Seiko Corporation

The founder of the Hattori watch empire, Kintarō Hattori, began his career by opening up his own timepiece shop in 1881. The first company originally called K. Hattori & Co. However, it was not until 1924 that his first brand Seiko watches came on the market.

Hattori started making his own timepieces in 1892 by building a small, experimental production facility. The next year he geared up and built a true factory in Honjo Yanagishima and named the organization Seiko.

The Hattori Tokei Ten (((Timepiece Store) became a full-fledged kabushiki kaisha in 1917. In 1937, the Hattori family established another company call Dai Ni Seiko and build new head office and factory in Kamedo area of Tokyo and taking over all of Seiko’s watch production responsibilities.

By 1938, Seiko was producing more than a million watches a year. In terms of production volume, Seiko overtook its Swiss rival as early as 1949, and its production was more than double Omega’s from 1953.

In 1959, Seiko launched the first self-winding watches, which became the top-end watch after the war, and went on to mass produce it; the production volume of self-winding watches manufactured by the company Suwa Seiko - one of the two watch companies of the Seiko group soared from 430,000 pieces in 1961 to nearly 4.3 million in 1970.

In 1969, Seiko would debut the first quartz movement watch that would change the way consumers viewed wristwatches. They were more accurate than a mechanical watch, and cheaper.
Seiko Corporation

Rolex watch in history

Wilsdorf and Davis Company was founded by a German national, Hans Wilhelm Wilsdorf and a British native, Alfred James Davis, in 1905.

Hans Wilsdorf was an observer of fashion, and he had noticed that the men’s traditional waistcoat was falling out of favor. He guessed that the end of the pocket watch could not be far off.

The company then imported Swiss watch movements and parts and assembling them into completed timepieces. The name ‘Rolex’ was chosen because it was clear, easy to spell, and easy to pronounce.

Having established his London based watch company Rolex in 1908, he had decided to test the accuracy of his products by sending them off to a Swiss observatory.

It was a decision worth taking, in 1914 the Kew Observatory certifies Rolex as the first wristwatch in history to outperform the pocket watch. And just in time, accurate wristwatch were needed by soldiers in the First Word War, as they were easier to use than pocket watches in the trenches.

In 1926, the world’s first truly water and shockproof watch is created when Rolex sculpts the revolutionary Oyster case from solid metal.

In 1931, Rolex patented the perpetual winding mechanism, which meant the manual wider on the side of the watch was no longer needed. In 1945, it became the first watch to have a date window.

It is now a premium Swiss watchmaker. Rolex watches hold their value so well they tend to resell at a higher price than they were originally bought for.
Rolex watch in history

History of Tissot

Founded in 1853, Tissot is proud to display, the Swiss flag at the heart of its T logo. The founders were Charles-Felicien Tissot and his son, Charles-Emile Tissot (1830-1910). The firm was located in Le Lode, Switzerland.

Tissot supplied watches to Russia and the ‘Tsar’s Court.’

Tissot has created many first in the watch world. They created the first antimagnetic watch, and also were the first to produce the plastic watch.

Tissot merged with the Omega Watch Co. in 1929 to form SSIH. At the same time Longines, Rado and Swatch merged into ASUAG. At the beginning of the 1980s, in the midst of the decline of the Swiss watch industry, the two firms were bailed out of financial distress by local banks.

The two firms later merged to form ASUAG-SSIH, which was finally taken over by a group of private investor led by Nicholas Hayek and re named the Swatch Group.

Today Tissot still produce a line of quality watches today, including chronometer escapements.
History of Tissot

History of Swatch watches

At the end of the 20th century, analog watches were considered out of fashion. The Swiss watch industry was facing fierce competition from Japanese. So Swiss watchmakers joined forces with designers from all over the world formed a new watch company that could make parts so cheaply that is was more reasonable to throw the watch away than to repair it.

Hence the Swiss Watch Company (SWATCH) was born. They were launching high precision watches at a low price.

Swatch was developed by a team of ETA engineers under Thomke’s supervision to beat the Japanese competition, the Swatch was a fashion product and a plastic quartz watch manufactured in Switzerland.

It was launched in 1983 and experienced growing popularity worldwide from the late 1980s onwards. It was explained that the introduction of simplified mechanism using only 51 parts as opposed to the standard 91 parts. This is one reason why the Swatch could be made so slim and cost brought down.

Swatch was revolutionary because it changed the whole paradigm of what a watch is. A watch was no longer regarded as a timepiece, but as an accessory. Swatch watches may made from more expensive materials and may be sponsored or designed by well-known artist.
History of Swatch watches

History of Edox watch

In 1883, Christian Ruefli-Flury, and exceptionally gifted watchmaker, gave his wife, Eva-Maria, a pocket watch that he had designed for her 25th birthday.

His wife impressed with the beauty of the watch the persuaded his husband to found his own watchmaking company.

In 1884, Christian Ruefli-Flury launched his watchmaking enterprise and it first workshops are established in BielBienna, a city famous for its well-educated watchmakers.

He named the company ‘Edox’ which means the hour in ancient Greek, and the hourglass logo has adorned all Edox watches ever since.

In 1955, his company employs up to 500 watchmakers. In 2008, Edox is the official timekeeper of the Class-1 World Powerboat Championship.
History of Edox watch