I’ve never been a car guy. I couldn’t tell you much about tire compounds, and lap times put me to sleep. For some reason, though, the Toyo Tires branding has always caught my eye, so a Toyo and Casio team-up is worth a closer look, if you ask me. The watch is the G-SHOCK DW5600TT25-1, built on the square DW-5600 case that most people picture when they hear “G-Shock.” It takes its styling from Toyo’s new Proxes Sport R summer tire.
You get a black resin case and band with tread-pattern graphics, a high-contrast white dial carrying the Toyo logo, and blue accents on the band loop and dial text. There’s a small payoff hidden in the backlight too. Activate it and a blue Proxes “R” logo shows up on the display. The package ships with a blue presentation box and a black metal tin printed with wheel and tread graphics.
Remember, the DW-5600 isn’t a random canvas. The square traces back to the original G-Shock from 1983, and this case shape has stayed in more or less continuous production ever since. That history is a big part of why the DW-5600 still gets picked for collaborations decades later. It carries weight as one of the defining objects of modern Japanese watchmaking. This release puts two Japanese names on the same dial, which is part of what drew me in.
At first glance, the execution looks restrained for a co-branded piece, and that’s usually a good sign. The blue accents are subtle, the tin is a nice touch, and the backlight detail rewards the people who actually wear these things. The white dial with a tire logo at the center is where opinions will split. On a watch this recognizable, added branding either reads as a clean graphic or as a sticker, and press photos only tell you so much. I’d want to see it under normal light before deciding which side it falls on.
A few things stay open. Casio and Toyo haven’t called this a limited edition or given a production number, which is unusual for a collab in this lane. US availability runs through BAIT, with the in-store drop in Diamond Bar, California on June 14 and the online release the following day. At $150, the buy-in is low enough that it doesn’t demand much agonizing, and that price is the most TBWS-friendly thing about it.
So I’m left where I started. The Toyo branding still works on me, the DW-5600 still earns its spot in the conversation, and two legendary Japanese brands sharing a dial is a fun idea on paper. Whether the tread graphics and center logo actually land, or whether this is one more logo’d square in a long line of them, is the part I can’t settle from a render. I’m a little curious whether a guy who doesn’t care about cars ends up wanting one anyway.
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Michael Peñate is an American writer, photographer, and podcaster based in Seattle, Washington. His work typically focuses on the passage of time and the tools we use to connect with that very journey. From aviation to music and travel, his interests span a multitude of disciplines that often intersect with the world of watches – and the obsessive culture behind collecting them.