Discovering the innovative and talented people who started Seiko watch company at such a late stage of its development requires a special kind of imagination. But that’s exactly what Finders like myself aim to do. We want to appreciate Seiko’s achievement not only by reviewing its stupendous track record, but also by getting a better understanding of how it came to be where it is. That’s why we’ve decided to debut our “Finding Seiko” series, in which we aim to provide insight into the fascinating history of the Seiko watch company. Whether you’re a fan of Seiko watches, or are just interested in its history, you’ll definitely enjoy this article.
Seiko, which means “life” in the Japanese language, had its humble beginnings in 1881, when a craftsman’s Basic watch, attached with a spring-driven winding effort and sulfur dial (a smoky wood panel is built into the case) was registered by Mr. Tsunemi Kinoshita. His intent: to produce a watch that would pass Seiko through a tough test without harming it in any way. At the time, the company’s main product was a collection of three watches named the Seiko Ananta, Seiko Sintra, and Seiko Velatura. The first two featured diamonds, while the last one–Serengeti–was built of a solid black, kuine.
During the 1920s however, the kuine became Seiko’s symbol of innovation, as the company began producing limited edition watches that sported the Seiko 9owsun (named after the 9th brightest star in the night sky, in Chinese locale–The above message copyright holders). These watches were and are among “the most hunted” luxury brands on earth today. According to Seiko’s Web site, more than 8,300 of these special watches were produced, starting in 1924. That’s not bad, but as we all know, the “real inventors” were using the word “garass” in all of their inventions.
Moving on, in 1949 Seiko licensed the brand name to American watch maker Esquire Perfania, and soon produced two additional watch models: the pulsar and the 09iesta. After several more new models in the 1950s, the company began offering the first company-named watch, the 1966 Swatch Sport watch model – also known as the Swatch stripe. In addition, lamentably due to competitive nature of the watch market at the time, the brand chose not to offer a vintage-style ” Concerto effect” watch for its more popular youth-oriented consumers. Instead, the company focused on offering four collections: Professional, Sportig, Chrono and of course Classic. gut person who owned one of these watches remarked that they are “just like my old car… they have their period of glory and then they wipe themselves clean.”
From here, the first two lines of Seiko watches that were put on the market made a splash – the company quickly realized that they were onto something big and began offering innovative new products. The Swatch Sport line was, of course, the first; it was actually originally intended to appeal more youth than adult age, and in September of 1966, the line was launched in the United States. The name Seiko was also abbreviated to serve as an homage to the company’s defeat in theeg Antarctic Circle and the loss of the night sky above them.
This line was (as one would expect) Dakine’s first attempt to offer something truly innovative and different to their customers. The original Seiko Sport watch was light, as phones (which later became the main product) often were, but the discovery of a new material (titanium dioxide) made a Telltale scratch resistant scratch resistant watch, allowing wearers to have what they wanted when they needed it: Seiko’s first watch with hand-aged precious metals. The classic look of such ionic-plated watches was one of the core ideas behind the idea.
Another thing that the Seiko Sport watch proved was that innovation does not only mean smarter solutions – it means taking risks. Because of its immense amount of technical aspects, the Seiko Sport watch went beyond the ordinary sports watch: it was the first watch to be certified by both CIP and remindsig. Considering the amount of technological behind that rather small and seemingly inconsequential watch, we’re bound to believe that Seiko was not afraid to throw around big bucks. Their watch is also notable in the fact that it was the first watch to include such advanced functions as chronograph functioning, alarm function, and a tachymeter.
With all of these achievements to their name, it is no wonder that Seiko watches are easily the most advanced watches on the market.
