The Creation of Seiko Japan
Seiko was born over 130 years ago by young & very sharp entrepreneur named Kinato Hattori, Seiko first began as a small shop selling and repairing watches and clocks in central Tokyo. After eleven years, Kinarto opened a factory in Tokyo where he would produce the first SEIKO clock in 1882. The factory was given the name the Seikosha factory. The meaning of ‘Seiko’ in Japanese is exquisite, minute or success, and the meaning of ‘sha’ is house; a name the Seiko brand would live up too in the years ahead and the many quality watches the would produce.
After over twenty years of producing wall clocks and then expanding into pocket watches, Kinarto introduced Japan’s first wristwatch, named the Laurel. At the time, the factory could only produce around 50 watches per day but had built a reputation for robust quality innovation.
In 1923 disaster struck with the Great Kanto Earthquake, causing the entire Seikosha factory to burn down. After rebuilding, the factory reopened debuted a new watch in 1924 and displayed the SEIKO name that is so famous highly regarded in the watch world today. a shock-resistant device called
The Seikosha factory continued to create new watches and continued to improve the manufacturing processes & realising many new watch models over the next few decades. In 1958, the company created the Diashock an invention that greatly helps with shock-resistance & absorbs impact to protect the balance-staff pivot, one of the most delicate parts of a mechanical watch.
Being seen for the vey first time in the world of sports, Seiko served as the official timer of the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. This lead to future partnerships with the International Association of Athletics Federation, where Seiko has served as the official timer for a variety of sports competitions.
During the 1960s Seiko started to make waves in the watch world & continued to be a decade of milestones for the Seiko brand. In 1965, Seiko debuted its first dive watch, drawing worldwide recognition to the brand. This would be the first-ever Japanese crafted dive watch and was and still is loved by watch enthusiasts who were Swiss watch snobs, giving Seiko a new level of respect. In my opinion the most significant turning point for Seiko was during the quartz crises. Swiss Watchmakers were struggling to produce the first automatic chronograph watch to consumers, and the first to be victorious in this complected invention was Seiko. In 1969, Seiko produced the world’s first quartz watch, the Seiko Quartz Astron.
In 1975, Seiko introduced the world’s first titanium dive watch. The design process started when a professional deep sea diver wrote a letter to Seiko sharing the underwater strains put on dive watches. After seven years of design, research and innovation, the Professional Diver’s 600m was realised. This supreme quality Professional Diver’s watch set a new standard for dive watches as it could withstand the strain and stresses of deep-sea diving , making it a safe & reliable option for many divers.
Seiko to this day continues to create new technology advances in the watch world. In 1999, the company debuted its Spring Drive, a technology unique to Seiko that replaces the traditional escapement with a smart new regulator, delivering smooth motion and supreme accuracy.
Seiko has had a huge impact on the watch industry. One of the most significant is the company's major role in the quartz revolution of the 1970s. Seiko was one of the pioneers of quartz watch technology, which uses a tiny crystal oscillator to keep time with incredible accuracy.
Probably one of Seiko's most successful lines is the Seiko 5 range, first introduced in 1963. The Seiko 5 is a series of affordable, reliable automatic watches designed to be versatile and durable. The name "Seiko 5" comes from the five key features that every Seiko 5 watch must have: automatic winding, a day-date display, water resistance, a recessed crown, and a durable case and bracelet.
