While the Seiko company was founded in 1881, it was in 1913 that Kintaro Hattori’s company produced Japan’s very first wristwatch, the Laurel. 2013 therefore marks the 100th anniversary of Seiko watchmaking.

Throughout this hundred year period, Seiko has developed watches that have been at the leading edge of every generation in watchmaking, embodying the spirit of the company’s founder, Kintaro Hattori, who determined that Seiko should always be “one step ahead of the rest”.

By the 1960s, Seiko had achieved the world’s highest level of accuracy in mechanical movements. In 1969, we developed the world’s first quartz wristwatch, the Seiko Astron Quartz, whose vastly improved accuracy revolutionized the watch industry. In 1988 we released the world’s first automatic generating system, Seiko Kinetic. It uses the same self-winding mechanism as in a mechanical watch, but the weighted rotor powers a tiny electrical generator, charging an accumulator that stores and supplies power to the movement.

In 2012 Seiko released the Seiko Astron GPS solar, the world’s first watch to receive and use positioning data from GPS satellites to display the exact local time anywhere in the world with only one touch of a button, using just the power of light.

In celebration of this 100 year tradition of innovation, Seiko has created a special anniversary symbol which will be displayed throughout the year in all Seiko communication. Limited edition anniversary watches have also been created as part of this celebration. We are recognizing the centenary for two reasons. Of course, it honors Kintaro’s achievements and those of his successors, but it also inspires us all to remain true to his vision that Seiko should always be “one step ahead of the rest”. Loyalty to this idea is what will ensure the success of Seiko over the next 100 years.