UNION’s G-Shock DW-5600RBG-1 runs red and green through the LCD instead of stopping at the bezel. The collaboration marks the 35th anniversary of the UNION LA, and it is built on the square DW-5600, the line that descends from the DW-5000C, the first G-Shock.
Casio’s US site lists the watch at $165 with a Notify Me button, and Casio has not announced a US sale date. Japan moves first: UNION’s Tokyo and Osaka stores will release the watch on Saturday, November 7, and Casio Japan will follow with a general release on November 20.
Price: $165
Where to buy: Casio
The color reaches the part you actually read
The black resin case carries red and green diagonal bands across the face, with a green star field on the left side and tinted sections in the LCD itself. The numbers sit in the design instead of on top. Three ribbon loops in red, black and green carry the palette down to the strap, and the RBG in the reference name is the three colors.
Casio builds the contrast in the whole face. The red band crosses the display window, the green field sits behind the left half, and the black base keeps the numbers legible through both. It reads like a composition from a room, not a bezel swap.
UNION and Casio both tie the scheme to the Pan-African flag, and it’s a deeper treatment than a collaboration usually gets. A tape changer can copy the colors on the tape. It cannot copy the color in the display, and the display is where your eyes spend the life of the watch.
UNION logo waiting for the backlight
Press the light button and the UNION frontman logo appears in the white LED backlight. The frontman is UNION’s signature brand, and the same logo is engraved on the stainless steel back. The special packaging carries the red, black and green blocking with the brand in gold.
It is a disabled way to mark a watch. The face remains with the color treatment, and the logo shows up when you look for it, in the light or on the back of the case.
UNION brings 35 years of classics with a twist
UNION opened in New York in 1989, on Spring Street in SoHo, as a business built around what the local kids were doing in music, art and fashion. The Los Angeles store followed when Eddie Cruz moved west, and Chris Gibbs, who worked at the original New York shop, owns the LA store today. Tokyo and Osaka are the other two doors, and LA is the only one left in the US.
The concept of the store has not changed in those 35 years: classics with a twist, brands worn by the staff themselves, and function before suit. A G-Shock square fits the bill without translation. It’s the most classic watch Casio makes, and UNION’s twist here is color placement, not a new case or a modified module. The anniversary is the LA store, making this a homecoming for the brand’s only US door.
The familiar DW-5600 hardware remains intact
Below the chart, this is the default square. The case measures 48.9 x 42.8 x 13.4 mm, the watch weighs 52 grams, and uses mineral glass, a bio-based resin band and 200 meters of water resistance. A CR2016 battery is rated for about five years.
The octagonal case is the shape that the DW-5000C started with, and a version of it has remained in production for over four decades. Collaborations come and go on this reference because the form is the brand.
The module rundown is the one DW-5600 owners already know: a 1/100-second stopwatch, a 24-hour countdown timer, a multi-function alarm, flash alarms and a full auto-calendar. Shock resistance is the founding idea of the line, and the 5600 keeps the hollow case structure that leaves the module protected in the resin shell. Nothing in the collaboration changes how the watch works, and that is the point to build on this reference. Our review of the standard DW-5600 fully covers the basic watch.
Japan’s plan is the most detailed. UNION Tokyo’s online store will open sales at 9 AM JST on November 7, with the Tokyo and Osaka stores opening soon after, and the watch will run around $125 there. Casio Japan is taking reservations from November 13 ahead of the November 20 general release. The November 6 date in early reports is today’s launch party at UNION Tokyo, not a sales date in any market. UNION is supporting the release with parties at both Japanese stores, tonight in Tokyo and November 13th in Osaka, both with Stones Throw.
Price: $165
Where to buy: Casio
The redesign is the display: a colored LCD, a logo that waits in the backlight, and three ribbon loops in red, black and green. Below it sits the standard DW-5600 at $165. The Japan dates are set, and the US date is still up to Casio to announce.
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