Will the Casio CRW001-1 ring watch be released in the U.S. this week?

Update: The Casio Ring Watch (CRW001-1) will be released online in the United States on December 26.

Will the Casio CRW001-1 ring watch be released in the U.S. this week? As is often the case with Casio releases in the U.S., we have no idea on which day it will be released, other than knowing that it is scheduled to be released sometime in December. The listing is live (but the ability to order is coming soon) at casio.com/us, and it appears on the www.casio.com/us homepage under “New Products,” so the release appears to be imminent. We’re guessing that it will be released this week and hopefully on Monday, but again we have no idea.

A recent promotional email (for a different item) from Casio U.S. states that orders received by 2 p.m. (EST?) by December 17 (with premium shipping) and December 19 (with express shipping) will arrive by Christmas. However, we would not assume that this is guaranteed, and it may not apply to all shipping locations. [Another email for the DW5000R-1A stated that orders made by December 23 with next-day air shipping will also arrive by Christmas.]

The CRW001-1 digital ring watch was in extremely high demand and sold out in Japan (as CRW-001-1JR there), where Casio decided to change the ordering process from the usual pre-ordering to a sales lottery in order to give everyone a better chance of getting one. There is no indication that it will be sold by lottery in the U.S., and we are expecting it to go on sale one day with no advance notice. The Japanese release is now listed on Ebay by resellers for around $595 to $700 and even higher, and the U.S. retail price is $120. We believe that the CRW001-1 will sell out within minutes in the U.S. The Japanese release was also reportedly available at some retailers other than Casio, but it’s not known if the CRW001-1 will be available outside of Casio.com in the U.S.

There is reason to believe that the CRW001-1 will be more in demand than the DW5000R-1A (which is now listed at Casio as coming soon), although the DW-5000R-1AJF also sold out quickly in Japan. While the scalper prices for the DW-5000R-1AJF are also high, they are proportionally lower than the CRW-001-1JR. As the first Casio ring watch, the CRW001-1 has the novelty factor in its favor and offers exclusivity at a relatively low retail price. The CRW001-1 is a limited release for the Casio Watch 50th Anniversary, and this means that Casio will not continue to manufacture it after it sells out. On the other hand, the DW5000R-1A is a standard release which is expected to remain in production for a while or indefinitely like the GW-5000, so if you miss out on the initial run, you should have more chances later. Casio stated that it plans to reuse the module from the CRW-001-1 in other future products, but whether those products are more G-Shock-shaped rings or even rings at all remains to be seen.

When it comes to limited or very popular Casio or G-Shock releases, we suggest signing up for a Casio ID at Casio.com ahead of time and adding your mailing address, signing up for e-mail notifications on the product page, checking the website everyday, and maybe being signed in to Paypal as well to speed up the purchasing process. If you see that it is already sold out, you might want to still keep checking later, as it’s possible that Casio may release it in batches. The limited G-Shock GMWB5000SS-2 reportedly sold out on the first day but was briefly available again the next day. Good luck!

(Casio U.S. ships to the 50 States, D.C., Puerto Rico, and U.S. Armed Forces addresses overseas.)