Seiko
Seiko Group Corporation, commonly known as Seiko, is a Japanese maker of watches, clocks, electronic devices, and semiconductors. Founded in 1881 by Kintarō Hattori in Tokyo, Seiko introduced the world's first commercial quartz wristwatch in 1969.
Seiko is widely known for its wristwatches. Seiko and Rolex are the only two watch companies considered to be vertically integrated. Seiko is able to design and develop all the components of a watch, as well as assemble, adjust, inspect and ship them in-house. Seiko's mechanical watches consist of approximately 200 parts, and the company has the technology and production facilities to design and manufacture all of these parts internally.
The company was incorporated in 1917 and renamed Hattori Seiko Co., Ltd. in 1983 and Seiko Corporation in 1997. After reconstructing and creating its operating subsidiaries, it became a holding company in 2001 and was renamed Seiko Holdings Corporation on July 1, 2007. Seiko Holdings Corporation was renamed Seiko Group Corporation as of October 1, 2022.
Seiko watches were originally produced by two Hattori family companies ; one was Daini Seikosha Co. and the other was Suwa Seikosha Co.. Having two companies both producing the same brand of watch enabled Seiko to improve technology through competition and hedge risk. It also reduced risk of production problems, since one company can increase production in the case of decreased production in the other parties. Seiko remains as one of the world's most recognised watchmaking brands.
In Ginza, where the company was founded, there are several Seiko-related facilities in addition to Seiko House Ginza, including the Seiko Museum and Seiko Dream Square. Several Seiko boutiques and department stores in the area frequently offer Ginza-exclusive models.
History
1881 founding to 1929
In 1881, Seiko founder Kintarō Hattori opened a watch and jewelry shop called "K. Hattori" in Tokyo. Kintarō Hattori had been working as clockmaker apprentice since the age of 13, with multiple stints in different watch shops, such as “Kobayashi Clock Shop”, run by an expert technician named Seijiro Sakurai; “Kameda Clock Shop” in Nihonbashi; and “Sakata Clock Shop” in Ueno, where he learned how to both sell and repair timepieces.Around the time of Seiko's founding, watchmakers in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya were studying and producing pocket watches based on Western products. Japanese wholesalers needed to purchase all the imported timepieces from foreign trading companies established in Yokohama, Kobe, and other open port areas.
In 1885, Hattori began dealing directly with these foreign trading firms in the Yokohama settlement focused on the wholesaling and retailing of western timepieces and machinery.
Over the years, Hattori developed a close partnership with multiple foreign trading firms, including C&J Favre-Brandt, F. Perregaux & Co., Zanuti & Cie. and Siber & Brennwald, allowing him to obtain exclusive imported timepieces and machinery, which was not available elsewhere at that time.
Hattori's shop became increasingly popular due to the rarity of the imported watches the shop was selling, which were not found anywhere else in Japan. The growing success allowed him to relocate the company to the main street of Ginza, still the epicenter of commerce in Japan to this day.
In 1891, 10 years after the establishment of K. Hattori & Co., the 31-year-old Kintaro was appointed director of the Tokyo Clockmaker and Watchmaker Association and member of Tokyo Chamber of Commerce.
In 1892, Hattori began to produce clocks under the name Seikosha, meaning, roughly, "House of Exquisite Workmanship." According to Seiko's official company history, titled A Journey In Time: The Remarkable Story of Seiko, Seiko is a Japanese word meaning "exquisite"; it is homophonous with the word for "success".
In 1895, the watch dealer purchased the corner of Ginza 4-chome, and constructed a building with a clock tower, setting up shop at the new address.
Seiko launched its first in-house pocket watch, the Timekeeper, in 1895; the first Japanese-made wristwatch, the Laurel, in 1913; and the first Seiko-branded wristwatch in 1924. Wristwatches and pocket watches completed in 1923 were provisionally given the name "Glory." However, since its pronunciation was similar to "gorori", a Japanese onomatopoeia for tumbling, which was considered unlucky, it was decided that the brand name for watches to be mass-produced from 1924 would be "Seiko."
In 1929, the Seiko pocket watch was adopted as the official watch for the drivers of Japanese Government Railways.
1930 to 1990
Military watches, notably the "Seikosha Type 93 Tensoku-Dokei" produced for Japanese troops during World War II were manufactured by Seiko, which by 1938, produced 1.2 million timepieces a year. The scarcity of raw materials during the war diverted much of Seiko's production to on-board instruments for military aircraft and ships. In contrast to Japan, Germany utilized both domestically produced and Swiss-produced watches. Japan's isolation in the Pacific meant the country could not rely on importing foreign timepieces.In 1951, Seiko broadcast its first radio commercial in Japan, and when Japan's first commercial television station opened in 1953, it broadcast Japan's first television commercial. The first Japanese commercial was supposed to be broadcast as a time signal at noon, but the video technician mishandled the equipment and the commercial lasted only three seconds, and it was rebroadcast at 7:00 p.m. the same day.
In 1956, Seiko launched Japan's first automatic wristwatch, the Automatic. The retail price at the time was 13,500 yen, more than three times the price of men's wristwatches, which were generally in the 4,000 yen range. In the same year, the company released the Marvel, which represented a significant improvement in accuracy, quality, and productivity over the previous model. This was achieved by increasing the outer diameter of the movement compared to the previous model.
In 1958, Seiko developed the 'Dia-Shock' anti-shock device.
In 1959, Seiko launched the Gyro Marvel, which featured a revolutionary self-winding mechanism, the Magic Lever, developed by Seiko. The Magic Lever was simple in structure and had high winding performance, and popularized automatic watches among the general public.
In 1960, Seiko released the Grand Seiko, aimed to be the most accurate wristwatch in the world.
Seiko quickly developed quartz technology in preparation for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and in 1963 launched the Seiko Crystal Chronometer, a dramatically smaller version of its previous quartz clock. The quartz clock Seiko had supplied to a broadcasting station in 1959 was about the size of a wardrobe, but this new product ran on two batteries and was portable. At the Tokyo Olympics, Seiko's mechanical stopwatches were selected as the official Olympic watches due to their high accuracy.
Seiko launched Japan's first chronograph wristwatch, the Crown Chronograph, in 1964, Japan's first world time wristwatch in the same year, and Japan's first diver's wristwatch in 1965. In 1967, Japan's first diver's watch with 300m water resistance was launched.
In 1967, Seiko won second and third place in a watch accuracy competition at a Neuchâtel Observatory competition; the competition was canceled after that year.
In 1968, Seiko took first place in a Geneva Observatory competition with a score of 58.19, surpassing all previous records. Swiss companies ranked first to third for their quartz movements and Seiko ranked fourth to tenth for its mechanical movements. In the competition, there were special movements for the competition.
In 1969, Seiko released several wristwatches that the company now regards as historically significant models. The Astron became the world’s first commercially available quartz wristwatch, with a price tag comparable to that of a mid-sized car at the time. The release of the Astron triggered what became known as the "Quartz Revolution" or "Quartz Crisis," during which the Swiss watch industry suffered a major decline from the 1970s through the early 1980s. The 5 Sports Speed Timer was the world’s first commercially available automatic chronograph, achieving great success due to its compact design and practical functionality. Although Zenith had previously unveiled a prototype automatic chronograph, Seiko was the first to bring one to market. Seiko also introduced the Grand Seiko V.F.A., a mechanical watch with ultra-high accuracy rated at ±2 seconds per day, and the U.T.D., a mechanical watch with an exceptionally thin movement measuring just 1.98 mm.
Since the 1970s, Seiko has introduced a variety of wristwatches with various world firsts: in 1973, Seiko introduced the world's first wristwatch with a LCD display capable of displaying six digits for hours, minutes and seconds; in 1975, Seiko introduced the world's first digital watch with a stopwatch function and a diver's watch with a titanium case. In 1978, Seiko introduced the world's first quartz diver's watch with a water resistance of 600 meters; in 1982, the world's first wristwatch with a television; in 1983, the world's first wristwatch with a record-and-play function and an analog quartz chronograph; in 1984, the world's first wristwatch computer; and in 1986, the world's first diver's watch with a ceramic case water-resistant to 1000 meters.
In 1974, Seiko launched Credor, a luxury brand using precious metals and jewelry, and in 1979, Alba, a low-priced brand for young people.
In 1985, Orient and Seiko established a joint factory.
In 1986, Baselworld allowed non-European manufacturers to participate, and Seiko began exhibiting that year.
In 1988, Seiko invented the world's first wristwatch with an innovative mechanism called "Auto Quartz", in which a rotating oscillating weight rotates in response to the wearer's arm movements, generating electricity to power the quartz. This mechanism was developed with the aim of creating a quartz watch that does not require battery replacement. This mechanism was adopted as Seiko's core movement and later renamed "A.G.S.".. In 1991, to increase popularity, the watches were relaunched under the name "Seiko Kinetic".