Last night, we celebrated G–SHOCK’s 35th anniversary with the announcement of a new collaboration with artist Eric Haze over an intimate dinner at the Michelin recognized bistro, Rider.
The event, located upstairs of the trendy Williamsburg restaurant, began with cocktails as the small group mingled with Casio representatives and designer Eric Haze. Guests also enjoyed hors d’oeuvres in addition to the appropriately named White Haze cocktails made with tequila, yuzu, and coconut; and Black Haze, made from black tea maraschino, white rum, rye, and charcoal.
After cocktails, guests settled around the dining table to begin dinner. Haze gave the initial toast to the dinner party, expressing his excitement for the 35th anniversary of the brand and his collaboration.
The new anniversary collection marks Haze’s seventh limited edition collab with the watch company, this time designed with white brush strokes overlaying a classic black monochrome face. Embossed on the watch strap is a 2017 print along with the artist’s signature star logo, the GA700EH-1A stlylistically follows its predecessors like the DW6900, G304, DW5600, GA100 and GA110 models.
During the speech, Haze described his relationship with Casio and G–SHOCK beginning in Japan 20 years ago as one of the most gratifying developments because of the trust between the brand and artist. The collaboration allowed the him to be involved in raising a voice, and to be part of something that is international and worldwide, regardless of age and demographics. For this project, the brushstroke was inspired by the desire to create things organically and as an antidote to the commercial world, bringing personality and human experience to an otherwise rigid project.
In order to reinvent the launch and translate it to a wider audience, the watch collaboration and 35 year anniversary will be showcased at the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York City. The showcase will most notably feature a series of paintings by Haze, organically painted from designs made digitally.
The family style dinner began promptly after a quick round table introduction – Main courses included savory Peking duck, pork belly, crab rangoon stuffed artichoke, and vegetarian options hot fried eggplant and cucumber & melon. Following, a second course was served including steak frites, chicken thigh, artic char, and roasted vegetables. Shortly into the dinner, Haze’s wife, actress Rosie Perez made a surprise appearance. The evening came to a close with dessert as each guest left with the limited edition collaboration watch in a chic G–SHOCK gift bag.
The GA700EH-1A will be released on 10/1 online and in select G–SHOCK retailers for $140 with features such as the legendary G–SHOCK technology, led light, and hand retract function.