced object that is a remarkable thing to put in writing.
And underneath? Still a G-SHOCK
For all the craft: this is still a watch you can wear. The base is the MRG-B2100 case with the octagonal bezel that goes back to the GA-2100.
- Dimensions: 49.5 × 44.4 × 13.6 mm, 122 grams
- Bezel: 27 separate components in COBARION, a cobalt-chrome alloy by Eiwa – about four times as hard as pure titanium
- Bracelet: DAT55G, a high-strength titanium alloy by Daido Steel, about three times as hard as pure titanium
- Case, case back, buttons, crown: Ti64 titanium, with a DLC coating
- Crystal: sapphire with anti-reflective coating
- Water resistance: 20 bar
- Power: Tough Solar – no battery changes
- Timekeeping: Multi Band 6 and Bluetooth via the CASIO WATCHES app
- Light: Super Illuminator, plus Neobrite on hands and indices
The MRG-B2100HS gets one more thing on top: a presentation box designed specially for the anniversary, gilded in gold leaf as well and signed personally by Rakusho. The lid can be propped open with an included stand – like a folding screen behind the watch.
30 years of MR-G
MR-G arrived in 1996, thirteen years after the first G-SHOCK. The idea behind it has not changed since: the toughness of a G-SHOCK, but entirely in metal and built to a standard of finishing that nothing else at Casio matches. The line is the flagship.
G-SHOCK itself has been around since 1983. Back then the engineers worked to „Triple 10“: survive a ten-metre drop, withstand ten bar of water pressure, run ten years on one battery. In 2023 the brand celebrated its 40th anniversary.
If you want to see where these two come from: I covered the MRG-B2100D-2ADR, which shows what the series looks like when no artist is involved, and the MRG-B5000HT-1DR HAMMERTONE, another MR-G built around a Japanese craft tradition.
All my MR-G videos
I have had almost every new MR-G in front of the camera. If you would rather see the line move than look at press photos: here are all my MR-G videos in one place.
And if you want to go deeper – there are over 400 G-SHOCK videos on the channel:
Frequently asked questions
What does the MRG-B2100HS cost?
The RRP is 15,000 euros. It goes on sale in November, exclusively at G-SHOCK Stores and selected watch retailers. The MRG-B2100HR costs 7,500 euros and is also sold in the Casio online shop.
How many pieces are there?
Casio states 150 pieces worldwide for the MRG-B2100HS and 800 pieces worldwide for the MRG-B2100HR. Each watch carries its own serial number on the case back, next to the „MR-G 30TH“ logo.
What is the difference between the MRG-B2100HS and the MRG-B2100HR?
Technically they are identical. The difference is the dial: the HS is finished in gold leaf, the HR in platinum leaf. Both are done by hand by Hiroto Rakusho. The HS also comes in a gold-leaf box carrying his signature.
What is structural colour?
A physical phenomenon: the colour comes not from pigments but from microscopic surface structures that refract light – the same way butterfly wings work. Casio creates them with an ultrashort-pulse laser on the bezel and bracelet, which is why the colour shifts with the viewing angle.
Is the MRG-B2100HS the most expensive G-SHOCK ever?
No. That is still the G-D5000-9JR from 2019 in solid 18-karat gold – 35 pieces at 7.7 million yen, about 43,000 euros at today’s rate. The MRG-B2100HS is, however, most likely the most expensive MR-G currently sold through normal retail channels in Europe.
How big is the watch?
49.5 × 44.4 × 13.6 millimetres at 122 grams. The case is titanium, the bezel is built from 27 separate COBARION components and the bracelet uses the titanium alloy DAT55G.
My verdict
WOW. I am completely taken with these.
I would love the platinum one. The gold version, with that tiny edition, is of course WOW as well – but realistically you will hardly ever see one on a wrist.
You know me, I am a total MR-G fan. But those prices … oof. Then again: for a 30th anniversary you are allowed to go all out once.
I will try to shoot a video!
What convinces me about these two watches is not the price and not the gold. It is the decision behind them. For the anniversary Casio could have built a watch with more functions, a new movement, a record on the spec sheet. Instead they asked a craftsman from Kyoto, born in 1962, whether he would finish 950 dials one at a time, by hand. That takes some nerve.
Gallery: MRG-B2100HS and MRG-B2100HR, every picture
Here is the complete set of images Casio has released for these two watches – both models, the artwork, the components, the boxes. Click any picture to open it at full resolution.
One note on this: Casio shows the detail shots – components, dial stages, bezel rings – only on the MRG-B2100HR. Of the gold MRG-B2100HS there is so far only the product shot, the key visual and the box. As soon as more appears, I will add it here.
Images: Casio. Technical data from Casio’s own product page and from the press release issued by Casio Germany on 24 September 2026.
