Seiko Group is High Horology
No, that’s not a question, it is an objective factor. Also no, I’m not saying Seiko 5 are high horology. But Seiko Group, as a corporate entity, has high horology product.
Here are some objective measures of what makes a watchmaker/watchmaking corporation high horology.
First; do something revolutionary in watchmaking. Whether you like quartz or not it is undeniable that quartz revolutionized personal portable timekeeping. Seiko invented quartz. So one for Seiko Group.
Second; do something by hand. Have the craftsmanship to do work on watches by hand. Seiko does this. The do hand lacquered dials. They do hand made dials that are hand painted. There are steps Seiko does by hand on certain models are higher levels that meet the handcraft measure.
I’ll break a bit here to describe Credor and Grand Seiko. Most crunchers will know Seiko various series. Seiko 5, Presage, Prospex, King Seiko and Grand Seiko. Some probably know the name Credor. For those who don’t, just recall Seiko’s JDM line (Japan Domestic Market). A basic way to think of Credor is to think of that brand as the JDM line of Grand Seiko.
Ok, back to metric three. High complication movements. Under the Credor/Grand Seiko names, Seiko Group have a minute repeater, tourbillon, and others. My Credor is pictured above. The movement is a retrograde day, small pointer date, traveler GMT. Yes, Seiko group meets the high complication metric. BTW you can order a minute repeater or tourbillon but it will cost you between $300,000 and $400,000. 🤑
Finally, I don’t know that using precious metals is really required anymore. It seems to me production using titanium, etc., is probably harder from a manufacturer perspective, but just in case you think its required, Seiko Group do have full gold watches. So yes, they meet that too.
So why do some people not consider Seiko Group high horology? I suspect it based in marketing philosophy. All the Seiko lines I mentioned above have Seiko in the name. Alternatively Swatch Group has Swatch, Hamilton, Tissot, Certina, Longines, Omega, Blancpain, and Breguet (and others). Some people would consider Breguet and Blanpain high horology and not consider they’re part of Swatch Group, because Swatch does not put Swatch on every one of their brands. It’s just a different philosophy of branding.
Anyway, to sum up, Seiko Group is (has?) high horology. That’s not to say Seiko 5 or King Seiko are high horology, but the group overall should be considered top level. Let the runching begin…….
The first watch I remember was a late 1970s automatic diver with a world time bezel. I was taking scuba lessons and my dad got it for me. I ended up with a PADI advanced open water qualification. So I...
Seiko didn't invent quartz technology. Quartz clocks existed long before a quartz watches did. The Swiss CEH had working quartz watch prototypes before seiko did. Seiko was just first to the market with a quartz watch.
Seiko is the greatest manufacturer in the world, especially when you consider their heritage and entire line. They are the most vertically integrated company. Even growing their own crystals for their quartz movements.
Wtf does 'High Horology' mean? Horology is the study of keeping time, and the history of keeping time. A stick in the sand is Horology.
This is the oldest man made time telling device we've ever found. It's a sun dial found in the Valley Of the Kings, thought to be from the 13th Century BC. That's over a Millennium before Christ was born.
You know what else is Horology?
This is Jeff Bezos' 10,000 year clock. It's inside a mountain in West Texas, USA and ticks once a year, and will continue to tick once a year for the next 10,000 years.
Yes, Seiko should be studied by Horologists due to their advancements in time telling ability. The Plutonium Timekeeper buried in Osaka, The first commercial quartz watch, Spring drive (the first major advancement in watchmaking since the aforementioned quartz) and yes, The Seiko 5 for providing high quality (at the time) jewelled movements for the masses, but to call Seiko 'High Horology' is daft and it diminutises how wide the field of Horology actually is.
Wtf does 'High Horology' mean? Horology is the study of keeping time, and the history of keeping time. A stick in the sand is Horology.
This is the oldest man made time telling device we've ever found. It's a sun dial found in the Valley Of the Kings, thought to be from the 13th Century BC. That's over a Millennium before Christ was born.
You know what else is Horology?
This is Jeff Bezos' 10,000 year clock. It's inside a mountain in West Texas, USA and ticks once a year, and will continue to tick once a year for the next 10,000 years.
Yes, Seiko should be studied by Horologists due to their advancements in time telling ability. The Plutonium Timekeeper buried in Osaka, The first commercial quartz watch, Spring drive (the first major advancement in watchmaking since the aforementioned quartz) and yes, The Seiko 5 for providing high quality (at the time) jewelled movements for the masses, but to call Seiko 'High Horology' is daft and it diminutises how wide the field of Horology actually is.
"Wtf does 'high horology' mean?"
What people usually mean by "high horology" or "haute horology" is non mass produced luxury timepieces that usually have low annual production numbers, have incredible level of hand finished movement detail and intracacies, from start to finish the watches are all hand assembled, usually have 1 watch maker per 1 watch produced (watchmaker works on the watch from start to finish), the movements are typically a feat of hand assembled engineering, and the brand also typically has a very rich and storied history. As a result of all these impeccable traits, these timepieces are typically well over $50k USD and get into the millions. That is a general sum of what people usually mean when they say "high horology" or "haute horology".
P.S. Don't shoot the messenger. Just relaying what people usually mean when they use those terms. Whether they are right or wrong is a different story.