Seiko Watch Company

Seiko is a Japanese watch company which originated in 1881, when a Japanese man, Kintaro Hattori opened a watch and jewellery shop in Ginza in Tokyo, Japan. In 1892, eleven years after he had started his store, he began to make clocks under the name of ‘Seikosha’ which means ‘a journey in time’. Seiko in Japanese means ‘exquisite’. The first of the Seiko designs appeared in 1924 with the Seiko Astron, the world’s first quartz watch, which cost as much as a medium sized car. Seiko also invented the first quartz chronometer. In 1985, Seiko collaborated with Orient Watches to form a combined factory. Seiko watches are often used as the official time keepers of the prestigious Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup. The company started with the name K.Hattori & Company Ltd in 1917, to Hattori Seiko Co Ltd in 1983 and Seiko Corporation in 1990. Seiko is the only company in the world which produces each of its watch parts themselves. Seiko sends out only a limited number of designs to other countries, but the watches are widely available in Asia. In 2005, Seiko released a concept watch with a 72 hours power back up facility. It has also developed an alloy called “Spron 510”, which has improvised the mechanism, by doing away with the balance wheel, in favour of the Tri-Syncro Regulator. Seiko is famous for its Japanese technology which rules the world, therefore making it a leading watch producer.