CheckMag | The $11,000 Casio G-Shock mystery: Inside the fake limited-edition scandal

In August 2025, a watch collector scrolling through secondhand marketplace Buyee stumbled upon something rather strange: two plain-looking G-Shock watches - one pink, one yellow - each listed for approximately $11,000 (see video embedded at the end of article, or the sources section). No flashy designs, no precious metals, just translucent resin cases that could easily be mistaken for budget models. Yet the seller claimed these were among the rarest G-Shocks ever produced, with only 35 pieces of each model made worldwide.​​

The watches in question are the DW-6935-4 and DW-5635-9, which were created in 2018 to commemorate G-Shock's 35th anniversary through a collab between Japanese fashion designer NIGO (creator of the A Bathing Ape clothing line) and Kikuo Ibe, the inventor of G-Shock himself. According to Casio's original announcement, these ultra-limited pieces featured a special translucent coloring process using fluorescent dye covered with two layers of resin and an anti-UV coating to prevent sun-induced discoloration - a first for G-Shock.

With an original list price of merely $135, these watches were distributed through a raffle system in early 2018. Today, they've transformed into grails for serious collectors, with some listings commanding prices approaching five figures. But here's where the story takes an unexpected turn: verifying their authenticity has become nearly impossible.

Unlike luxury Swiss watches (which have comprehensive databases and serial number verification systems), ultra-limited G-Shock models exist in a murky authentication "grey zone", if you will. The watches should include "a serial number" engraved on the case back. However, when examining actual marketplace listings, the situation becomes even murkier. YouTube watch hunter Matthew Hardman discovered this problem firsthand when investigating multiple listings for the NIGO x K.IBE models. "I don't necessarily see a serial number on there," he said, while looking photos of the case backs. "So, we see the number here. We see the model number here, but I can't see an actual serial number itself".

The challenge is not just recognizing missing serial numbers. With no official Casio authentication portal for G-Shock watches and ShockBase (the community-maintained G-Shock database) having limited verification options, collectors are now relying on visual inspection alone, which, naturally, is an extremely risky proposition when thousands of dollars are at stake.

The broader counterfeit crisis

This "authentication vacuum" exists within a luxury watch market which is still reeling from the burst of its pandemic-era bubble. After prices peaked in March 2022, the secondary market for luxury timepieces has gone through thirteen consecutive quarters of decline, only recently showing signs of stabilization. The watch industry as a whole has learned painful lessons about speculation, hype, and the dangers of treating timepieces purely as investment vehicles.

G-Shock, despite its reputation, hasn't been immune at all. Most standard models have little resale value, with Reddit users adding that even popular pieces sell for "50ish percent" of original retail price after a few years. But ultra-limited collaborations like the NIGO pieces are in a whole different universe. Here, scarcity drives massive premiums and, inevitably, counterfeiters' attention. This is made worse by G-Shock's manufacturing approach. Unlike some premium limited edition models that have individual numbering (such as "27 of 300"), many G-Shock collabs lack this important verification feature. Even when searching for comparable sales of legitimate pieces, collectors can find varying prices - from $6,000 to over $11,000. As expected, this can make fair market value difficult to establish.

One can take several precautions for high-value G-Shock purchases. The "three-button test" - pressing buttons A, C, and D simultaneously to display all LCD segments - can reveal cheap counterfeit movements, though really high-quality fakes can replicate this function as well. You can also compare the watch's weight against official specifications, or carefully examine the quality of buckle engravings for additional data points.

Yet for watches in the $10,000+ range, these measures can still prove to be insufficient. "If you're going to buy expensive watches, buy them from a store with legitimacy,"  Hardman says. "Don't go ahead and actually purchase them online".

As we wait for the luxury watch market to stabilize, we can hope that the authentication infrastructure around ultra-rare G-Shocks evolves in due time. Until then, the $11,000 question is - when a watch is limited to just 35 pieces worldwide, how can you prove you're holding number 36?

Alternatively, you can snag the much more affordable Casio G-Shock DW-5600UE-1V on Amazon for only $60.