The first watch featuring computer functions
by.seiko-design.com
by.seiko-design.com
If I won the lotto tomorrow, I'd buy a Grand Seiko with it.
Here is my workaround.
So what I'd enjoy on my wrist is an entry-level Seiko (or other) quartz with nothing but: 1) analog hands, and 2) a vibrating Bluetooth notification of incoming phone calls or maybe messages.
I know know, the second one is a swamp that Seiko doesn't want to wade into.
In the 1980s, having a Seiko digital, was like having a Rolex (Or "Rolecks," if you are buying in Times Square).
That’s how my friend didn’t see the “A” and the “N” on his “ASEIKON” watch for a while.
Checked that at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiko, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiko_Group and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epson, but got away confused.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiko_Group seems to have the best succinct description (but reading the others, it does leave out info):
“Seiko Group (セイコー・グループ, Seikō Gurūpu) is a corporate group composed of Seiko Group Corporation and its subsidiaries and affiliates. It used to be recognized as a corporate group consisting of three core companies Seiko Holdings Corp. (Seiko; f/k/a K. Hattori & Co., Hattori Seiko), Seiko Instruments Inc. (SII; f/k/a Daini Seikosha, Seiko Instruments & Electronics), and Seiko Epson Corp (Epson; f/k/a Suwa Seikosha). The three companies were linked by a common thread of timepiece technology. Although Epson still develops and manufactures wristwatches for the Seiko Group, Epson and its subsidiaries are not considered part of the group”
It started with the watch making, EPSON was the spin off technology, developed for the 1964 Olympics, when printers were needed, along with precision timekeeping.
The watch engineering meant that they had the core competencies for making awesome printers.
The watch making continues, however, SEIKO-EPSON have diversified and got into specialist markets, up the value chain. Clearly they have had to survive quite a few company-threatening events over the years, ranging from the Plaza Accord where the Yen got zapped, to the LCD screen, which made printed paper somewhat obsolete.
Up the value chain can mean considerable benefits, EPSON printers are notable for this, where they have a lot of the point of sale market, where printers get to be used all day, with considerably more service/warranty money to be made, compared to that home printer that has printed out 'one form, once, in the last five years'.
Mr Bond sported a digital Seiko watch at the time.
1. Seiko is huge. If you are snoozing on them, that's on you, not them. They have a HUGE presence in watches, from low-end affordable pieces to their gorgeous and expensive high-end watches under the Grand Seiko name. Jewelry stores where I live usually devote at least one of their window displays to Seiko (as you see with Rolex and Tag, for example).
2. Seiko is not owned by Epson. Epson do produce some of Seiko's watches, but they're not part of the company. Seiko are a public company primarily controlled, still, by the Hattori family.
3. In the 1980s Seiko was nowhere nearly as prestigious (or expensive) as Rolex or any other high-end Swiss maker. Then as now, the nicer watches were definitely nice watches, but they weren't jewelry like a Rolex or an Omega. The rise of Grand Seiko has leveled that playing field quite a bit, though. Today, at least among watch people, a spring-drive GS would be as fawned over as a Submariner or Explorer.
(edit: I left extraneous text while writing the post. That's now removed.)
Seikos were really quite high-end for a while. Maybe they weren’t Submariner-level, but you could drop around a grand on a Seiko digital, and that was a lot, back then.
Looks like I was, indeed, wrong. From the post, below, it looks like Epson came from Seiko, or work jointly.