Seiko brand watches were originally produced by two different Seiko Corp. subsidiaries. One was Daini Seikosha Co, Ltd (Kameido,Koto-ku, Tokyo) and the other was Suwa Seikosha Co (Suwa-shi, Nagano). Two different companies produced one brand in order to improve technology through severe competition and to hedge the risk. Splendid watches were produced at both companies because of this tough competitionand this system proved efficient at hedging the risk.. If either company experienced production problems the other company could compensate by increasing production. Eventually Daini Seikosha Co, Ltd. changed it its company name to Seiko Instruments Inc. and Suwa Seikosha Co, to Seiko Epson Corporation.
Birth of the Grand Seiko
Prior to 1960 most people believed Swiss watches were the highestquality and Japanese watches were inferior. Seiko believed they were capable of producing watches of the same quality as the Swiss. In fact, they had already made two high-quality examples, Crown and Chronos . The Grand Seiko is the result of their beliefs. Who made it? Daini Seikosha and Suwa began discussions under the suggestion of their parent company, Seiko. It was decided that Suwa would produce the first Grand Seiko (GS). Most men's watches were produced at Suwa and most women's watches were made at Daini in those days. The birth of GS was followed by the success of the Tokyo Olympics and Seiko's victory at the astronomical observatory Concours.
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