Seiko, Japan's leading watch manufacturer, is so popular that it's safe to say that no one in Japan doesn't know about it. Seiko watches, wall clocks, table clocks, and other everyday clocks are all around us. We'll explore the appeal of Seiko by introducing its major brands.
What is Seiko?
How did Seiko, the world-renowned watch manufacturer, come into being and how has it developed? Let's take a look at its history and achievements.
The Beginnings of Seiko
Seiko is a watch manufacturer founded in 1881 by Kintaro Hattori as the Hattori Watch Shop, which sold imported watches. In 1892, Seikosha was established as a manufacturing and development division, and full-scale watch manufacturing began.
Seikosha has succeeded in mass-producing high-quality watches by developing all of its parts in-house.
Seikosha continued to grow steadily thereafter, and within about 10 years of its founding it had become known as Japan's leading comprehensive watch factory.
After visiting Europe and the United States in 1899, the company installed the latest equipment and established a mass production system. It produced hits such as the Laurel, Japan's first domestically produced wristwatch, and went on to boast a market share of approximately 60% of domestically produced watches, becoming one of Japan's leading watch manufacturers.
Seiko's History and Achievements
In the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, Seikosha's factory burned down, and production and sales came to a complete halt for a time.
However, the company restructured in about a year, and the "SEIKO" trademark was first used the following year in 1924, signifying a fresh start.
After World War II, the company achieved remarkable growth, releasing a succession of uniquely designed mechanical wristwatches. It established itself as a watch manufacturer boasting the world's highest level of precision, and was even appointed the official timepiece for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
In 1969, the company released the world's first quartz wristwatch, the Astron, which was said to be a revolutionary event in the history of watches, overturning the concept of wristwatches, which had previously been dominated by mechanical movements.
Learn about Quartz
Many wristwatches on the market today are not only mechanical but also quartz. Let's deepen our understanding of the basics and history of quartz.
What is a quartz watch?
A quartz watch is a watch that uses technology that uses the vibration of a quartz crystal oscillator (quartz) to power the watch.
While mechanical watches are powered by a mainspring, quartz watches are powered by electricity. By applying voltage to a quartz crystal, a type of piezoelectric material, it vibrates evenly and repeatedly.
One of the features of quartz movements is their extremely high accuracy. They are highly compatible with the latest electronic technology, and some quartz watches equipped with radio wave reception, for example, have an error rate of just one second in a million years.
Another feature of quartz watches is that they can often be purchased at a relatively reasonable price, compared to mechanical watches, which are difficult to mass-produce and tend to be expensive.
Seiko made the quartz watch
The world's first quartz wristwatch was the Seiko Quartz Astron 35SQ in 1969.
Seiko watches at the time were equipped with quartz movements, boasting a daily error of approximately 0.2 seconds and a monthly error of approximately 0.5 seconds, far exceeding the performance of previous mechanical watches.
When first released, quartz models were treated as luxury watches incorporating the latest technology, but as mass production systems were gradually put in place, the number of high-performance yet affordable products began to increase.
Seiko's quartz wristwatches completely overturned the concept of wristwatches, which had previously been dominated by mechanical movements.
What is the Quartz Shock?
Seiko's development and popularization of quartz wristwatches had a major impact on watchmakers in Switzerland, a powerhouse of luxury watches.
For the Swiss watch industry, which had previously developed around mechanical watches, the problem with quartz watches was that they were "high performance yet mass-producible."
People who were not particularly attached to mechanical watches and simply wanted to know the exact time began to move towards quartz watches, putting Swiss manufacturers in a tight spot.
Furthermore, social unrest such as the oil crisis led to Swiss watchmakers going bankrupt or going dormant one after another.
Thus, the "Quartz Shock," one of the major events in the history of watches, was caused by Seiko's development of quartz wristwatches.
