A lion-hearted wristwatch tribute to Singapore.

It has become customary for Casio G-Shock to enlist a Singaporean artist to work on limited edition G-Shocks to commemorate the city-state’s National Day. In previous years, the executions on the timepieces ranged from street artist Sam Lo's Peranakan motifs in 2019, to colourful floral-inspired abstract art by illustrator Adeline Tan. This year, it is illustrator and graphic artist, Toby Tan’s (aka tobyato, pictured below) turn to put his own spin on horological patriotism.

An artist who works across various mediums from large-scale murals to light projections and stuffed toys, Tan’s artworks express a bold and playful whimsicality that appears to draw influences from Asian comic art.

For the commemorative Singapore National Day G-Shock, he has the AW-500BB-4EDR model as canvas. A revived version of the first analog G-Shock AW-500, the AW-500BB-4EDR boasts a relatively pared-down case and dial design, compared to many other G-Shock models.

And Tan channels the watch’s simplicity to great effect. He eschews the superfluous with a stark red-and-white themed approach that draws attention to his artwork on the strap – a deconstructed take on a lion’s head that extends all the way to the ends of the strap.

Meanwhile, the decidedly pared-down dial is just as eye-catching. Offering contrast to the fully decorated strap, the dial is sheathed entirely in red, punctuated by the subtlest of white markers on the tips of the hands and indices, unabashedly brandishing Singapore’s national colours while exercising aesthetic restraint.

“Singapore is more than just a home to me. As an artist, Singapore is the place that allowed me to pursue my passions and chase my dreams. For this year’s National day watch, I used the colours red and white to create a design that shows my gratitude to this tough, small resilient island home,” says Tan.

Case	55.2mm ×47.7mm × 14.7mm
Dial	Analogue-digital with electro-luminescent backlight
Movement	Quartz
Functions	Hour, minutes, seconds, stopwatch, dual time, daily alarm, full auto-calendar (to year 2099), 12/24-hour format
Water resistance	200m
Price	S$219

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