The G-Shock Full Metal collection, since its launch in 2018, has been a major hit among both media and consumers. The collection has grown substantially since that debut and now includes a wide variety of steel- and titanium-cased timepieces, with colors including all-steel, black, blue, “aged,” and integrated resin-and-metal styles. This year, I was fortunate to add the Full Metal Red Ion GMWB5000RD-4 to my own personal rotation, and have in effect spent the better part of the past three months wearing it.

It?s actually not common that I spend this much time with a watch I’m writing about, and so it has allowed me some substantial time to really learn about this piece and what it has to offer in a long term wear.
Overall, my take on the watch is much the same as it is to many classically designed G-Shocks: it?s a good watch that works well and accomplishes its intended purpose. In this case, the intended purpose is to provide a familiar, digital style and functionality, but in an overall sturdier and more elevated metal package than G-Shock?s entry-level offerings. Furthermore, in its Red Ion colorway, the watch manages to stand out as fashionable without being ostentatious.

The familiar 49.3 x 43.2-mm case sits firmly on the wrist at 13 mm tall. Its distinctive square shape and brick-pattern, digital-display dial hearken back directly to the iconic DW5000C design from 1983, otherwise known as the first-ever G-SHOCK, which serves as the c...