My MRG-121t and Why I Love It

I first learned about the MRG line while window shopping for a G-Shock. I was in a random mall in Beijing when I saw a G-Shock stand and I naturally went to have a look at their watches. The salesman immediately noticed the Rolex on my wrist and urged me to have a look at their MRG line thinking that I might be interested (due to the prices?). I was shocked when seeing the price tags! 4000$ for a metal DW5600? 5000$ for a frogman? What the hell is going on here? He told me a bit about the history:

The MR-G line started in 1996 as luxury G-shocks. MR-G stands for "majesty and reality," signifying the watch's status as the pinnacle product for G-Shock. MRG watches are handcrafted in Japan by their best engineers and are build from the most premium materials inside out.

It only makes sense that one of the biggest watch makers want to create a line of the best products they can build. That peaked my interest but I wasn’t going to pay 10x the price for basically the same watch. I left the mall thinking about MRG’s concept , which is, to be completely honest, fascinating but kinda felt unnecessary. If G-Shock didn’t exist, I’m sure I would be interested to buy one, but, by comparison, the normal G-Shocks kinda made MRG obsolete.

During the next few days, I did some research on MRG to see if they had some unique designs. The brand intrigued me but I wasn’t interested in having a luxury G-Shock. I didn’t have any intention of buying anything until I came across their 100% analog watches. The MRG-120 first caught my eye. Then I saw the same watch in titanium, very cool. Doing some more research, I finally saw the one, the MRG-121t had a much better case design with the branding on the case instead of just on the bracelet like the 120.

The MRG-121t is entirely made of titanium with a domed sapphire crystal, 200m of water resistance, a screw-down crown, lume on the hands and indices, and a really cool mesh dial with a strong backlight going through the holes in the dial. It was simply perfect. The problem is that it was only produced in 1997, then discontinued.

At that moment, I realized that I wanted one.

I first went through my normal channels to find a second-hand one, but they led to watches way too beat up with missing links that would make them unwearable for me. So I went through some Chinese G-Shock forums and announced that I was looking for that watch. By incredible luck, a guy messaged me telling me that he had one sitting in a drawer for more than 10 years. We met face to face in a neighboring city and the bracelet was the perfect size. I got it for only 200$ (what a steal!).

It was beautiful but kinda dirty. I couldn’t wait to wear it so I didn’t even clean it and just put it on. I wore it for about 20 minutes when the clasp, or so I thought, opened and the bracelet came undone hanging from both sides of my wrist. Luckily, it was a hot summer day so my sweat made the watch stick to my arm so it didn’t fall (“eww” I know). I then realized that the pins between the links were super loose, to the point that they would just slide out when shaken. I looked down to grab the fallen pin and put it back on making sure I didn’t lose any links.

I then brought it to my watch guy in Beijing to see if he could help. He first laughed at me for buying a 25-year-old piece of junk. He was even more surprised when I said that I paid 200$ for it. I told him everything and he admitted never having even heard of MRG. He took care of everything for me and did a full service with new link pins. The watch came back clean as new. Wow! It turned out even better than I thought.

It is now my most worn watch. I wear it at work and for most outdoor activities. I love how nobody knows what it is. I love how rare it actually is. I love the journey I went on to acquire one. And most important of all, I love how it looks and feels on my wrist. While being one of my cheapest watches and having no emotional significance related to its story, this watch epitomizes everything I love about collecting watches.

If you read to the end, I assume that this story spoke to you in some way. I would love to know if you have watches that make you feel this way in your collection, cheaper watches that you just love even if there’s no significant history behind them.