Seiko Watches.
By Matt Price
Unlike its Swiss and German competitors, Seiko has been making watches at almost every price point since the middle of the 20th Century. It is also credited with popularising the nemesis of the Swiss watch industry, quartz. This has made the brand synonymous with cheap, everyman watches. But if you’re obsessive about watches, you’ll already know this is unfair […]
Everyone knows that if you want a quality mechanical watch, you won’t go far wrong if you buy Swiss. Slightly less well-known is the long tradition of mechanical watchmaking in Germany – centred on but not limited to the town of Glashutte. But when it comes to Japanese watches, the association with quality, for many people, isn’t quite the same.
There are many possible reasons for this, especially when you consider the undisputed champion of Japanese watchmaking, Seiko. Unlike its Swiss and German (and to a lesser extent, American and British) competitors, Seiko has been making watches at almost every price point since the middle of the 20th Century. It is also credited with popularising the nemesis of the Swiss watch industry, quartz. This has made the brand synonymous with cheap, reliable and rugged everyman watches – not the heirloom-quality timepieces we associate with the big names from Switzerland. If you’re obsessive about watches, however, you’ll already know this is unfair.
It's certainly true that the Seiko name doesn’t carry the same caché as Rolex or Patek Philippe. The watches it does make to compete with these megabrands are sold under different names, notably Grand Seiko and Credor. But beautiful as those watches are, that’s a whole other article. This is a story about Seiko itself – and the more accessible mechanical tool watches (new and vintage) that led The Obsessive’s editor-in-chief to describe it recently as ‘such a quietly cool brand’.
How it all began
When Seiko founder Kintaro Hattori partnered with Tsuruhiko Yoshikawa to set up the Seikosha watch factory in 1892, he had already been making pocket watches and clocks for ten years. But it was his belief that the future of timekeeping lay with the wristwatch that changed the company’s course. In 1913 he revealed the Laurel, regarded by many in the watch world as the very first Seiko.
But it wasn’t until 1924 that the Seiko name made its debut on a dial. Many firsts followed, from the first Japanese watch with a central second hand to the first with a movement manufactured entirely in house. By 1960, Seiko was ready to go global, and challenge the Swiss head-on. In 1963, Seiko became the first non-Swiss watchmaker to finish in the top ten in the Swiss observatory chronometry contests, then considered the Olympics of watchmaking accuracy. But there was a catch – they did it with a quartz clock.
With a new commitment to beating the Swiss in their own backyard, Seiko entered a slew of mechanical watches into the trials in the years that followed. In 1967, they took second and third place. In 1968, Seiko’s mechanical watches finally outshone those from their Swiss rivals. The contests were cancelled for good the following year.
A mid-century icon
Having staked its claim to fame, Seiko headed for world domination of a different kind. Because despite its now proven ability to create luxury watches of unrivalled quality, the business opportunity lay in making reliable, stylish watches for the masses. Already, few brands could touch Seiko when it came to making a great watch. Soon, it became clear that fewer still could do so affordably.
The Sixties and Seventies saw Seiko establish itself as the go-to brand when you needed something accessible, cool and mechanically credible. From soldiers in Vietnam to spacemen on Skylab, Seiko watches were worn when accuracy mattered.
Despite being a little late to the party, the Seiko name became synonymous with dive watches in the Seventies and Eighties. Seiko divers were seen on the wrists of big-screen tough guys from Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now to Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando. In real life, Mick Jagger – a man known for his focus on value, despite his wealth – wore a Seiko ‘Turtle’ for many years.
They made world-changing chronographs, too. Bruce Lee wore one – a watch now known, predictably, as the ‘Bruce Lee’. They were the first brand to mass-produce an automatic chronograph – and the second to send one into space (albeit accidentally, but more on that below). Last but not least are the field watches, with those that bear the Alpinist name have a bona fide cult following.
Seiko makes dress watches too, of course. In fact, they make virtually every kind of watch. But in essence, Seiko is a tool watch brand: a company that makes watches for those who appreciate quality in design and operation more than they want to show off. Hence ‘quietly cool’.
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