Grand Seiko is among the more quietly self-contained watchmakers in the world, despite being consistently loved by serious collectors. You just don’t hear from them in the same way you do the Swiss old guard. Instead, they’ve traditionally been content to sit back, make great watches and not get too involved – which is why when we were offered a chance to talk to the man in charge at this year’s Watches & Wonders in Geneva, President Akio Naito-san, we leapt at the opportunity.
Unless you’re as deep in the weeds as us in the media, there’s a good chance you’ve not heard of Akio Naito-san, but his path to the top is worth a look. He didn’t start as a watchmaker; instead, he began in Seiko’s legal department in 1984. He evidently wanted a shift, as in 2002 he became Managing Director of Seiko Australia. Later, he moved on to Grand Seiko Corporation of America in 2017. Finally, in 2021 he became president of the entire Seiko Watch Corporation, overseeing the Japanese watchmaking triumvirate of Seiko, Grand Seiko, and Credor.
That last is the most interesting right now. When we were talking to Naito-san on the Grand Seiko booth – while admiring their new dive watches – the big news from Seiko Watch Corporation was actually Credor, who were showing at Watches & Wonders for the first time. For a brand with very little presence outside of Japan, that’s a big deal. What does this actually mean for the brand?
“Well, Credor was born in Japan in 1974, so we have a history of over half a century,” says Naito-san. “And actually, internally we’ve been discussing when to launch Credor internationally since the 2000s. The question then was whether to go with Credor or Grand Seiko. We thought the latter would have a more universal appeal compared to the aesthetics and elegance of Credor, so we went with Grand Seiko.”
That was a defining moment for the group. Grand Seiko as a name has been around since 1960, and the decision to split it out, to focus on their craftsmanship and advanced movements was the starting point of what’s become a quintessential collectors’ brand. And yet, while it’s been a success, it wasn’t quite as easy at the beginning.
“The name Seiko was, of course, very well-known throughout the world,” says Naito-san, “but the image was not that of luxury. In Japan, customers were aware of Grand Seiko as our top-end, but outside of Japan – including the UK of course – Seiko’s image was of good quality but affordable, accessible, value pieces. When we launched Grand Seiko, we had a very difficult time getting the high-end message across.”
To put that in numbers, there was growth across the first five years when Grand Seiko was available outside of Japan, but 10% to 12%. Not nothing, but not meteoric by any stretch – and a far cry from the last decade, which saw Grand Seiko sales outside of Japan grow, according to Naito-san, by 15 times. So, what happened?
“After a slow start, the real expansion of Grand Seiko happened in 2017 when we made the decision to separate the brand, to make Grand Seiko independent from Seiko. We changed the logo at 12 o’clock, we separated the distribution and we went right into high-end luxury watchmaking.”
This separation helped the rest of the world more easily distinguish Grand Seiko from its mothership and helped highlight what they did best. Seiko for reliable tools; Grand Seiko for considered, high-specification horology.
“I’m sure Grand Seiko was not on most people’s radar 10 years ago, but now it’s more like a mainstream luxury brand. We’re confident now that the brand’s fame has reached a certain level… so now it’s time for us to launch Credor.”
On paper, Credor might sound like a similar proposition to Grand Seiko. It’s high-end, traditionally made, serious watchmaking. But Credor is a distinct luxury brand with an artisan watchmaking philosophy that differs fundamentally from Grand Seiko.
“Credor is basically a handcrafted watch,” explains Akio Naito-san, “even more so than Grand Seiko, making it very difficult to expand production. That’s the hardest challenge we’re facing – we just can’t make enough watches. We only have 10 shopfronts outside Japan, including our own boutiques. We’re working very hard to expand production, and we will have a more substantive global launch in the near future – but it’ll all happen very gradually.”
So no, you won’t easily be able to walk into a shop and buy a Credor watch outside of Japan any time soon. That’s not to say they’re completely unavailable, just that you might want to anticipate a bit of a wait.
That’s the higher end of the three brands and the biggest news of Watches & Wonders. But back in the UK, there’s been an ongoing conversation about the workhorse that is Seiko. Traditionally, as Naito-san mentioned, Seiko has been seen as an accessible sports watch brand, £500 and under for a well-made, reliably tool piece. In recent years however there’s been an obvious shift upwards, enough that many of the people who championed them as a value-driven brand have become a bit disillusioned.
“First of all, of course, everything is getting more and more expensive,” says Naito-san of the shift. “In comparison with what the other, say, six luxury brands are doing, I don’t think we’ve increased that much.
As the successful Grand Seiko line was established, we saw a gap between Seiko and Grand Seiko and consumers that wanted a good quality, trustworthy mechanical movements more accessibly than major luxury brand watches. This is where King Seiko fits perfectly. And underneath that we have the Prospex, Presage and other ranges, alongside Seiko’s historically accessible entry-level. The average price has gone up, as we are trying to broaden the range of options.”
The mention of King Seiko is particularly interesting as that’s not a brand which has been around in its current form for long. There was a successful limited edition in 2021, followed by a new permanent collection in 2022 and since then the mid-60s aesthetic has gone from strength to strength. It’s a look that’s very distinct from the rest of the brand’s collections – which begs the question: will King Seiko be going independent, too?
Unfortunately, Akio Naito-san immediately burst that bubble.
“Right now, we don’t have any plans to make King Seiko independent. As you know, King Seiko was born one year after Grand Seiko and at that time we had two manufacturing arms within the group, one in Suwa, Nagano Prefecture and one in Tokyo. The two had a friendly rivalry so it’s an interesting question. King Seiko has such a distinctive identity. But no, no plans as of now.”
That’s perhaps not a surprise. As we mentioned, Grand Seiko may be considered a top-tier luxury watchmaker now, but it’s still a relatively young brand on its own merits and one that’s still growing very quickly. That’s not just the case for new sales either. Prices for pre-owned 45GS models have increased by 150% over the last 10 years, with the 44GS just behind it at 120%. That shows some genuine traction but also raises a potential problem.
Grand Seiko movements are incredibly accurate, with the Spring Drive often cited as one of the best in the world in terms of raw accuracy. But it’s also a movement that’s constantly being refined and pushed further, right up to the current U.F.A. (Ultra Fine Accuracy) calibres. At the same time, it’s a specialised enough system – marrying quartz precision with mechanical power – that only Grand Seiko can really repair them. And if the specific movement is now out of production, you might well be stuck. Or you would have been.
“In the last five years,” says Akio Naito-san, “we’ve invested into recreating some of the key components so that even though production has ceased on some vintage models, we can still repair them. That means we have significantly increased our service coverage compared to the past, allowing us to meet the demands of those people who are collecting vintage.”
And with so many brands keeping control of their own vintage market through authorised preowned programmes, is that something Grand Seiko are looking at too?
“We’ve been studying the possibility very carefully. But we think the brand is really still in its infancy. Grand Seiko is still growing as a brand and we’re not at the maturity and brand awareness that means we can go into the certified pre-owned or secondary market ourselves. For now, we’re supporting those that do buy vintage.”
Browsing old Grand Seiko models on Chrono24 just got a lot more dangerous.
