GRAND DESIGN

We catch up with Grand Seiko CEO Akio Naito at Ginza House, Tokyo, in our first real conversation since Watches and Wonders Geneva. He tempers our enthusiasm for complications with a reminder that accuracy is still paramount at the Japanese brand

- ASHOK SOMAN

There is a certain charming story about Grand Seiko that kept springing into my head on my recent whirlwind tour of the brand’s manufacturing sites across Japan. Ofcourse, I invite you to read that story too, and perhaps in advance of this interview with Grand Seiko CEO Akio Naito. In any case, this anecdote did not make it into the watchmaking story so I will include it here. The short of it is this: Grand Seiko presentations are legendary for being packed to overflowing with information - perhaps so dense that one might fairly call the proceedings dry. No matter what though, one will never feel one’s eyelids getting heavier because the watches are so invigorating. As with all such received wisdom and jokes, there might be something to it, although Grand Seiko is hardly alone in organising rigid (dare we say mechanical even) press briefings.