The house of Seiko
The house
Seiko
- Founded
- 1881
- Country
- Japan
- Based in
- Tokyo
Kintaro Hattori was twenty-one when he opened a watch and clock shop in Tokyo in 1881. The factory followed in 1892, and Japan's first domestically made wristwatch, the Laurel, in 1913.
Seiko is one of very few watchmakers anywhere that makes everything itself, from the hairspring to the dial, at every price point it sells at. That vertical integration is why it could do what it did on Christmas Day 1969: release the Astron, the world's first quartz wristwatch, accurate to five seconds a month and priced like a small car. Within a decade quartz had taken most of the Swiss industry apart.
Seiko never stopped making mechanical watches through any of it. The 6105 and 6309 divers of the 1960s and 70s were issued, worn hard and are now collected, and the inexpensive Seiko 5 has probably introduced more people to mechanical watches than any other product.
Known for
Astron
The first quartz wristwatch, 25 December 1969.
Prospex Diver
The direct descendant of the 6105 issued to divers and soldiers.
Seiko 5
Mechanical, automatic, and cheap enough to be a first watch.
Before you buy one
Seiko's reference numbering is dense and the same case can house very different movements — check the calibre, not just the model name.
Vintage divers are frequently assembled from parts, and reproduction dials, bezel inserts and hands are easy to buy. On a 6105 or 6309, originality is most of the value. Japan-only models sold abroad are legitimate but carry no international warranty.
Luxigate doesn’t authenticate pieces. For anything you’re serious about, have it checked independently before you pay. How buying works
Last revised 22 Oct 2026.