Seiko House, situated in the heart of Ginza, Tokyo’s luxury shopping district, is a stunning Art Deco building that, as its name suggests, is home to high-end watch brand, Grand Seiko. Topped by an imposing clock tower, with four pale-blue dials presiding over each corner of the neighbourhood, the building is a Tokyo landmark – it enjoyed a cameo in two Godzilla films; the 1954 original and a more recent remake – and is where watch fans flock to relish in the latest designs from Japan’s pre-eminent watchmaker. 

At home, Grand Seiko has long been known as the ‘Japanese Rolex’. In recent years, however, an increasing number of first-time ‘serious watch’ buyers are plumping for a Japanese-made timepiece over something hailing from Switzerland. 

Spearheading the development of the brand outside its home market since 2017, Akio Naito, Global President of parent company Seiko Watch Corporation, says it’s not just Japanese consumers that are illustrating an appetite for the 64-year-old watch brand.  Today, Grand Seiko has more than 400 overseas points of sale and flagship stores at coveted addresses including New York’s Madison Avenue, London’s Bond Street and Paris’ Place Vendôme. The brand is also the only Japanese watchmaker at the annual, Geneva-based industry event, Watches and Wonders, its booth enjoying a prime position close to the stands of Patek Philippe and, yes, Rolex.

The Grand Seiko Studio in Shizukuishi, Japan

Akio Naito

“It’s a huge advantage for us being a Japanese, or non-European, brand,” says Naito. “Practically, I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say we are the only Japanese luxury brand in the global watch market.” Sitting in a spacious, mahogany-panelled room on the fifth floor of Seiko House, Naito speaks in a strong and assured voice that was no doubt honed during the 1980s, when he was a student in the United States, touring the country as a national debater. 

During that decade, it was Japanese cars and electronics that were capturing the world’s imagination. The current craze for all things Japanese, says Naito, feels different this time around; the technological interest of yesteryear replaced with more culturally identifiable touchpoints: anime, ramen and sushi, perhaps most obviously among them. 

“In my generation, and previous generations, Japan was so far away – it was exotic and foreign,” says Naito. “But kids seem to have grown up watching Japanese cartoons, Godzilla and Ultraman… They feel more familiar with Japan and Japanese culture, which has spread all over the world.” Travellers to Japan underscore Naito’s point. In 2023, the archipelago welcomed 25 million tourists, the largest figure since 2019. In July 2024, the country welcomed an estimated 3.3 million tourists, the highest monthly number ever recorded. 

Yet Naito is still surprised by the number of watch enthusiasts who visit Japan and buy a Grand Seiko. “With the weak yen and currency exchange situation, people are coming to Japan and purchasing Grand Seiko. This was unheard of 10 years ago.”

According to Richemont’s pre-owned retailer, Watchfinder & Co, Japanese watch sales have increased by some 50 per cent over the past three years. “Outside of Switzerland, Japan is probably the best-known watchmaking country, and its wider popularity is on the rise,” says Ben Staniforth, Country Manager at Watchfinder UK. Staniforth adds that Grand Seiko in particular has been “creeping up our ‘Most Wanted Watch in the World’ list each year and scooped 10th place in 2023 – with close to 360,000 online searches.” He is not at all surprised that Japanese brands are increasing in popularity, thanks to what he calls “an enduring dedication to meticulous craftsmanship and continued innovation”. 

Seiko, out of which Grand Seiko emerged in 1960, has a rich history of horological firsts. To wit, Japan’s first wristwatch in 1913; the world’s first quartz watch, and the first automatic chronograph with a vertical clutch, in ’69; and the trailblazing Spring Drive mechanism of ’98, which combines mechanical watchmaking with the precision of quartz. In 2022, Grand Seiko’s first mechanical complication, the patented Kodo Constant-force Tourbillon, picked up the Chronometry Prize at the prestigious watchmaking awards, the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.

Complementing these mechanical developments is an equally long history of eye-catching design. Traditionally, Japanese aesthetics are rooted in nature, and the watchmaker’s dials often take inspiration from the local landscapes of the Nagano and Iwate prefectures, home of Grand Seiko’s two manufactures. Rich in flora and fauna, these regions are famed for their arresting natural beauty, with rugged mountain ridges and breath-taking rivers and lakes – something that is mirrored in watches like the new Atera Valley Spring Drive. 

Set with an exquisite green dial that, depending on the light, reflects mesmerising tones that stretch from light emerald to dark green, the timepiece takes after its namesake river in the Kiso district. Then there’s Grand Seiko’s global best-seller, the SBGA211, available with a snowflake-style dial that imagines cherry blossoms floating on  a river’s surface during the Shunbun Spring Equinox – one of Japan’s 24 recognised micro seasons. 

“The characteristic dial of the Snowflake is so beautiful and also very serene and quiet,” says Naito. “The Spring Drive collection represents the very quiet atmosphere of new snow forming in the countryside.” Grand Seiko’s cases are hand finished in a mix of polished and matte surfaces, riffing off the Japanese art of interplaying light and shadow, a feature regularly found in architecture and interiors throughout the country.  

Grand Seiko ‘Atera Valley’ Spring Drive, £9,550

Grand Seiko sbgh347 Heritage Collection, £5,950

Despite the company’s rich history, people outside of Japan continue to think of Grand Seiko as “a relatively new and ‘young’ watch brand,” says Naito, “especially compared to its Swiss counterparts. This young image, combined with the unique qualities and reflection of Japanese sensibilities, attracts younger-generation consumers who want to express their individuality and look for a timepiece that reflects their unique identity.” Indeed, a pit-stop at the Seiko Museum Ginza, a dial’s throw from Seiko House, is teeming with visitors, a lot of whom are international and most of whom are young. 

Naito says there’s another phenomenon driving current interest in Grand Seiko, something he noticed when establishing the US business seven years ago: an almost anti-Swiss movement among younger generations. “I noticed that the younger generation, especially Gen Z, tended to be a bit more sceptical about the established value or hierarchy of major watch brands,” he says. “While their fathers used to worship Rolex, Omega and Patek Philippe, they question whether it has been driven by a commercial sort of investment, and whether there is true value in the brand.”

Still, in signature Japanese style, Grand Seiko is thinking long term. The emphasis, says Naito, is on customer engagement. “We would like to really get closer to each individual customer.” Not unlike certain storied Swiss watch brands, Naito hopes for a future in which Grand Seiko will be a brand treasured by clients and passed on to generations to come. 

The company recently established the GS9 membership club for Grand Seiko owners, which hosts regular customer events. “The main characteristic of the GS9 club is the passion and enthusiasm of our fans,” says Naito. “We are really impressed by those coming to events. They are clearly excited about being a member.”

A club, if current interest is anything to go by, that will be welcoming an increasingly large cohort of members. 

Visit grand-seiko.com

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