Seiko

Founded in Tokyo (Japan) in 1881 by Kintaro Hattori as a watch repair workshop, Seiko (a word meaning "precision" or "success" in Japanese) became a global powerhouse in precision engineering, responsible for revolutionizing the global watchmaking industry.

The major technical revolution for Seiko occurred on December 25, 1969 with the launch of the Seiko Quartz Astron, the world's first commercial quartz wristwatch. This milestone reduced time variation to just ±5 seconds per month, triggering the so-called "quartz crisis" in traditional mechanical watchmaking.

Additionally, Seiko pioneered the first automatic chronograph with a column wheel and vertical clutch (Caliber 6139) in 1969, and was the first to create a diving watch with a protective titanium outer case (the Tuna in 1975), demonstrating 100% vertical manufacturing integration across all its product lines.