I love GS, but all these LE is a bit too much lately

Lets hope GS in 2023 and onwards focus more on regular releases and way less on all these limited editions. 

😮

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Stealing @KristianG's awesome meme...

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I used to get upset at GS for releasing so many different LE's.  I would rail, "Why?  Why god, why???" [All this while gnashing my teeth and rending my garments.]

I think it would piss me off because I had my mind set on buying THE PERFECT GS.  And every time I thought I'd landed on the one perfect watch, GS would release yet another LE that would totally upend my calculus, and force me back to square one.

But, this is entirely a watch enthusiast issue.  I cannot imagine for the life of me anyone outside of us obsessives caring one whit.  Went to an AD with a good buddy who likes watches, and is considering a GS versus a Glashuette Original versus an IWC, and the role that "number of releases in any given year" plays in his decision-making?

No Fucks Given GIFs | Tenor

I don't think anyone other than us obsessives knows, cares, or would ever even notice.  You go to an AD, you see a bunch of watches under the case, a few of them might have a label saying "limited edition" and the sales person gets to say, "Oh, this one is really rare," but that's about it.

As for me, how I ended up overcoming my disdain of so many GS LE's?  Easy!

Gotta Catch Em All GIFs | Tenor
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It’s not just lately….

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Part of me has to agree, but having thought about it bit lately, it's their whole brand strategy. In sharp contrast to other brands, say Rolex and Tudor, who do a couple of strategic releases every year, and each each one drops like a bomb; Grand Seiko takes the scattershot shotgun approach, bombarding you with new releases to keep you on edge and on your toes and talking about Grand Seiko.  And many of them have to be limited editions, otherwise their already unwieldy catalog would collapse under its own weight. Rather have few clearly defined and carefully curated model lines, like say the Breitling Navitimer with their carefully laid out sizes and colors, Grand Seiko take the throw-spaghetti-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks approach with their hodgepodge of endless variations on a theme. It may be annoying but seems to work for them; people do talk about the new Grand Seiko all the time, even if they roll their eyes at the same time. And their market share has grown, and they've gone from "just a Seiko" to a household name among watch geeks. So like it or hate it, to the extent that when you buy a watch you buy a brand, so you also get this aspect of Grand Seiko. 

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This strategy hasn’t made be buy a GS yet.  Some of the LEs look fantastic.  But when I was in the GS AD, their regular inventory was just meh.  Boring.  Staid.  Ho Hum.  I left that AD, went across the street and bought a GO 10 minutes later.

If you‘re not going to put your best product on the shelf or limit the good stuff to ridiculously small numbers, don’t expect that I will ever become your customer. 

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Davemcc

This strategy hasn’t made be buy a GS yet.  Some of the LEs look fantastic.  But when I was in the GS AD, their regular inventory was just meh.  Boring.  Staid.  Ho Hum.  I left that AD, went across the street and bought a GO 10 minutes later.

If you‘re not going to put your best product on the shelf or limit the good stuff to ridiculously small numbers, don’t expect that I will ever become your customer. 

They have a number of potential future icons in regular production, the White Birch, the SBGA413 Shunbun (near and dear to my heart) and its sister SBGA415, among others. No brand is going to appeal to everyone for whatever reason, including their marketing strategy. 

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Can’t please everyone, but in my case, I don’t really care. I have two regular production GSs, and I bought them because I like them. If they happen to be LEs, so be it. I do like that GS comes out with a variety of models, LEs and non-LEs. YMMV 😊

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I wholeheartedly agree with @HotWatchChick69 sentiments regarding the limited editions- “I think it would piss me off because I had my mind set on buying THE PERFECT GS.  And every time I thought I'd landed on the one perfect watch, GS would release yet another LE that would totally upend my calculus, and force me back to square one.” 

EVERY DAMN TIME I think I've settled on a GS, something equally spectacular drops!! And again, to agree with @HotWatchChick69 this is problem solely for WIS like us. 

 I don’t know about anybody else, but previously I was only looking at mainly European Maisons, but now all my attention is pointed towards Japan, Grand Seiko & Credor. 

( I also like how I can actually get my hands on a GS Limited Edition) 🙈

Cheers all! Happy Holidays 

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Totally agree. They go overboard with the limited editions. 

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Totally disagree - choice is great, love LEs, bring on more:

More is more and less is a bore.

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I don’t have a problem with it. I recently bought a LE GS (SBGP015) and love it. In fact it was this LE run that caught my attention and dragged me away from the piece I thought I was hankering for. So yes, they can throw you a curve ball and maybe thats their genius.

Or maybe I’m just a total GS fanboy and they can do no wrong. 

I suspect the latter 😂