Japanese giant watch, clock and electronics manufacturer, Seiko, was founded in 1881 by Kintaro Hattori. The young entrepreneur's watch and clock repair shop blossomed and put him in a position to manufacture clocks by 1892 under the name Seikosha - the Japanese word for success. Seiko's long and illustrious history is marked by many watchmaking milestones, including the Astron of 1969 - the world's first quartz watch. Accurate to within five seconds per month and 100 times more accurate than any other watch, it revolutionised the market and almost decimated the Swiss mechanical watch market. LCD displays, the world's first e-ink watch, the invention of the hyper-accurate Spring Drive movement with a combination of mechanical and quartz, the kinetic watch, the world's first solar-powered GPS watch, and even guest appearances in James Bond films on Roger Moore's wrist, have all put Seiko on the watchmaking podium. Seiko's top-of-the-line families are the Credor, Seiko 5 and Grand Seiko often compared in quality to Rolex watches at a mechanical level but at more contained prices.
