History
OUR HERITAGE
The story of Seiko began in 1881, when a 22 year old entrepreneur, Kintaro Hattori, opened a shop selling and repairing watches and clocks in central Tokyo.
Today, after more than 130 years of innovation, Kintaro Hattori’s company is still dedicated to the perfection that the founder always strove to achieve.

1881
KINTARO HATTORI OPENS A SHOP SELLING AND REPAIRING WATCHES AND CLOCKS IN GINZA, TOKYO
1892
SEIKOSHA WAS FOUNDED; STARTED PRODUCING WALL CLOCKS


1895
SEIKOSHA BUILDS THE FIRST POCKET WATCH
1913
THE LAUREL, THE FIRST WRISTWATCH MADE IN JAPAN, MAKES ITS DEBUT

In the beginning of the Taisho Era, pocket watches were still very popular and there were only a few wristwatches imported to Japan. Kintaro, however, was determined to be ‘one step ahead’ and embarked on the arduous task of creating Japan’s first ever wristwatch. In 1913, he succeeded and the Laurel was produced. In the early days, the company was able to produce only 30 to 50 watches a day, but, for the first time, Kintaro had established a lead on the rest.

1924
THE FIRST SEIKO BRAND WATCH WAS PRODUCED.
In 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake struck and the company’s headquarters and the Seikosha factory all burned down. A fresh start had to be made. Just after the Earthquake, the company had created an entirely new watch and it went on sale in December 1923. It was the first to carry the name Seiko, introducing to the world for the first time the brand name that was later to become synonymous with precision and accuracy, innovation and refinement.
1929
SEIKO POCKET WATCH IS APPOINTED AS JAPAN NATIONAL RAILWAY'S OFFICIAL "RAILWAY WATCH"


1932
CONSTRUCTED THE WAKO CLOCK TOWER, THE FAMILIAR FACE OF GINZA
1956
STARTED TO USE "DIASHOCK", A SHOCK-RESISTANCE DEVICE


1959
GYRO MARVEL
1964
INTRODUCED JAPAN'S FIRST WRISTWATCH EQUIPPED WITH A STOPWATCH

Japan’s first wristwatch equipped with a stopwatch, introduced in 1964, the year of the Tokyo Olympic Games. Its smooth operation and durability were ensured by a column wheel.

1965
PRODUCED THE FIRST JAPANESE DIVER'S WATCH
1967
NEUCHATEL OBSERVATORY COMPETITION AND GENEVA OBSERVATORY COMPETITION

In 1967, Daini Seikosha sent to Neuchatel caliber 45 movements that were being used in the Grand Seiko and King Seiko lines, and these were subsequently marketed as special pieces that has passed the tests for “specially calibrated timepieces”. They were known as the Observatory Chronometers and these VFA Seiko watches took second and third places in the chronometer competition. This was the last year of the Neuchatel competition held under the old rules. Seiko then entered the Geneva Observatory competitions and at the very first attempt achieved a fantastic result. Seiko’s entries were awarded every place from fourth to tenth, which was the best result achieved by any manufacturer of mechanical wristwatches. Seiko achieved first place overall.

1969
INTRODUCTION OF CAL. 6139, THE WORLD’S FIRST AUTOMATIC CHRONOGRAPH WATCH EQUIPPED WITH BOTH VERTICAL CLUTCH AND COLUMN WHEEL
1969
INTRODUCTION OF THE WORLD’S FIRST QUARTZ WATCH, “SEIKO QUARTZ ASTRON.”

The world’s first quartz watch, the Seiko Quartz Astron was introduced in Tokyo on December 25, 1969. It delivered unmatched performance. It was accurate to within 5 seconds per month, 100 times more accurate than any other watch, and it ran continuously for a year, or 250 times longer than most mechanical watches. The quartz revolution had begun.

1973
INTRODUCTION OF THE WORLD’S FIRST SIX-DIGIT LCD QUARTZ WATCH CAL. 0614
1975
INTRODUCTION OF THE WORLD’S FIRST MULTI-FUNCTION DIGITAL WATCH CAL. 0634


1975
INTRODUCTION OF THE WORLD’S FIRST DIVER’S WATCH WITH TITANIUM CASE, THE PROFESSIONAL DIVER’S 600M
1982
INTRODUCED THE WORLD’S FIRST TV WATCH


1983
THE WORLD'S FIRST VOICE RECORDING WATCH 'VOICE NOTE'
1983
INTRODUCTION OF THE WORLD’S FIRST ANALOG QUARTZ WATCH WITH CHRONOGRAPH


1984
INTRODUCTION OF THE WORLD’S FIRST WATCH WITH COMPUTER FUNCTIONS UC-2000
1986
THE WORLD'S FIRST DIVER'S 1000M WITH A CERAMIC OUTER CASE


1987
SERVED AS OFFICIAL TIMER OF THE IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN ROME, ITALY
1988
INTRODUCTION OF THE WORLD’S FIRST “A.G.S.” WATCH CAL. 7M22 (LATER RENAMED AS “KINETIC.”)


1990
INTRODUCTION OF THE WORLD’S FIRST COMPUTERIZED DIVER’S WATCH “SCUBAMASTER” CAL. M726 WITH DIVE TABLE AND DEPTH METER FUNCTIONS
1991
SERVED AS OFFICIAL TIMER OF THE IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN TOKYO, JAPAN

1993
SERVED AS OFFICIAL TIMER OF THE IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN STUTTGART, GERMANY


1999
INTRODUCTION OF THE ULTIMATE KINETIC CHRONOGRAPH CAL. 9T82

2005
INTRODUCTION OF THE WORLD’S FIRST THREE-BAND (JAPAN, GERMANY, US) RADIO WAVE ANALOG SOLAR WATCH
2005
INTRODUCTION OF THE KINETIC PERPETUAL


2006
INTRODUCTION OF WORLD'S FIRST E-INK WATCH
2006
INTRODUCTION OF CREDOR SPRING DRIVE SONNERIE


2007
INTRODUCTION OF THE SPRING DRIVE CHRONOGRAPH

2010
INTRODUCTION OF SEIKO SPRING DRIVE SPACEWALK COMMEMORATIVE EDITION
2010
THE WORLD'S FIRST EPD WATCH WITH AN ACTIVE MATRIX SYSTEM

2012
INTRODUCTION OF THE WORLD’S FIRST GPS SOLAR WATCH, SEIKO ASTRON GPS SOLAR


2013
100TH ANNIVERSARY OF SEIKO WATCHMAKING
2014
THE SEIKO ASTRON GPS SOLAR 8X SERIES CHRONOGRAPH. THE ASTRON REVOLUTION GATHERS PACE
