J Balvin and Casio are back with another collaboration, but this time the wrist is no longer enough.
The artist just unveiled the CRW001JB-9, a gold-tone ring watch covered in rhinestone accents and stamped with his signature flower motif, pushing Casio’s already viral ring watch experiment into full jewelry territory. According to Hypebeast, the limited-edition piece will retail for $200 and launches June 4 after pre-orders open May 28.
J Balvin’s version leans fully into spectacle. The ring features a textured gold brick pattern, rhinestone detailing along the bezel, dual time functionality, a stopwatch, auto-calendar, LED backlight, and a flashing light feature programmed to pulse hourly or at preset times. Even the packaging reportedly mirrors the gold brick motif used on the face.
Still, the bigger story might be how Casio got here in the first place.
Casio’s Ring Watch Was Never Supposed To Feel This Big
The company officially launched its first functional ring watch, the CRW-001-1, in late 2024 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Casio watches. Casio described the project as “a newly developed miniature module and advanced metalworking technology” designed to create “a new style of digital watch both practical and playful.”
The original silver CRW-001 instantly went viral because it looked almost fake at first glance. But the watch was fully functional. Casio managed to squeeze a digital LCD display, stopwatch, dual-time function, alarm, and light into a ring-sized stainless steel case. The company used metal injection molding technology to manufacture the tiny housing because traditional machining methods reportedly could not achieve the necessary detail.
What looked like internet gimmick culture was actually serious engineering.
The Tiny Watch Actually Connects Back to Casio’s Origin Story
Casio also tied the design directly to its own history. In a 2024 press release announcing the launch, the company said the release was “a tribute to Casio’s original ‘yubiwa pipe’ product from 1946,” referencing one of the brand founder’s earliest inventions before Casio became known for calculators and watches.
Long before Casio became synonymous with digital watches, the company’s roots were built on unconventional wearable utility products. That history makes the ring watch feel less random and more like a full-circle moment dressed up for modern internet culture.
Smart Rings Made Wearable Tech Cool Again
The timing of the release also mattered.
The accessory arrived during a broader resurgence of smart rings and wearable jewelry. Samsung’s Galaxy Ring, Oura’s continued dominance in health wearables, and fashion-tech crossovers all helped create a moment where people suddenly became interested in tech that didn’t necessarily look like tech. The Verge even described 2024 as “the year of the smart ring.”
But Casio’s approach stood apart because it intentionally avoided futuristic minimalism.
Rather than competing with health trackers, Casio leaned into retro digital-watch nostalgia. The CRW-001 resembled a miniature version of the brand’s iconic square-faced watches, especially the classic G-Shock aesthetic that shaped entire eras of sneaker and streetwear culture. aBlogtoWatch even described the piece as “essentially a finger-sized G-Shock.”
That mix of irony, nostalgia, and functionality is exactly what pushed the ring watch into viral territory.
Watch Rings Have Been Quietly Floating Around Fashion for Decades
Casio was not the first company to experiment with watch rings, even if it became the loudest recent example.
In 2024, Timex partnered with MM6 Maison Margiela on a stretch-band ring watch that blurred the line between jewelry and novelty fashion accessory. Vintage watch rings from the 1980s and 1990s also started resurfacing online through resale platforms and archive fashion communities as Y2K styling continued dominating trend cycles.
Luxury watchmakers explored similar concepts decades earlier. Piaget famously produced high-jewelry watch rings throughout the 20th century, while brands like Jaeger-LeCoultre and Bucherer experimented with miniature cocktail watch rings aimed at collectors and luxury buyers rather than everyday wear.
The difference now is visibility. Social media transformed niche novelty accessories into conversation pieces overnight.
The Internet Loves Accessories That Feel Slightly Ridiculous
That may be the real reason the Casio ring watch exploded online.
The design managed to look futuristic, nostalgic, impractical, stylish, and oddly useful at the same time. That combination practically guaranteed viral attention. The original CRW-001 sold out quickly after launch, and later restocks triggered online queues, collector chatter, and resale listings almost immediately.
Casio eventually expanded the line with additional variations, including gold-tone editions and miniature G-Shock-inspired concepts.
Now J Balvin is stepping directly into that momentum with a version that feels less like wearable tech and more like stage jewelry that just happens to tell time.
Which honestly feels very on-brand for him.
