G-Shock’s collaboration timepieces with Japanese animation franchises have been a smash hit with collectors, so why not widen the potential market by targeting a quite different demographic: football fans.
Parent company Casio has unveiled two new G-Shocks, GBD-H1000BAR and GBD-100BAR, in the colours of the world’s richest soccer club, FC Barcelona.
The watches have not been made possible with a direct partnership with the Spanish club, but with a documentary on streaming services about its success called Matchday: Inside FC Barcelona.
That nuance may not be noticed by fans, who will simply see the Catelan club’s iconic blue and garnet team colours in the pair of sporty G-Squad timekeepers.
They even carry the club’s motto: “Més que un club” (More than a club) in the local Catalan language.
The GBD-H1000BAR has a bright gold ion plated metal bezel, while the band loop on both watches features the four red stripes of the Catalan flag.
They both come with a number of smartwatch features including an accelerometer to count steps and track distances, all recorded on a phone app.
The GBD-H1000BAR also comes with a heart rate monitor and GPS tracking.
Barcelona FC is considered the wealthiest club in the world, valued at $4 billion, with the largest fan base.
The club has over 250 million social media followers. Its Camp Nou stadium is the largest in the world with a capacity of almost 100,000.
Barcelona FC does not have a watch brand directly associated with the club.
Matchday: Inside FC Barcelona
Matchday: Inside FC Barcelona is an eight-episode documentary series focusing on the 2018–2019 season of one the world’s most adored football clubs when Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Ousmane Dembélé helped the club to the La Liga title.
