My Seiko and Seiko's History
The first professional quartz
Seiko Classic Style
Everyone has a favorite watch brand. Personally, one of my favorites (that I wear daily) is my gold Seiko. It’s a men’s black face (I have a serious love for simple, yet classic, men’s watches) and pairs well with almost any strap because of its classic style.
This watch has been with me for a long time and between you and me… a new one wouldn’t hurt me. It’s held up very well though, however, the ‘stock’ strap has definitely taken a beating. This is one reason it’s great to work for LUX Watch Straps! But enough about me and my favorite beat up the watch, check out this great history on Seiko, and then check out this link to our straps that fit Seiko watches.
Seiko was founded in 1881 when Kintaro Hattori opened his first shop (watches and jewelry) in Tokyo, Japan. According to Seiko's official company history, titled "A Journey in Time: The Remarkable Story of Seiko" (2003), Seiko is a Japanese word meaning "exquisite" or "success".
Seiko didn’t actually produce their watches until 1924. They came on strong in 1969 when they introduced the Astron, the world’s first production quartz watch. When introduced, it cost around $3,000.
Seiko later went on to introduce the first quartz chronograph. In the eighties, Seiko introduced the first Kinetic watch that had attributes of an automatic watch but the accuracy of quartz.
Before 1990 the company wasn’t actually called Seiko yet. It started off in 1917 as incorporated (K. Hattori & Co., Ltd.). The company was renamed in 1983 (Hattori Seiko Co., Ltd.) and in 1990 the Seiko Corporation was official. The company later became a holding company in 2001 and was just renamed a few years ago (July 1st, 2007) to Seiko Holdings Corporation.
You can find all of our straps that fit Seiko here.
