G-Shocks. Stealth black resin cases. Waterproof enough to shoot from a nuclear submarine?s torpedo tube and robust enough to survive the impact. No frills, no fuss, just the time and a friendly ?beep? when you need it.
Given this utility background, you may be wondering what on earth Casio are doing with the GMWB5000TR-9. For a start, it?s titanium – or, at least, a type of titanium alloy (more on that later).  And it?s about as stealth as Randy Rainbow at a cocktail party. The main case is mirror-finished, ion-plated (IP) gold with the band showing links in a splendid rainbow of silver, gold, blue and pink. Even the buttons mirror the colours of the bracelet. 

That titanium case may look different, but it?s every bit as hardcore as the standard G?s resin offering. It?s made from a titanium alloy called ?TranTixxii?, developed by the Nippon Steel Corporation back in the early 1990s. Saying Nippon Steel know a bit about working with metals is like saying Joe Satriani plays a bit of guitar. They?ve used ?Tran Tixxii? in everything from the world?s first underwater drift sea ice observatory to Dubai skyscrapers so it has something of a pedigree. It?s just as light as ?normal? titanium, but twice as hard and mirror-polishable. Now, working with Casio for the last six years, Nippon Steel have turned it into a watch case and band.
Robustness and scratch-resistance established, you?re perhaps wondering about the shock resistance of a hard metal rather than a mor...