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| Casio's new G-Shock GM-5600HT26-1JR has a very dark, stealthy feel to it. |
Casio has quietly done what it usually does with its musician collaborations: teased first, explained later. The product page for the fourth Hotei × G-Shock release is now live, and with it come the two details the earlier announcements conspicuously left out — the reference number and the price.
The watch is the GM-5600HT26-1JR, and it will retail for ¥36,300 including tax, which works out to roughly $230 at current exchange rates. As always with Japan-market G-Shocks, treat that dollar figure as a guide rather than a promise; local pricing and import costs will move it around.
Hotei × G-Shock: the fourth round
Tomoyasu Hotei's partnership with Casio is not a one-off novelty drop. This is the fourth collaboration between the guitarist and G-Shock, and the series has built its own small following among collectors who like their square cases with a bit of stage-ready decoration. The previous entries leaned heavily on the Guitarhythm motif, and this one continues that thread rather than reinventing it.
If you want the official spec sheet straight from the source, it's here: Casio G-Shock GM-5600HT26-1JR product page. Visual references for the design are also floating around on the collaboration's social posts, including this Instagram set, which is genuinely more useful than the renders if you want to see how the grey pattern sits on the strap in daylight.
Release date: Casio says December 2026, Hotei's store moves sooner
Here's where it gets slightly confusing, and where a lot of buyers get caught out.
Casio's own release is scheduled for December 2026. But Hotei's official store opens earlier, and it does so in two separate stages:
- First preorder window: 14 October at 19:00 through 19 October at 23:59
- Second preorder window: 25 November through 30 November
Shipping follows accordingly — late November for the first wave, early December for the second. Orders are capped at one per person, which is standard practice for these artist-store drops and effectively kills any hope of buying two and flipping one.
There's also a genuine reason to prefer Hotei's store over the Casio and G-Shock channels: it includes two co-branded guitar picks that the other sales channels do not. It's a small thing, but for a collaboration built around a guitarist, it's the more complete package.
The base: a GM-5600, not a DW-5600
The foundation here is the GM-5600, and that's a meaningful choice rather than a cosmetic one.
The GM-5600 line is defined by its combination construction: a resin case paired with a stainless-steel bezel. That's a step up in feel and presence from the all-resin DW-5600, which is exactly the platform Casio used for the 35th anniversary Hotei model. Going metal-bezel this time gives the watch a slightly more premium look without pushing it into full metal territory — it still wears like a 5600, which is to say it disappears on the wrist in the best way.
Casio's official figures for the platform:
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 49.6 × 43.2 × 12.9 mm |
| Weight | 73 g |
| Water resistance | 200 m |
| Glass | Mineral |
| Battery life | Approx. 2 years |
Nothing there is surprising, and nothing there is a compromise. The 5600 form factor has been the sensible square for decades, and the GM variant adds just enough material upgrade to justify the price difference.
The Guitarhythm decoration
This is the part that will decide whether you buy it or not.
The watch gets a grey Guitarhythm pattern printed across the band, and the same pattern is repeated on the dial, sitting behind a negative LCD. Negative displays are a divisive choice among G-Shock fans — great for a moodier look, occasionally annoying for legibility — but behind a printed pattern it reads as intentional design rather than a shortcut.
Casio has also engraved the Guitarhythm mark on the caseback, which is a nice touch for anyone who actually wears their watches and never sees the back.
Look closely at the strap keeper and you'll spot 45TH printed on it, a nod to the anniversary framing of this collaboration. The buckle gets a black IP coating, which ties the hardware into the overall grey-and-dark palette instead of letting a bright steel buckle break it up. And the box matches: the same pattern runs across every surface, which is the kind of detail that matters to the collector crowd even if it ends up in a drawer.
Functions: a standard GM-5600, and that's fine
Functionally, this is a standard GM-5600 with no changes whatsoever. What you get:
- 1/100-second stopwatch, measuring up to 59:59.99
- 24-hour countdown timer with auto-repeat
- Multiple alarms plus an hourly time signal
- Full auto calendar
- EL backlight
That's the classic Casio module loadout. No Bluetooth, no solar, no Multiband 6. If you were hoping this collaboration would be the one to bring Tough Solar to a decorated 5600, it isn't. But the trade-off is a two-year battery, a slim case, and a price that stays in the accessible range — which is presumably the point.
Verdict: who should buy it
If you already own a Hotei collaboration, the calculus is straightforward: this is the most visually developed one yet, and it's built on a better base than the 35th anniversary DW-5600. The move to the GM platform is the headline improvement.
If you don't own one and you're drawn to the grey Guitarhythm print, the one-per-person limit and the Hotei-store-exclusive picks mean you should decide before the October window opens. These artist-store runs rarely hang around, and the extra picks will make the Hotei store version the one collectors chase later.
And if you're simply shopping for a dependable square G-Shock rather than a piece of Hotei memorabilia, you can skip the markup — a standard GM-5600 gives you identical hardware for less. For a different reference that's also worth a look if you're browsing the wider G-Shock range, you can buy the Casio BG169UG-7BCR on Amazon — just note it's a separate model from this Hotei release, not an alternative version of it.
Quick FAQ
How much does the Hotei × G-Shock GM-5600HT26-1JR cost?
¥36,300 including tax in Japan, roughly $230 before shipping and import charges.
When does it come out?
Casio's official release is December 2026. Hotei's store ships in late November (first preorder wave) and early December (second wave).
Is it limited?
Orders are limited to one per person through Hotei's store, and the collaboration is a numbered anniversary release, so supply will be finite.
What's exclusive to Hotei's store?
Two co-branded guitar picks, not included with orders placed through Casio or G-Shock channels.