SEIKO

Seiko timepieces, which are manufactured and distributed by Seiko Group businesses, are noted for their technical advancements, particularly in analog quartz and digital watches, as well as their high quality standards, which rival those of top Swiss watchmakers.

This is reflected in the name "Seiko," which may be interpreted as one of two Japanese words: "exquisite" or "success."

The Seiko Group was founded in 1881 by Kintaro Hattori, who started a watch and clock repair shop in Tokyo. Seiko is today one of the most well-known and popular non-Swiss watch brands.

By 1892, the business had established its Seikosha plant in what is now Sumida Ward, Tokyo, which is now home to the Seiko Museum. Seikosha translates to "House of Exquisite Workmanship."

The Great Kanto Earthquake struck Tokyo in September 1923, devastating the city. An subsequent fire overtook the Seikosha facility, destroying all of their stock and production equipment.

Kintaro Hattori started about reconstructing the plant at a high expense right away. Just four months later, the business was back to selling wristwatches, a remarkable feat of dedication and cooperation.

After being rebuilt, the wristwatch line sold by K. Hattori & Co. was none other than the very first Seiko watch. The "Seiko" brand was born during this time.

The movements for Seiko watches are made by two Seiko Group firms, which have now moved into other electronic areas. The first was Seiko Instruments, Inc, which was created in 1937 as a spinoff of Seikosha as Daini Seikosha. The second is Seiko Epson, which was created in 1942 to manufacture parts for Seiko timepieces and is now mostly known as Epson.

The start of World War II slowed the company's progress. This was due to the fact that they were obliged to change their concentration to mass manufacture of military clocks. As a result, they were forced to redirect resources away from research, and their factories were bombed.

Following the war's end, the Seiko brand immediately rose to prominence as a wristwatch pioneer. Seiko timepieces from the 1950s, for example, had Diashock shock-resistant jewel bearings and the "Magic Lever" technology.

The "Magic Lever," which is still used in Seiko watches today, is a dual-axis self-winding mechanism that is both efficient and inexpensive to make.

The Seiko brand has consistently maintained a high production quality for its timepieces, giving the Swiss watch industry stiff competition. With its Grand Seiko trademark line, Seiko aimed to challenge the top rank maintained by luxury Swiss watch companies. The original Grand Seiko, introduced in 1960, had a daily precision of -3 to +12 seconds.

It was the first Japanese watch to achieve Chronometer status as a result of this. This indicates that it met the stringent requirements set down by the Swiss inspectors of the time, the Bureaux officiels (B.O.s).

The Grand Seiko collection has a clear, clean, and easy-to-read style. A smooth dial, high polish on the bezel, rectangular markings, and a double-width 12 o'clock stick marker are among the features. The Grand Seiko values of precision, accuracy, and refinement are embodied in these aesthetic aspects.

Despite the Grand Seiko aesthetic's emphasis on exquisite simplicity, a few complexities are offered. Since 1964, the majority of models have had a basic calendar, some have included GMT indicator, and a few late models have included a triple calendar.

Water resistance, enhanced temperature, shock, and humidity resistance, and anti-magnetic protection were all added throughout time. The 61GS, the first self-winding Grand Seiko, was introduced in 1968 and included Seiko's "Magic Lever" mechanism.

The "Magic Lever" was also included in the Seiko 5, a 1963 collection. The busy and ambitious young people of the 1960s were drawn to the Seiko 5.

These timepieces are designed to be long-lasting, inexpensive, and low-maintenance. This was done with innovations like “Magic Lever,” high-durability Diaflex springs, and shock-resistant Diashock bearings. Seiko 5 watches are designed to be easily viewable no matter where you are.

This means they feature high-contrast colors, clear lines, and a single window that shows the day and date. This was an innovative technique to show a wristwatch calendar at the time, and it is now commonplace.

The Seiko 5 watches are further distinguished by their high-durability steel straps and crowns that are recessed at 4 o'clock.

Seiko battled with the Centre Electronique Horloger, a group of 20 Swiss watchmakers, to build the first quartz wristwatch in the 1960s.

This was the beginning of the "Quartz Crisis," as the Swiss industry called it. The Swiss had a "crisis" as a result of quartz watches, which provided more precision than mechanical watch movements.

The Astron, the first quartz wristwatch, was introduced by Seiko in 1969. The Astron was heralded as a watershed moment in the history of electrical engineering by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). This was due to the watch's superior accuracy than any wristwatch on the market at the time.

The Astron's precision was 5 seconds every month, significantly above the Swiss B.O.s' criterion of 1/+10 seconds per day for mechanical chronometers. The Astron was 100 times more accurate than any other wristwatch available at the time, whether electronic or mechanical.

Seiko's trademark Credor series made its debut on the high-end luxury watch market in 1974. The name "Credor" is an acronym of "Crête D'Or," which means "Gold Crest" in French and symbolizes the line's elegance and sophistication. Credor watches are made of precious metals and handcrafted by artisans, and they encapsulate the ideal Japanese aesthetic of delicate beauty.

The Credor Eichi II, for example, has a platinum casing that has been carefully hand-finished and a porcelain face that has been painstakingly hand-painted. As a result, these watches are made in very limited quantities; just one Eichi II is made per day. On the backs of some Credor models, like as the GBBY989, there are painstakingly embellished, hand-engraved movements.

Seiko introduced the Seiko 0634, the world's first multi-function digital watch, in 1975. Throughout the 1980s, they continued to innovate in the digital watch industry. Many of these timepieces were far ahead of their time, with features that sound like they belong in the twenty-first century.

Seiko, for example, developed the TV Watch in 1982, which allows the user to watch TV anywhere and at any time.

Seiko continues to create innovative digital watch technology, such as the voice-recording "Voice Note" watch introduced in 1983. The UC-2000, a watch with a computer built in, was released the following year. This allowed the wearer to keep track of contacts and diary entries. No other watch had achieved equivalent functionality, while being fairly bulky with its keyboard connected and restricted in capabilities.

The Automatic Generating System was introduced by Seiko in 1988. This is a kinetic-based device that generates enough electricity to power a quartz watch from user motions. Quartz watches require regular battery changes, unlike mechanical and automatic watches, which simply need to be wound or moved.

The A.G.S enabled the production of quartz timepieces that did not require battery replacement. Since its inception, this technology, now known as "Kinetic," has been upgraded and modified on a regular basis.

In the watch industry, this invention was a game-changer. No other firm had created a quartz watch that worked in the same way as a self-winding mechanism.

Seiko has always been a supporter of international sports, beginning with the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games (Omega is the standard timing sponsor). To offer their distinctive timing perfection, Seiko sends equipment and timing engineers to championships and class events in a variety of sports.

Seiko joined forces with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 1985 to become their official timing partner. Since then, they've supplied athletic timing for over 170 IAAF events across the world.

Individual athletes have collaborated with Seiko to produce unique watch lines. They teamed with Serbian international tennis star Novak Djokovic in 2017, who travels the world with his Astron GPS. As a consequence of their partnership, two of Seiko's watch lines, Astron GPS and Premier, have limited edition versions.

The Novak Djokovic Astron GPS is a limited-edition watch with Novak's signature, as well as extraordinary durability and accuracy. This model, like all Astron GPS models, relies on satellite synchronization to attain an astronomical precision of 1 second per 100,000 years.

The "Kinetic Perpetual" mechanism, which is exclusive to Seiko, is also included on the Novak Djokovic Premier watch. This is a newer version of the "A.G.S." and later "Kinetic" systems, which allows the watch to "sleep" in order to save energy. This implies that the watch remembers the date and time, turns off, and then re-activates with the proper time.

Seiko continues to push the limits of watch accuracy, but they are also known for their long-lasting robustness. Seiko has been developing diver's watches with exceptional durability to extreme water pressures since 1965.

The SKX007 and SKX009 watches have been tested and proven to be extremely durable. The 62MAS, recently relaunched as the SBDX019, was Seiko's first big diving watch. Seiko diver's watches have been developing since then, and this watch was water-resistant to a depth of 150 meters.

A watch impervious to helium, which causes timepieces to malfunction at extreme depths, was virtually unheard of until recently. When Seiko produced the Professional Diver's 1000m series, this changed. This series has a casing that is far more resistant to helium than any other diving watch on the market at the time.

(Founder of SEIKO above picture Kintaro Hattori )