Royal Thai Marine Corps Rear Admiral is rocking a G-Shock DW-6600 from 1994

In a photo taken on December 11, 2024, by U.S Marine Corps Lance Corporal Conor Ragland, Rear Admiral Nirat Tagoodruar of the Royal Thai Marine Corps is seen extending a handshake with U.S. Marine Corps Colonel Mark F. Schaefer during the USMC-RTMC Future Engagement Planning Conference in Sattahip, Thailand. Tagoodruar wears a G-Shock watch which initially appears to be a DW-6900 but on closer inspection is actually a DW-6600, and a very vintage one at that.

Disclaimer: The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.

The watch appears to match either the DW-6600F-3V (shockbase.org) or DW-6640-3 (shockbase.org). The DW-6640-3 (pictured below) has a camouflage print on the band and a scorpion graphic as a backlight background image. It’s amazing that the bezel and band on his watch have held up for thirty years, but we don’t know how long it has actually been in use for.

The DW-6640-3 has a different module than the DW-6600F-3V (and the same as DW-6620 models), with the difference being that the DW-6640-3 and DW-6620 have low temperature resistance.

The DW-6600 series was first introduced in 1994 as the first G-Shock equipped with a front light button and the “Fox Fire” EL backlight which illuminates the background of the LCD display. It also introduced the case style that would be adopted by the DW-6900 in 1995. The DW-6600 has a history of strong military connections and is known to be the first G-Shock watch that U.S. Navy SEALs started using. Following its discontinuation in 2010, the DW-600 was revived in 2023 with the release of the limited DW-6640RE-1 for the G-Shock 40th Anniversary, featuring an LED backlight upgrade with improved battery life. G-Shock also released the retro computer-themed DW-6600PC-5 that year but have not released any DW-6600 models since then.