Seiko

The company was founded in 1881 when Hattori Kintaro opened a watch and jewelry store called K. Hattori ”in Tokyo 's Ginza district. 11 years later, in 1892, he began producing watches under the name Seikosha , which roughly means "House of exquisite craftsmanship." According to Seiko’s official story entitled Time Travel: Seiko’s Memorable Story (2003), the Japanese word seiko means sophistication, minute, or good luck.

The first watches, released under the Seiko brand, went on sale in 1924. In 1969, Seiko introduced the Astron watch, the first quartz watch . When they were presented, their value was equal to the cost of an average-sized car. Seiko later went further and introduced the first quartz chronograph . In 1985, Seiko and Orient Watches formed a joint venture.

The company became a joint stock company (K. Hattori & Co.) in 1917 and was renamed in 1983 as Hattori Seiko Co. Ltd., and in 1990 - at Seiko Corporation. After rebuilding and creating its operating divisions (such as Seiko Watch Corporation and Seiko Clock Inc.) in 2001, the company became a holding company and from July 1, 2007 it became known as Seiko Holdings Corporation.

Seiko is most widely known for the manufacture of watches, all parts of which were once produced by the company entirely in-house. This includes not only gears , motors, hands, quartz oscillators , batteries , sensors, LCD screens , but also secondary elements such as lubricating oils and luminous compounds applied to hands and dials. Nowadays, watch movements (calibers) are produced in factories in Shizukuishi ( Iwate Prefecture ) ( SII Morioka Seiko Instruments), Ninohe (SII Ninohe Tokei Kogyo), Shiodziri ( Seiko Epson ) and in the company’s divisions in China , Malaysia and Singapore . Fully independent production and assembly are still practiced for models supplied to the domestic Japanese market.

Seiko produces both mechanical and quartz watches in different price ranges. The cheapest ones cost about 4,000 yen (about 1,400 rubles) and are sold under the Alba brand. The price of the most expensive Grand Seiko models reaches millions of yen.

Seiko mechanical watches are highly appreciated by collectors - starting from the widespread Seiko 5 series (the “5” number reflects the five necessary qualities for a watch: shock resistance, water resistance, automatic winding, displaying the number and day of the week) to the luxury Credor , King Seiko and Grand Seiko series.

Seiko has repeatedly acted as the official timekeeper of sports competitions:

• 1964 - Tokyo Summer Olympics
• 1978 - FIFA World Cup Argentina
• 1982 - World Cup in Spain
• 1986 - Mexico World Cup
• 1987 - World Championships in Athletics in Rome
• 1990 - World Cup in Italy
• 1991 - Tokyo World Championships in Athletics
• 1992 - Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona
• 1994 - Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer
• 1998 - Winter Olympic Games in Nagano
• 2002 - Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City

• Official site of Seiko Holdings Corporation (Japanese)
• Seiko Holdings Corporation Official English Website
• Companies Included in Seiko Holdings
• Seiko Watch Corporation (Japanese)
• Seiko Watch Corporation International
• Seiko Clocks (English)
• Seiko Spring Drive
• Seiko Calibers
• Detailed assessment of the mechanics of the clockwork Seiko 7S26 (English)
• Do-it-yourself project: Seiko 7S26 movement for beginners in the watch industry
• Review of Seiko Prospex SRP777 Turtle - reincarnation of the “tortoise” (Russian)
• Seiko SBBN011 “Darth Tuna” - the thousand-meter Royal Tuna (Russian)
• Seiko Prospex “Orange Samurai” ref. SRPB97 - The Return of the Orange Samurai (Russian)