At first, the need to import components meant that production was slow - just 30 to 50 pieces per day - but by 1910, Seikosha had managed to produce its own balance springs and by 1913, its own enamel dials. The Laurel had a silver case, 29.6 mm in diameter, a porcelain enamel dial, and a 12-ligne movement. Hence the debut of the Laurel in 1913, just 11 years after the first Hattori wall clocks. Hattori quickly recognized the growing worldwide popularity of the wristwatch and predicted that the demand for wristwatches would shortly outpace that for pocketwatches. The English name “Timekeeper” was a product of Hattori’s shrewd business sense, as he realized that such a name would expand future export possibilities for the product. The 54.9-mm silver case was made in Japan, but most of the 22- ligne movement was imported from Switzerland. After several years of producing high-quality wall clocks, Seikosha released its first pocketwatch, called simply the Timekeeper, in 1895. He was only 31 when he partnered with an engineer named Tsuruhiko Yoshikawa to set up the Seikosha watch factory, forerunner of today’s Seiko, in 1892. Hattori watch and clock shop in Tokyo’s Kyobashi district and began building and repairing watches and clocks.

Seiko founder Kintaro Hattori was only 21 years old when he opened the K.

Old seiko watch models