Mr. President of Grand Seiko and Seiko, Akio Naito, has the most wonderfully approachable and graciously kind smile. If that sounds at all reductive, you clearly haven’t had the honour of being smiled at by Naito.
It’s a smile that has gotten him far in the weird and wonderful world of luxury goods, ever since he started out at Seiko in 1984. And it's fair to say that for the past 40 years, like his predecessors at Seiko, Naito has been keeping the Swiss watchmaking industry on its toes. For all the talk of Gerald Genta and Jean-Claude Biver being the godfathers of the watchmaking industry, were it not for the Japanese, such icons wouldn’t have had to up their game so much.
Seiko has been manufacturing wristwatches since 1913, constantly pursuing and upgrading its technological excellence, but it became a globally-known entity after the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games. In the late ’60s, as the thirst for Japanese watches was rising, Seiko became the first brand to drop a quartz wristwatch.
Cue MoonSwatch levels of hysteria and hype (minus the eBay reselling market) in the early ’70s. Such was the demand for its quartz watches, Seiko had to build subsidiaries outside of Japan for the first time – in the US and the UK. In no uncertain terms, it’s what caused the so-called Quartz Crisis.
Ever since, Seiko has been a key player in the watch game and today is highly regarded as one of the best go-to brands for your first watch. A quick look at any Seiko 5 Sports model – the quality at that price point is unbeatable – and it’s easy to see why.
Also born out of Seiko’s much-fancied DNA is Grand Seiko – the Japanese brand's luxury offering and a favourite of Nicholas Cage. We speak to Naito about how Seiko and Grand Seiko have evolved into two entirely separate brands, and how the latter is – but isn’t just – a grander version of the former.
For those who don't know the history of the brands, what is the difference between Seiko and Grand Seiko?
Our Seiko products are more centralised in the mid-price range globally but [until recently] high end Grand Seiko products were exclusively available to the Japanese domestic market only, so the general public outside of Japan assumed they were mid-price too. We wanted to change that perception.
How did you do that?
Grand Seiko was born as a pinnacle of the Seiko brand in 1960 and in 2010 we made a decision to launch Grand Seiko into the global market but it didn't really take off and we struggled to develop Grand Seiko outside of Japan. The retail channel is totally different between luxury watches and mid-price so in 2017 we made Grand Seiko an independent brand. I was transferred from Tokyo to New York in 2016 and separated Seiko America into Grand Seiko America. That was the beginning of how we became successful in developing the American and European markets.
Why was splitting the two brands so important?
The very nature of a wristwatch as an item or tool has changed quite a bit in the last 30 years. Seiko came up with the world's first quartz watch in 1969 and in those days, wristwatches were a necessity – you had to have a wristwatch to tell the time so accuracy was everything. Japan made watches that virtually wiped out the Swiss industry. But then mechanical watches arrived with an emphasis on craftsmanship and tradition. Of course, they didn't emphasise the accuracy of those watches because they couldn't compete against cheap quartz watch, but they appealed to a different set of values. This created the luxury watch segment which has grown so much in recent years. So much so we were confident with Grand Seiko because the quality and the craftsmanship has always been there.
Doubling up seems to put you in a strong position within the industry.
As we are the only non-Swiss or non-European brand, we can communicate the difference between us and the Swiss, in terms of how we develop our product and how it is made by Japanese craftsmen. Technological excellence and quality craftsmanship were always in our DNA. Now, as the demand for the wristwatch has changed from functional to emotional value, we are required to present different stories behind the brand, which we have plenty of in our long 100 year-history. And it helps that we have cult followers all over the world, especially among the young consumers, millennials and Gen Z, who are so passionate about talking about our brand.
One of the reasons for that is Grand Seiko Spring Drive White Birch models. The 2023 version is like nothing else in the industry.
Our product development guys and customers are constantly inspired by the beautiful nature and natural environment surrounding our studios. And processing the complex texture of that dial in such an intricate way is very important for us as it differentiates ourselves from Swiss watch brands. So far we are very successful in that regard.
Six years on, would you say separating the brands has been a success?
There is a common route between the two brands, but because Seiko has been expanded into so many different areas in terms of price range, sport models, dress models, it is difficult to really identify what it stands for. In the future, I would like to streamline its identity like Grand Seiko, which is easier in my mind.
What else is on your mind?
We have a lot of discussion in Japan talking about gender differences – that we should abolish men's or ladies watches. That's one new European trend, I should say, “Yeah, nice” to.
