Seiko

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This article is about the watch company. For other meanings, see Seiko (disambiguation).
Seiko Corporation
セイコー株式会社
Type Public TYO: 8050
Founded Chuo, Tokyo, Japan (1881)
Headquarters Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Key people Katsumi Yamamura, Chairman; Koichi Murano, President
Industry Retail-Jewelry, Precision Instruments and Machinery
Products Watches, clocks, printers, semiconductors, mechatronics devices, machine tools, optical glass materials, jewelry, eyeglasses, etc.
Revenue Image:Green up.png ¥213.73 billion (FY2005, consolidated)
Employees 6,699 (March 31, 2006, consolidated)
Website Seiko Corporation

Seiko Corporation (セイコー株式会社 Seikō Kabushiki-gaisha?) (TYO: 8050 ) is a Japanese watch company.

Contents

[edit] History and ongoing developments

The company started in 1881, when Kintaro Hattori opened a watch and jewelry shop in the Ginza area of Tokyo, Japan. Eleven years later he began to produce clocks under the name Seikosha (精工舎 Seikōsha?). 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", "minute", or "success". (The meaning "exquisite" is usually written 精巧 while the meaning "success" is usually written 成功.)

The first watches produced under the Seiko brand appeared in 1924. In 1969, Seiko introduced the Seiko "Astron"[1], the world's first production quartz watch; when it was introduced, it cost the same as a medium-sized car. Seiko later went on to introduce the first quartz chronograph. In 1985, Orient Watches and Seiko established a joint factory. Recognized as a leader in timekeeping accuracy, Seiko products are often used as the official timekeepers of the major sporting events including the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup editions in Argentina 1978, Spain 1982, Mexico 1986 and Italy 1990.

Grand Quartz, produced in 1978
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Grand Quartz, produced in 1978

Seiko is a division of the Seiko Group. The Seiko Group consists of Seiko Corporation (SEIKO), Seiko Instruments Inc. (SII) and Seiko Epson Corporation (EPSON) which is known for its printers in North America and its diverse line of electronics and computer equipment within Japan. Seiko Watch Corporation, a subsidiary of Seiko Corporation, markets Seiko watches while Seiko Instruments and Seiko Epson manufacture their movements.

Seiko is perhaps known best, though, for its wristwatches. Seiko is known for their advanced technology and is one of the few wristwatch manufacturers that produce all of their watches and movements entirely in-house. Even minor items such as the oils used in lubricating the watches and the luminous compounds used on the hands and the dials are produced by the Seiko factories.

Seiko produces both quartz and mechanical watches of varying prices. The cheapest are around US$50; the most expensive cost many thousands. Seiko's mechanical watches are the most prized by collectors—from the Seiko "5" series (the 5 is proposed to reflect 5 essential features of the watch namely shockproof, waterproof, automatic, with day and date display), which is the most common, the Seiko automatic Chronometer series, the "Bell-Matic" with a mechanical alarm to the highly prized luxury "Credor", "King Seiko" and "Grand Seiko" lines. Seiko Kinetic watches account for a large proportion of sales nowadays and combine the self-energizing attributes of an automatic watch with quartz accuracy. There is no battery to change; the watch is entirely powered by its movement in everyday wear.

Seiko Pyramid Talk, world's first talking clock, from 1984
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Seiko Pyramid Talk, world's first talking clock, from 1984
The Hattori Clock Tower in Ginza, Tokyo, former headquarters and main store building of K. Hattori & Co.
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The Hattori Clock Tower in Ginza, Tokyo, former headquarters and main store building of K. Hattori & Co.

Frustratingly for collectors, Seiko does not release all of its watch lines in every region. Some are exclusively available in Asia, for instance. Many online retailers will ship watches overseas, though.

Seiko Corporation of America is responsible for distribution of Seiko watches and clocks, as well as Pulsar brand watches, in the United States. The models available in the United States are normally a smaller subset of the full line produced in Japan. Seiko Corporation of America has its headquarters and Coserv repair center in Mahwah, New Jersey. In the United States, Seiko watches are sold primarily by fine jewelers and department stores, as well as 19 company stores located in various cities.

Seiko's 2004 marketing campaign emphasized that a watch, as opposed to other traits (such as what car they drive, for example) tells most about a person.

Various Seiko watches were worn by the cinematic James Bond 007 in four films, starring Roger Moore, from 1977-1985. Also, a Seiko watch was worn by Sean Connery in the 1983 Bond film, Never Say Never Again.

Seiko also produces other electronic devices. Notably, during the 1980's, this company produced a range of digital synthesizers, such as the DS-250, for use in electronic music. Today, the music division, a part of Seiko S-Yard, produces metronomes & tuning devices.

[edit] Spring Drive

On 7 October 2005, Seiko announced the world launch of the Seiko Spring Drive, a new calibre which delivers more power, more smoothly and for longer. Three days (72 hours) of power are provided, as opposed to the average of 40 hours in automatic mechanicals. To achieve this feat, Seiko has developed a special alloy called "Spron510". This new movement has eliminated the traditional balance wheel/escapement regulating system in favor of a so-called Tri-synchro Regulator. The power from the spring is used to turn the wheels but also is used to generate electrical power for a tiny, ultra-low consumption (~25 nanoWatts) crystal oscillator which in turn is used to regulate -with quartz accuracy- the speed of the wheels to exactly 8 beats per second. Spring Drive was sold regularly in Japan since 1999 within Grand Seiko and Credor lines. Seiko announced that no more than 300 units will be produced in a monthly basis. The Spring Drive also marks the first true luxury Seiko watches available outside Japan. They are expected to retail around $3,200 to $3,500. In the Paris premiere, Seiko auctioned the first Spring Drive, which was sold for about 10.000 euros and the money was given to a Basel-based charity that supports children suffering from cancer and leukemia.

[edit] Official timekeeper

Seiko is also the official timer of many major sporting events:

Seiko is also named as the official timekeeper of the Gran Turismo racing game series published by Sony.

Currently, Seiko have agreed to sponsor Honda (previously known as BAR (British American Racing) Honda). The Seiko name cannot currently be found on the Honda racing cars because Seiko Japan refuse to be advertised whilst the names of tobacco companies are still appearing on the cars. They can, however, be found on the lollipop used in the pitlane.

[edit] Products and services (business divisions)

[edit] External links

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