The Grand Seiko SBGM221G: Quality Without the Hype

Good morning {{first_name|Reader}}.

Three things this week: a watch most people have never heard of but should know about, how we navigated Black Friday without falling for the traps, and why I drive a Toyota Prius to work every day.

This is what intentional spending looks like to me when the entire world is screaming at you to buy things you don't need.

Let's get into it.

— Ian

I don't own this watch.

But Grand Seiko is perhaps one of the most overlooked luxury watch brands on the market. The craftsmanship and unique technology used in these watches make them sure to outlast you.

This particular model—the SBGM221G—is a GMT watch with a champagne dial and a blue GMT hand that I can't stop thinking about. It's gorgeous. It's functional. And it represents something important: quality without hype.

Let's start with the GMT complication. Most people don't need a GMT function. But if you travel, work across time zones, or just appreciate the elegance of tracking two time zones simultaneously, it's invaluable. The blue GMT hand on this watch makes it easy to read at a glance. It's not decoration. It's utility that happens to look beautiful.

The dial color is what really gets me. Champagne. Cream. Whatever you want to call it. It's warm without being flashy. It works with everything—suits, casual wear, dress clothes, jeans. A white dial can feel stark. A black dial can feel heavy. This sits perfectly in between.

And the size: 39mm. Not too large. Not too small. It fits a wide range of wrist sizes without looking oversized or undersized. It's proportioned correctly, which is rarer than you'd think in modern watches.

Here's what most people don't know about Grand Seiko: the technology inside these watches is as good as Swiss, if not better.

Spring Drive is the signature Grand Seiko innovation. It's a hybrid system that combines the best of mechanical and quartz movements. You get the soul of a mechanical watch—the sweeping second hand, the craftsmanship, the tradition—with the accuracy of quartz. It's accurate to within one second per day. Most mechanical watches are lucky to hit five seconds per day. (learn more about the spring drive)

The movement doesn't tick. It glides. The second hand sweeps across the dial in a way that's mesmerizing if you pay attention. It's the kind of detail that makes you stop and appreciate the engineering.

Zaratsu polishing is another Grand Seiko hallmark. It's a centuries-old Japanese polishing technique that creates mirror-flat surfaces on the case and bracelet. The edges are sharp. The reflections are distortion-free. It's the kind of finishing that Swiss brands charge double for.

And here's the thing: this is all done in Japan. Not Switzerland. Which means you're not paying the Swiss premium. You're paying for the actual craftsmanship, not the cachet of a Swiss-made label.

At $5,400, this watch is not cheap.

But it's still cheaper than a new Rolex. And the quality is in line with—or better than—Rolex.

You're getting:

Not only will you look good wearing this, but it's almost like a piece of jewelry. It's sure to catch some eyes and start great conversations. The kind of people who notice will know what they're looking at. The kind who don't won't care. That's perfect.

Grand Seiko has been making watches since 1960. They were created to compete with the best Swiss chronometers of the time. And they succeeded. (read the history here)

In blind testing, Grand Seiko movements consistently outperformed Swiss movements in accuracy and precision. But they didn't have the marketing. They didn't have the hype. They were just quietly making exceptional watches in Japan while the Swiss brands dominated the conversation.

That's changing now. People are starting to pay attention. But Grand Seiko is still undervalued compared to Swiss brands with similar (or inferior) quality.

That's the opportunity. You're buying quality before the hype catches up.

This is not a first-time buyer's watch. At $5,400, it's a serious purchase.

But if you've been in the watch world for a while, if you appreciate craftsmanship over brand recognition, if you want something that stands out without screaming for attention—this is it.

It's for people who are done chasing Rolex waitlists. People who want something different. People who care about what's inside the watch, not just what's on the dial.

Here's why this watch fits the intentional luxury philosophy:

You're not buying hype. You're not buying a logo. You're buying craftsmanship that will outlast you.

The brand has almost no hype around it. That's a feature, not a bug. It means you're getting quality without the markup that comes from everyone wanting the same thing.

This is a watch you could wear every day for the next 30 years and never feel like it's dated. The design is timeless. The technology is proven. The brand is storied.

That's intentional. That's worth the premium.

Maybe this is something to work toward in 2026. Not an impulse buy. Not a hype purchase. Just a quality piece that you save for, research, and acquire when it makes sense.

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We went out on Black Friday.

Not to camp overnight for a TV we don't need. Not to elbow strangers for doorbuster deals. Just to buy clothes for our kids that we were planning to buy anyway.

As two working parents, Black Friday is one of our few shared days off. So we used it. Practically. Boring, I know.

We didn't get caught up in the hype. We didn't buy things just because they were on sale. We didn't convince ourselves that a "deal" was worth it if we weren't planning to buy it in the first place.

Black Friday has turned into a gross consumer holiday that seems to last almost an entire month now. It's not about deals anymore. It's about convincing people to spend money they don't have on things they don't need.

We opted out of that.

Clothing for the kids. Super boring. Things they needed anyway. Things we had budgeted for and set money aside for months ago.

Oh, and I got a new Owala coffee mug that doesn't leak. Because I've had a problem with that. Also budgeted. Also boring.

A deal is only a deal if you were planning to buy it anyway.

If you weren't planning to spend money, and a sale convinces you to spend money, that's not a deal. That's marketing working on you.

We went into Black Friday with a list. We stuck to the list. We left.

That's intentional spending.

Most people go into Black Friday with no plan and leave with bags full of regret. We went in with a plan and left with exactly what we needed.

The temptation is real. The pressure is real. The "limited time" urgency is designed to make you panic and spend.

We didn't.

What's keeping you grounded during the holiday spending season? Are you sticking to your plan, or are the sales getting to you?

Hit reply and tell me.

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I drive 90 miles round trip for work every day.

In Alaska. Where gas is expensive. Where winter is brutal. Where a vehicle needs to actually work, not just look good.

So in 2023, I bought a 2020 Toyota Prius. Paid cash. About $24k after trade in.

Gave the wife my truck. Yeah, I went from a truck to a Prius.

Why a Prius?

Simple: I needed a fuel-efficient car that would last.

The Ram was getting 19 mpg on the highway. The Prius gets 54 mpg on the highway.

Let's do the math:

90 miles per day x 5 days per week x 50 weeks per year = 22,500 miles per year

Ram 1500:
22,500 miles / 19 mpg = 1,184 gallons per year
1,184 gallons x $4.50/gallon (Alaska prices) = $5,328 per year

Prius:
22,500 miles / 54 mpg = 417 gallons per year
417 gallons x $4.50/gallon = $1,877 per year

Savings: $3,451 per year

The Prius pays for itself in gas savings in about 7 years. But here's the thing: I plan to drive this car to 200,000 miles. It had 35,000 miles when I bought it. It's close to 90,000 now.

That means I have at least 110,000 miles left. At my current driving rate, that's about 5 more years.

Total gas savings over the life of the car: over $17,000.

That's real money. That's money I'm not burning in a gas tank just to look cool driving a truck.

It's all-wheel drive. With a good pair of winter tires, this thing tears up every challenging road I've put it on.

I was skeptical. I thought: "There's no way a Prius works in Alaska winter."

I was wrong. It works. Better than expected. It hasn’t met a road it can’t handle yet.

I'm sure people have judged me for driving a Prius. But not to my face.

And honestly? I could not care less.

I do not need a car for status. It's a thing that gets me to and from places. I made an intentional and practical decision to go with this car.

Sure, I could have gone with a BMW or something flashier. But that would have been for someone else's approval, not my actual needs.

This was intentional. I need a car that's reasonable to maintain, will last a long time, and is fuel efficient.

The Prius checks all three boxes.

Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on how you look at it—the US depends on cars. For most of the country, you need one.

So I want one that I can use without spending a lot of money on it.

Yes, cars depreciate. Yes, it's a "bad investment." But I paid cash, so no interest payments. And Toyotas hold their value as well as any other brand out there.

I'm not trying to impress anyone with my car. I'm trying to get to work, save money on gas, and not worry about it breaking down.

That's intentional luxury. Quality and practicality over flash and status.

Absolutely. I'd buy another Prius tomorrow if this one died.

But it won't. Because Toyotas last. And that's the whole point.

Hit reply and tell me.

A watch most people have never heard of. Black Friday discipline. A Prius that saves me thousands every year.

The common thread: choosing quality and practicality over hype and status.

Grand Seiko makes watches as good as Swiss brands, but without the hype. That's the opportunity.

We went into Black Friday with a plan and stuck to it. That's discipline.

I drive a Prius because it makes financial sense, not because it impresses people. That's intentional.

None of these decisions required approval. None of them followed the crowd. They just made sense.

That's what this newsletter is about.

Thanks for reading,

Ian