First hands-on photos of Casio's limited-edition MRG-B2100HR showcase unique dual-nature finish

We now have the first real-world photos of Casio's freshly launched MRG-B2100HR. They answer multiple questions left open by the press renders. Hodinkee Japan shot the watch itself, and the short version is that it's much more restrained in person, compared to the official images at least.

Going by Casio's renders alone, we saw a bezel and bracelet in rainbow color. Fans on the forum are somewhat divided over that finish. That color is structural, and it's cut into the metal with an ultra-short pulse laser rather than painted on, so it only shows when light hits it at the right angle. Hodinkee's writer is also candid about this. In ordinary light, he says, the watch looks like an all-black MR-G, much like the MRG-B2100B. He deliberately hit it with a strong light for the photoshoot to make the whole bezel light up.

The wrist shots follow the same philosophy, more or less. Under a cuff in indoor light, the MRG-B2100HR looks like a dark, monochrome watch. All you see is a faint blue-green speckle around the bezel edge. The close-ups tell you where the colour actually lives, too. It's patchy, not uniform, concentrated around the bezel's outer edge and on a few bracelet links. It looks more like oxidized metal or a mineral surface than a coating. One side-on shot of the bracelet is full rainbow. The very next frame, from a different angle, is almost black.

The dial is the other thing. Kyoto foil artist Hiroto Rakusho scatters powdered platinum foil, called sunago, across the lattice, and up close you can see how uneven the coverage is. Dense in places, sparse in others. This is also what gives each dial its own shading.

As a small refresher, the MRG-B2100HR is limited to 800 pieces at ¥1,100,000 including tax, in a Ti64 case with a Cobarion bezel. It goes on sale in Japan on November 13.