The Continuous Creativity Of Seiko Watch
The precursor to the Seiko Corporation was called Seikosha clock supply factory, and it was established in 1892. With its inception, the company began manufacturing wall clocks. The next step in the evolution of the factory was the beginning of the production of Fob watches. A fob is a short leather strap that connects the watch to a lapel or belt. Fob watches are also known as pocket watches. Before the production of Seiko men's watches began, the great earthquake of 1923 leveled Tokyo and started great fires, which destroyed the Seiko factory and headquarters.
In 1913, the new emperor on the throne is a Seikosha company began manufacturing the first wristwatch ever made in Japan, the Laurel. It was not until 1924 that dependable Seiko was used on a wristwatch. This wristwatch was a 10 or 15 jewel movement, likened to the Swiss Moeris caliber. All of the watches from this time period were small, about 28 mm in diameter (approximately 1.1 inches).
The terminology we use in describing watches can be confusing to most people. The term movement, for instance, refers to the moving parts of the watch, with exception of the hands. The most common types of movements are mechanical, quartz, and electronic. Except for the mechanical watches, very few moving parts exist within the movement.
The transition from mechanical movement Seiko watch to electronic and quartz movement was filled with drama, and is a fascinating learning point for business in general. Two American companies developed non-mechanical watches in the 1960s, causing a considerable stir for the Swiss watch-making industry. They set about carefully reexamining the possibilities for quartz movements.
In what is now a classic example of how business can blind itself to the future by relying on past success, it was the Swiss that first introduced a quartz movement watch at the International Chronometric Competition in 1967. They had become convinced their mechanical watches, the most accurate in the world, would remain the staple for timepieces for the future. In 1967, they showed their first watch with a quartz movement, which they did not patent since it was considered only a passing fad. But the world was watching, and learned fast.
The world was ready for a new, less expensive accurate wristwatch, and the quartz movement allowed for a much greater variety of watches. Miniaturization allowed for the size of watches to be pretty much whatever the mind could imagine. Watches for Women in particular began to become more and more a piece of jewelry as well as a functional timepiece. Designs even allowed for a single timepiece and a series of casings of different colors and types to make color and style coordination even simpler.
Watches have morphed into more than just a mobile accurate timepiece. In addition to fashion flair, they are increasing equipped with additional functions to increase their utility for the wearer. Need to calculate the tip at a restaurant? Use the calculator built into your watch. Changing time zones? Push a button and your watch is current wherever you are. No more trying to calculate from Greenwich Mean Time!
Seiko watch have grown and developed like the rest, and now introduce watches designed using electronic ink technology, sure to keep the watches for men relevant for another generation.