Total steals: Grand Seiko SBGA443 (Shunbun) and SBGA445 (Taitetsu)

Woah that's such a good find! Question, do you have to pay import duties or customs or anything like that for those watches coming from Japan to the US?

Yes, anything over $800 you will need to pay import duties and it will depend on the documentation provided by the dealer on the watch’s value breakdown between the movement, case, and bracelet. It seems like, even with awful documentation, the most you would be charged is 8.5%. Note you will also be charged local sales tax.

This is a good brief (actually uses a $5000 Grand Seiko as an example haha): https://theluxurywell.com/blogs/news/customsduties

Ugh, this is so dangerous for me, been eyeing a grand seiko and found one $2000 cheaper in Japan, Don't have the funds but my finger is itching to click on that "buy" button.

Thank you for all the information! Definitely cool to see a Grand Seiko used as an example!

Someday. 

My SBGA443 is in transit from Japan now. Very excited and could not wait to see it at my door!

With the weak Japanese Yen and low msrp, I saved about $2700cad for the same watch brand new from AD locally here in Vancouver, BC.

Awesome!! I’m glad you were able to take advantage. I actually visited Vancouver (from there originally) and went to Rodeo Jewellers (which is probably where you went) and the owner’s son told me he couldn’t do anything for me for any Grand Seikos on price

Yes, I went to Rodeo to browse their GS collection.

Di (owner's son) was amazing in service and courteous, he also shared me his experience visiting the GS factory during his Japan trip several years ago.

I honestly felt bad not picking up my Grand Seiko from them, but the price difference for buying directly from Japan is hard to resist. Hopefully my next watch would be purchase through them. 

Yeah he's a good businessman and a watch geek. Rare to find that combination. Vancouver taxes are crazy btw 

Hi, wanted to update you. I paid $132 for customs on a $4300 watch.

Thank you! That’s not bad at all. How did you pay it?

I just paid over the phone to UPS

Hi Kevin - how long did it take you from ordering to receiving the watch? can you also share which seller you bought it from? Still happy with your purchase? :)

I bought from Omicron Watches, and it was an excellent experience. I ordered in October 22nd and got it on Nov. 2. I would’ve gotten it earlier if UPS had their stuff together. They came back to redeliver three times because they couldn’t confirm that I had paid the customs fee. The SBGA445 is one of my favourite watches! It made me re-assess what I’m looking for in a watch and how much I should be paying other brands for their watches

Glad to read that! I ordered my SBGA443 late last night 🫣🫣🫣 discussed with Omicron but decided to go with an other one they was slightly cheaper and more reactive in terms of communication (Although I must say that all 4 stores contacted replied with 2 hours). They seemed well informed on the import process and provided all the info I hope I will need. I am taking a gamble as I a leaving the US on January 14th so the watch needs to me with by then (they are shipping it today via FedEx) 😱😱😱

Hey, I mention it all in the comments section. You can Ctrl + F my username and you should be able to see my experience, as well as a link to an article that explains it. In short, get the SBGA443 instead of SBGA413, and I paid 132 for a 4300 watch over the phone to UPS in order to complete delivery.

Much obliged! I will delve into your comments.

Read your post several times. The Luxury Well’s link is not active, actually “page not found.” Can you summarize for me? From what I have read elesewhere, the Japan retailer must quantify the watch’s components to assess duties. Did you contact customs? Who did you pay, the carrier? Thank you for any intel.

Yep, they should provide the courier with documentation that allocates the percentage of value to the bracelet, movement, and case of the watch. I paid the courier (UPS) over the phone

Excellent. Appreciate this!

Good info. Curious which one do you like better? Any warranty available? I realize prob have you ship back to Japan though?

I like the Winter - it's a little more lowkey than the Spring, and more versatile too. As far as I know, the seller I worked with is an AD, so the watch should be under warranty. Yes, I'd assume that I would've needed to ship back to Japan if there was a problem with the watch.

And you just used chrono24 or did you use direct links to the sellers/AD’s?

Thanks for the feedback

I went through Chrono24 through a dealer named Omicron Watch

Just created an account to say a big thank you to the OP. Have been eyeing the SBGA413 for a few years and came across this post a few weeks back. In the end, picked up the SBGA443 for just over $5k via Chrono24. Miyaran’s service was excellent and it only took about a week from payment to being on my wrist. Lovely. Expecting an import tax from FedEx in the next weeks, but overall it was much cheaper than paying $6600 + tax buying the SBGA413.

Thank you OP!

AD’s will give good deals on GS if they know and like you. I paid an AD $4200 for a snowflake this year.

Wow! That makes me really happy. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have. It truly is a work of art.

Definitely agree with this being a piece of art!

From GS Japan’s write up on the SBGA443, the dial was inspired by the cherry blossom petal falling into the river, dancing and swirling in the water during the first day of spring. A brief but mesmerizing moment captured on the dial. Just perfect!

I have done it because a friend of mine visited Japan so I asked him to bring me an SBGA445. It was 5150 USD, in comparison, the 415 is 7500 usd here in Hungary (it's a joke), so it was a really clever move 😎

And also I travelled to Barcelona to meet him because he only comes back to Hungary before Xmas and I travelled back the same day 😂. I couldn't wait 1,5 month obviously! 😎 (and the saving covered a lot more than 2 low-cost plane tickets 👌)