Seiko Watches Always Leading the Way – A look at Seiko’s History of Innovation

Seiko are one of our premier watch brands. Seiko watches represent affordable luxury. Every Seiko watch is made to a very high standard but there will be a watch in their range to suit every taste and budget. The following list is some of Seiko watches world firsts!

1969     Seiko Astron Watch – the world’s first quartz watchmakers. The quartz watch revolutionised the watch industry. The electromagnetic properties of quartz meant that it could be used with a battery to create a reliable time piece. Seiko’s utilisation of this technology still sets the tone for the majority of watch manufacture today.

1973     Seiko LCD Quartz Watch – the world’s first LCD quartz watch with a six-digit digital display. The Seiko digital watch also started a revolution in precision timing. It allowed milliseconds to be displayed on screen for the first time.

1975     Seiko Multi-function digital watch – The world’s first multi function digital watch. The Seiko multi function digital watch allowed elaborate timing capabilities to be widely available. This was great for sports professionals and enthusiasts.

1982     TV Seiko Watch – the world’s first watch that you could watch TV on. Although this Seiko watch was not very practical, compared to modern standards, it still changed people’s perception of what a watch could do.

1983     Recorder Seiko Watch – the world’s first watch that you could record sound on. This function is not very common in watches today but the technology is still impressive for this time.

1988     Seiko Kinetic watch – the world’s first automatic power generating quartz watch (only later known as kinetic watches) Seiko Kinetic watches laid the foundations for a whole raft of other automatic watch movements. This technology really was a breakthrough on a number of different levels, the convenience of a quartz watch without the need to replace the battery or for winding.

1990    Seiko Scubamaster Watch – the world’s first computerised diver’s watch. Divers could now have access to a much wider range of information when they were diving, allowing them to maximise their time underwater.

1991    Seiko Perpetual Calendar Millenium Plus – The world’s first perpetual calendar watch ready for the millenium. The millenium bug turned out to be mainly a false alarm. Owners of  Seiko watches had no reason to panic as Seiko had already overcome the difficulty.

1998     Seiko Thermic Watches – The world’s first watch powered by the body heat of the wearer. Although Seiko Themic watches are no longer in production they represent an innovative approach to the problem of renewable energy sources and new technology that can fit on the wrist.

1999     Seiko Spring Drive Watch – The first Spring Drive watch in the world. Seiko Spring Drive technology replaces a long tradition of mechanical watch making. The Spring Drive watches are designed to be more efficient, more accurate and more durable. This Seiko watch has been hailed as introducing a ‘revolution in time’, advancing technology that had remained in place for 500 years.

2005     Seiko 3 Band Radio Controlled Watch – Seiko watches introduced the first 3 band radio controlled watch. This technology allowed for more effective radio controlled timing.

2008     Seiko Spring Drive Spacewalk Watch – Seiko make the first watch ever specifically designed for a space walk. Seiko were commissioned by Richard Garriot to create a watch that could be worn during a Spacewalk; an unprecedented challenge for any watchmaker due to the intense heat, pressure and radiation in outer space. They successfully completed the watch which worked absolutely perfectly the same type of watch was subsequently used by a professional astronaut on a 5 hour and 38 minute space walk. One hundred Spring Drive Spacewalk commemorative watches have been made by Seiko. They are available across the world if you have $28,000 to spare!

This long list of Seiko firsts is an indication of why they are pioneers of the watch industry, where they are likely to remain for the foreseeable future.

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