The Grand Seiko Hi-Beat VFA is exactly what an awful lot of us – even and especially those of us who consider ourselves Grand Seiko fans – would probably say we absolutely do not want from Grand Seiko. It’s a veritable litany of Grand Seiko loyalist don’ts: extremely limited edition (20 pieces), extremely precious metal (platinum), and as if that weren’t sufficiently out of character for Grand Seiko, extremely expensive ($53,000). However, you can’t very well have a guilty pleasure without guilt, and you can’t have one without pleasure either, and there is something about the way this watch throws modesty to the winds and goes straight for the jugular, luxury-wise, that’s irresistible. Besides, as Blaise Pascal once wrote, “the heart has its reasons whereof reason knows nothing.”
$53,000; grand-seiko.com