The History And Technology Of Seiko Watches

The Japanese are known for the excellent quality of their products. The same is true for their watches.

One of the premier Japanese watchmakers is Seiko Corporation. Seiko had its beginnings in 1881 after a Japanese businessman named Kintaro Hattori decided to open a watch and jewelry shop in Tokyo. He began producing clocks after 11 years in business. He named the clocks Seikosha, thus the name Seiko. In 1924, the company released their first Seiko watches to the public.

Seiko have a lot of accomplishments under its name. In 1969, the company produced the Seiko Astron, the first quartz watch. This Seiko watch had an opening price equivalent to that of a medium sized car. Seiko also had the distinction of being the company to produce the first quartz chronograph.

Seiko watches are known best for its quality and its advanced technology. Unlike other watchmakers where their watches’ parts are manufactured by different companies, all Seiko watches are produced in-house. That means the oils, luminous compounds and dials are made by Seiko itself.

Seiko watches range from mechanical to quartz. The prices vary greatly, from $50 to $100,000, because they have watches for every market base. Many watch collectors give a lot of value to Seiko’s mechanical watches such as the Seiko 5 series, the Bell Matic, Credor, King Seiko and Grand Seiko lines.

Seiko kinetic watches are also very popular and are responsible for the majority of their sales. These watches are very accurate. Also, these watches do not need a battery. It is powered by the movement of the wearer.

Because of their popularity, Seiko watches are often used as the official timekeepers of a lot of sporting events. These events include the Olympic Games and the Fifa World Cups.

However, a lot of collectors have reservations about Seiko. That’s because the company limits a number of its product in different places. For example, some product lines that have been released in Asia are not released in the United States. With the advent of the internet and with a lot of on line retailers, these product lines can be shipped overseas.

Seiko is always at work, improving and discovering new watch technology. For example, in 2005, they announced their new Spring Drive. This new technology will provide longer lasting power to the watch. In conjunction with this technology, the company also developed a new alloy called Spron 510.

The new electronic movement discards the usual balance wheel and escapement set-up. Instead the power of its spring also generated electrical power for a crystal oscillator, which in turn acts as the movement regulator.

If you are buying a Seiko watch, you can be sure that the quality will be excellent and you get your money’s worth.