The "First" Century of Seiko

Seiko. Since 1881. The homepage of the Made in Japan timepiece company par excellence proudly displays its founding year: 1881. However, 2024 will be celebrated as the brand's centenary year. The reason is easy to explain. The workmanship was founded in Ginza, Tokyo, in 1881, when a young, 22-year-old Kintaro Hattori decided to open a workshop in which to sell and repair watches. Sensing a much more profitable path and keeping faith with his early motto, “always one step ahead of the others”, it wasn’t until 1924 that he launched the first wristwatch with Seiko on the dial, choosing the based on its meaning: precision and success. An extraordinary occasion that marks 100 years of in-company production, which has been paid tribute to with a special collection: the Prospex Marinemaster. Originally meant only for the Japanese market, it is now available worldwide in a revamped version with three new creations, including one in a limited edition of 1,000 pieces, 10 for each of the 10 decades. The celebratory capsule col- Seiko is celebrating its first 100 years with collectable limited editions, from the Prospex Marinemaster to the Presage Kintaro Hattori, a tribute to its founder — by LORENZA SCALISI lections also include the Presage Kintaro Hattori, inspired by the first wristwatch with the Seiko logo, the Marinemaster, a reinterpretation of the iconic Seiko diver from 1965, and the Speedtimer mechanical chronograph. For those unfamiliar with the sector, Marinemaster is the flagship series, designed exclusively for diving watches, featuring stable, high-performance precision that represents the highest expression of the Prospex models, as well as of Japanese culture itself, which has always focused on the precision and reliability guaranteed by skilled craftsmen. Seiko is also responsible for a series of other small but great revolutions, including the Quartz Astron, the first quartz watch ever made, launched in 1969. In a couple of seasons, this watch managed to undermine the Swiss watch industry by making precision time display accessible to everyone. An achievement that perhaps not even Kintaro Hattori would have dared to imagine.