Casio has listed the Kanoa Igarashi GBX-H5600KI-5 on its German, Dutch and Spanish stores at €329, with notification signups rather than a buy button. Before tax that undercuts the $370 the surf watch sells for in the US.
Kanoa Igarashi has more signature G-Shocks than almost any individual athlete Casio usually works with. The GBX-H5600KI-5, officially unveiled earlier this month, is his fourth, after the GLX-5600KI-7, GBX-100KI-1 and GLX-5600KB-1, and it is now heading for Europe.
The design is based on Ericeira, the Portuguese town where Igarashi trains. Bio-based resin is the material used for the bezel and band in a brown mixed-colour moulding (meant to reflect coastal cliffs), and because the resin is combined during production, no two units will have the same pattern. Lavender accents on the face have been applied via vapour deposition — that’s a reference to the ocean at dusk. His signature sits below the display and on the caseback, with his World Surf League number 50 printed on the lower band.