Are watches made for the domestic market in Japan superior to those made for other countries?

I've also noticed that Citizen makes way cooler field-style watches for Japan then here in the U.K, not cool! :D 

Here’s a guess:

• Japan has been in economic stagnation for ~30 years
• When your economy has had effectively zero growth for 3 decades, you don’t price your products and services at any kind of premium
• For forever and a day, EVERYONE raved about how much of a killer deal GS watches were - Zaratsu polish, hand crafted this and that, exquisite dials, spring drive movements… all for less than the MSRP of a Rolex, never mind grey market Rolex prices!
• Then, GS spun off a new entity called Grand Seiko USA, and the CEO moved here to the States and realized, “OMG… these Americans haven’t had zero growth for the past 30 years. We can actually charge them… money!”
• Hence, prices on GS went from $5k/ watch to like $9k for all the new Evolution 9 releases

With all that in mind, JDM watches are released exclusively for the Japanese market, keeping in mind that Japanese people don’t have a lot of money to spend on luxury goods because of 30+ years of stagnation. So, I can imagine those JDM watches are going to be INCREDIBLE value.

I bought my JDM SARX055 for ~$800. If Seiko were to release a U.S. model, I‘m sure they would charge at least $1,500 for it. 

Only drawback of buying JDM is that the warranties are Japan only!

This is a hotly debated subject and I doubt we will ever get a real answer but my experience has been that there's very little quality difference between the same models between inside and outside Japan BUT the diversity of models is much higher in the home market than outside.  You get a ton of Japan only specials and dials and variations that are awesome.

I think the source of the "JDM is superior" rumors has as much to do with model misidentification as anything else.

Thanks for the detailed reply, I didn't know that the economy in Japan has been stagnant for that long - quite surprised and I appreciate you breaking it down for me in such an easy-to-understand way.

Here in the U.K - Citizen make amazing watches but most of the catalogue is for people with big wrists whereas in Japan the variety of sizes much better!

I have read somewhere on here that for example Seiko JDM models are actually built in Japan whilst a lot of their other watches are assembled elsewhere in the far east?

I do think from looking on line that generally JDM watches are more interesting for Citizen and Orient as well as of course Seiko.

Can attest said SARX055 would have had a much higher MSRP if it were sold in the US. I spent just shy of the same amount for my King Samurai and the level of finishing/quality of movement is a lot lower on the Samurai. Still an excellent watch that Samurai mind you, but the value for money of the SARX055 is incredible. Thanks again @HotWatchChick69!

The drawback sounds like a positive to me! Oh no, I HAVE to go to Japan to service my watch! 

No. The quality of the specific Japanese-made model is identical, no matter where it will be sold. 

But Japanese brands tend to offer a better variety of watches in their home country. 

Could the logic be that the price in the country of manufacture (e.g. Japan)  is less than the price several thousand miles away (e.g. USA) where tax is also added to imported goods?

Having visited Japan on business 10 times there is a healthy market for luxury goods.

Depends on how you define better. I've found that they are usually more aesthetically interesting at the very least. That includes Citizen.  Not sure about Orient.

Yeah, Japan definitely has a healthy luxury goods market.  I'm just saying that relative to the U.S., it's not quite as vibrant / excessive, because of this:

Per capita GDP in the U.S. is ~$70k, while it's ~$39k in Japan.

So, one thing that companies do is they engage in price discrimination.  Think pills as the perfect example.  You want to charge $10/pill in the U.S., and $0.25/pill in Africa, to maximize profits.  But, you also  know that if you do that, people will import those African pills into the U.S., charge $1, and nobody will buy your $10 pills.

Same with JDM.  That's why the warranty is Japan only!!!

Look at the difference in your hand , they save their best lines for the home market and if they are not all sold then we buy them . I got my SARB017 from The land of the rising sun and I personally like it better than the rereleased prospex line . Personal choice I suppose. I still want a SARB033 !

It's sometimes not even about perceived better quality, but aspects like getting MADE IN JAPAN on the dial, as a nice point of difference to regular models (it's a Japanese company, why not get their Japanese made models?), not to mention if it's a day/date being able to do the whole kanji thing; good fun.

Nope. I’ve got JDMs and nonJDM Seikos. No qualitative difference that I can tell.  There are JDM models that arent “for sale” outside of Japan (ie from Seiko directly), but they are easily had thanks to online shopping. 

No, the 2 major centres of production of Seikos are Japan and Malaysia, they use the same machines,same components, same production techniques. The only differences are basically whats on the face,different dials, handsets etc. And that's what Seikoholics go mad for, the difference from what's available outside Japan/Asia (Thailand especially). The quality and everything else is the same, just a difference in how they look. It's a perception of different quality bought on by relative scarcity and demand by collectors (sometimes hyped up prices).

Made in Japan 👌🏻

Not just JDM but Asian Market releases, HK, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand are all more exotic and better value for the $ vs what we get in the US market. 

Judging by the pervasive nationalism of japanese culture, I'd say the answer is a solid "probably"

I hear you on the prices of the Evolution9 Collection, but the majority of the Heritage, Elegance & Sport lines are still priced in the 3-7k ish range. Of course there are models higher than that that include precious metals and Chronographs but there’s still plenty of decently priced GS’s to be had. But no  doubt that pricing even for those has gone up recently. I still think GS brings a ton to the table for the money. And I’ll agree that JDM models are probably the better buy. Cheers! 🥂 

The only difference I have been able to see is that some of my #jdm models (#seiko and #citizen) are cased (i.e., completely assembled) in #japan. However, it's not always the case (ha ha ha pun intended!) 🙂 Others are cased in Thailand, Malaysia, or China.  

Having lived in Japan for a bit, I would pick up a JDM model these days if it was collaboration with a Japanese brand I know or if it was a cool colorway/dial I couldn't get in the Oceania market That said, the Seiko Boutique here in Sydney almost scored AUD$700.⁰⁰ from me for a limited edition Ultraman #seiko5 a while back... Japan is slowly embracing globalisation (or at least being a player rather than a leader) after all that stagnation/debt trap action since the 90s boom!

Singapore for that grey market action! 😜