MECHANICAL ENGINEERING HERITAGE NO.66
Japan-made Wristwatches which Showed Remarkable Technological Innovations
Manufacturing of wrist watches in Japan was started by Seikosha established by Kintaro Hattori in 1892.
The ‘Laurel Type 12’ is Japan’s first wrist watch and it was released in 1913. The debut of a wrist watch for personal use contributed to the creation of a new lifestyle for Japanese people.
The ‘First-generation Grand Seiko’ is a wrist watch that was released in 1960 and it achieved a high precision equivalent to the Switzerland Chronometer Standards, which were assumed to be the world’s highest standards at that time.
The ‘Quartz Astron 35SQ’ is the world’s first quartz-type wrist watch, released in 1969. The precision was drastically enhanced compared with conventional mechanical wrist watches.
These wrist watches are the symbolic heritage for understanding the development process of precision instrument technologies that are the pride of Japan for the world.
On exhibition (Reservation required)
The Seiko Museum
- Hours open:
- 10:00–16:00 (Entry closes at 15:00.)
- Admission fee:
- Free
- Days closed:
- Mondays, public holidays (Opens on May 3, 4, 5), year-end/New Year holidays
- Address:
- 3-9-7 Higashi-Mukojima, Sumida-ku, Tokyo 131-0032
- Tel:
- +81-3-3610-6248
- URL:
- http://museum.seiko.co.jp
- Access:
- 8 mins. on foot from Tobu Higashi-Mukojima Sta.