The Seiko Corporation began in 1895. The first time pieces manufactured by Seiko were wall clocks. These were followed by five watches, also known as pocket watches. But in 1923, the only Seiko factory and the corporate headquarters were destroyed in the fires initiated by the Kanto earthquake, which devastated Tokyo. The company had yet to begin manufacturing Seiko women’s watches.
When Japan seated a new emperor in 1912, Mr. Hattori considered this a good sign, and began to manufacture a new watch, the first ever with a Seiko brand. All Hattori wristwatches manufactured since then has carried the Seiko brand name, while wall clocks continued under the Seikosha name. At this time, the manufactured wristwatches were small by current standards, measuring only slightly more than an inch in diameter.
Much like many modern devices, people can use watches very well without knowing how it works internally. Nevertheless, we commonly use the word movement in reference to watches, even if we do not know exactly what it means. Simply put, the movement refers to all the parts of the watch that move, except for the hands, with which we tell time. Although digital and quartz movements have far less motion than the original watches with years in a mainspring, we still use the term.
Digital watches were first introduced to the marketplace by two separate American companies. The resulting excitement within the world of watch-making is a revealing lesson for all businesses. While these first Seiko women’s watches were more accurate, they had problems with high price and short lifespans. Their introduction, however, sent a spark through the Swiss watch making industry as they took another look at the quartz movement.
In the late 1960’s, the first quartz wristwatch was manufactured by the Swiss and displayed at a watch show. The Swiss, however, greatly underestimated their own invention. The Swiss watch making industry had been the dominate force in high quality timepieces for a very long time. They reasoned with traditional opinions that this new watch, with its lack of a mainspring and gears, could not possibly be the future of wristwatches or timepieces. They were so convinced that they displayed the watch at a show and never bothered to patent it. The race was on.
With great strides in miniaturization and continued increases in accuracy, wristwatches were incredibly popular and were manufactured in a dizzying array of shapes and sizes. As time went on, extremely accurate watches were no longer the sole domain of the high end expensive watches, but rather accuracy was affordable. With the increased flexibility, the decrease in size constraints yielded, and women could color and style coordinate their watches with their clothing, and accessorizing became the norm.
Watches have morphed into more than just a mobile accurate timepiece. In addition to fashion flair, they are increasing equipped with additional functions to increase their utility for the wearer. Need to calculate the tip at a restaurant? Use the calculator built into your watch. Changing time zones? Push a button and your watch is current wherever you are. No more trying to calculate from Greenwich Mean Time!
Throughout the last one hundred years, watches have made surprising changes and adaptations to stay an integral piece of technology for the individual. Changing sizes, increased accuracy, and affordability have kept them a staple product for the masses. By constantly updating the technology and paying attention to the demands for convenience, style, and functionality, wristwatches have prevented their replacement by other technological wonders. One can get the time from a laptop or cellular phone, but almost everyone still wears a watch. With Seiko men’s watches introducing new technology in the form of electronic ink watch for men, they will not be going away anytime soon.