G-SHOCK KITH GM-6900 Rainbow

As the proud owner of 22 G-SHOCKs, I don’t know squat about G-SHOCK “collab” companies or personalities. Case in point: the G-SHOCK KITH GM-6900 Rainbow. I’ve never heard of KITH. And when I did, Mike Tyson’s voice popped into my head. “I liked it when dat gurl kith me.” Hang on . . .

I’m not making fun of people with a speech-related challenge (previously known as an “impediment”). We all have speech challenges, some of us before drinking alcoholic beverages, some of us after. Some of us before we hit 50, some of us after. And I condemn and abhor Mr. Tyson’s criminal behavior.

‘Nuff said? If not, let it be known: if a G-SHOCK collector can’t laugh at him/her/themself, they haven’t worn one of Casio’s finest while rocking a tux. Don’t ask me how I know. So, back to the Galactica . . .

According to the faux journalists over at HoDinkee, KITH is “a famed downtown New York retailer and apparel label known for rare sneakers and nostalgic collaboration.” I like my sneakers medium rare, but I give the brand kudos for opening “a Paris flagship designed by [the] design firm Snarkitecture.” Snarkitecture. Classic!

The G-SHOCK KITH GM-6900 Rainbow is the duo’s third collaboration. This time ’round they applied their collective creative genius to the metal-bezeled version of the iconic G-SHOCK 6900.

You can’t go wrong with a 6900. Its laden with the usual G-SHOCK fare: multi-function alarm, stopwatch, count-down timer, perpetual calendar and 200 meter water resistance. Notably, it lacks the solar-atomic features of the GW-6900. As for the style . . .

“It’s the kind of watch that makes a sudden and forceful impression,” John Bues pronounces. The HoDinkee “reviewer” declines to state what kind of impression the KITH G-SHOCK GM-6900 creates, but it’s definitely not an “I’m an accountant” vibe.

That’s down to the KITH collab’s metal bezel. It boasts the same iridescent rainbow ion plating treatment previously seen on several G-SHOCKs, including the G-SHOCK GM-110RB-2A (a model that takes “sudden and forceful” to a Category 5).

The mostly blue coloration reminds me of the heat-treated titanium exhaust tips popular among the Fast & Furious set. They look cool, but I’m way too much of a traditionalist to taste the rainbow. OK, old. The watch would look ridiculous on this 57-year-old’s wrist.

Is it just me? Nope. It’s “just us” – the words that illuminate when you press the KITH button at the base of the dial (KITH message not shown). The brand’s shoutout doesn’t replace the standard display; it appears underneath. We don’t need no stinking re-programming!

Remember G-SHOCK’s pressed-hair-under-glass translucent strap? Who thought this was a good look? G-SHOCK did it again with the KITH GM-6900 Rainbow.

This time, the band semi-obscures the horror (the horror) by printing the KITH logo on the translucent strap. The logo does a reasonable job of hiding the hirsute, but the overall effect is still pretty silly.

I know: I’m starting to sound like the old man yelling at passersby to get off his lawn. The G-SHOCK KITH GM-6900 Rainbow might look better, or at least more congruous, with a rainbow metal bracelet like the G-SHOCK Titanium GMW-B5000TR.

At least this G-SHOCK offers KITH’s kith and kin a positive LCD display – rather than the increasingly popular, nearly illegible negative (inverted) LCD display.

The KITH GM-6900 Rainbow is available for $400 today, March 22, via their website. I’m sure it will sell out, just like the Ho’s milquetoast G-SHOCK collab. As the YouTuber above predicts, the latest KITH watch will hit eBay for a significant premium within minutes.

Meanwhile, somewhere, over the rainbow, there’s a better looking G-SHOCK waiting to liberate you from your money. ‘Scuse me while I kith the sky.