Casio's new premium titanium Frogman watch arrives in the US, limited to 800 pieces

Casio's MR-G line debuted in 1996 as the brand's answer to a simple question: what if G-Shock had no price ceiling? Following that same philosophy, the MRGBF1000EB-1A Frogman, which was unveiled recently, is now officially listed in the US at $9,500. It's available at the G-Shock SoHo Store, select jewelers, and gshock.com (although the 'Buy' label says 'Notify Me' at the time of writing).

The design concept is inspired from the brinicle. It's a rare underwater ice formation found only in polar seas, where brine seeps through sea ice and freezes the surrounding seawater as it descends. The bezel is constructed from Cobarion, a cobalt-chrome alloy roughly four times harder than pure titanium, with its facets cut entirely by hand by Japanese gemstone artisan Kazuhito Komatsu.

The metal is then treated with blue arc ion plating that shifts as light hits it. No two bezels catch the light the same way. The two front screws are each replaced with 57-facet round brilliant-cut lab-grown blue sapphires, and the screw-lock case back gets a blue vapor-deposited sapphire crystal insert.

The case, crown, buttons, and screws are all Ti64 titanium alloy, measuring 56 × 49.7 × 18.6 mm and weighing 132 g on the Dura Soft fluoro rubber band. ISO 200-meter water resistance is built in, supported by Casio's Clad Guard Structure, which integrates fluoro rubber buffers into the crown and pushers. The watch runs on Tough Solar with Multi-Band 6 radio timekeeping and Bluetooth, and pairs with the Casio Watches app for tide data from around 3,300 locations and dive log review.

Each watch ships with both a white Dura Soft rubber strap and an interchangeable titanium bracelet, in special commemorative packaging co-developed with Japanese luggage brand Proteca. Production is capped at 800 individually numbered pieces worldwide. 

Buy the Casio AE-1200WHD-1AVEF on Amazon.