The Pathos Of Seiko

The Pathos Of Seiko

IN THE FIRST PART of my story last month that covered the Japanese watchmaker’s illustrious history, we saw how Seiko came to be divided between the Daini Seikosha and Suwa Seikosha factories that catered to the company’s different needs.

The Daini Seikosha went on to become the Seiko Instruments Inc (SII) that produces the business-facing electronic products such as machine tools and printers, as well as the brand’s quartz timepieces and high-end mechanical watches under the Shizuku-ishi Watch Studio.

Suwa Seikosha, on the other hand, became the Seiko Epson Corporation (SEC). It is under this company that the brand’s Spring Drive movements as well as the GPS, Kinetic and other quartz calibres are produced.

As Suwa Seikosha was the first factory set up by Hattori, its successor, the SEC maintained timepiece manufacturing capabilities. Some are confused as to why its Spring Drive movement isn’t produced at SII. However, Seiko considers its Spring Drive movement as the premier calibre and therefore, needs to be created at Hattori’s hand-picked factory.