https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiko
Seiko Holdings Corporation (セイコーホールディングス株式会社 Seikō Hōrudingusu Kabushiki-gaisha), commonly known as Seiko (/ˈseɪkoʊ/ SAY-koh, Japanese: [seːkoː]), is a Japanese holding company that has subsidiaries which manufactures and sells watches, clocks, electronic devices, semiconductors, jewelries, and optical products.
Seiko SARB
Seiko SARB030 Mechanical Watch
The Seiko SARB is their mid-range mechanical line of watches. They use the Seiko 6R15 movement.
Some of the examples of the SARB line are SARB033, SARB035, SARB017, SARB065 etc… as well as some of the rarer SARB013, SARB015, SARB031, SARB072.
Grand Seiko
The Grand Seiko logo.
Birth of Grand Seiko
Grand Seiko SBGA011 with 9R Spring Drive movement
Prior to 1960, to challenge the status of Swiss watches and change the perception of Japanese watches, Daini Seikosha and Suwa began the discussion of a product line that can match the quality of Swiss watches under the suggestion of the parent company. At the time, Suwa Seikosha Co. was in charge of manufacturing men's watches, so it was decided that Suwa would be producing the first Grand Seiko (GS).
The first Grand Seiko was released in 1960, it was based on Seiko's previous high-end watch, CROWN. This Grand Seiko has a 25-jewel, manual-winding, 3180 calibre, and only 36,000 units were produced. This was also the first Chronometer grade watch manufactured in Japan, and it was based on Seiko's own chronometer standard.
Design style
The design language of the Grand Seiko was set in 1967, with the creation of Grand Seiko 44GS. The 44GS set the ground for all future Grand Seiko with nine elements. These elements help improve the legibility of the watch under different situations, and create a
Sharp, crisp visual impression:
Double width index at 12 o'clock
Multi-faceted rectangular markers
Highly polished bezel
Highly polished planes and two-dimensional surface
Half recessed crown
Flat dial
Multi-faceted hour and minute hands
Curved side line
Reverse slanted bezel wall and case side
Dress style with simple but beautiful design
Zaratsu polishing
Movements
Mechanical movement
In 1968, Seiko introduced three 10 beat (10 ticks per second) calibers, the automatic caliber 61GS, the manual winding 45GS and 19GS for women's watch. The 61GS was Japan's first automatic 10 beat watch, and it was the most accurate mechanical watch due to the high beat calibers. The calibers are considered high beat because normal mechanical movements beat six to eight times per second, and higher beat makes the watch more resistant to shock, thus achieving the high accuracy.
In 2009, Seiko released the new 10 beat caliber 9S85, which is a completely new designed of the previous high beat caliber. The new caliber also met the Grand Seiko Standard, a chronometer certification that the company claims to be more strict than the Chronometer Certificate in Switzerland.
