OUR HISTORY

If it doesn’t exist, we’ll make it. Japan was in a frenzy. We had marked the time of victory.

The prestigious international sporting event of 1964 filled the country with excitement. Athletes from around the world had trained and devoted their lives to this day. Hours, minutes, and seconds determine wins and losses. We are the keepers of time. And we let the world know with the slogan, “One step further than previous timekeeping devices.”
The world celebrated this new accuracy and speed, which marked a new era in timekeeping for the Games. And this success would lead to printing innovations that would change the world, including the first compact, lightweight digital printer and the quartz watch.

We developed and manufactured compact, efficient, and precision technologies required to produce quartz watch components unlike any the world had ever seen. Creating something from scratch is never easy.

One from zero. Two from one. The distance is the same, but the difference is vast. Some say that Suwa and the land around the lake emerged from land reclamation in the Edo period. Humanity also made this land. We create what has yet to be created. This spirit is the driving force behind manufacturing at Epson.

From watches to printers: The little-known history of Seiko Epson.

Now in 2022, many know Seiko Epson — or just Epson — for its printers and projectors.

Seiko Epson has its roots in watchmaking, but not many people know what led to Epson’s business expansion. The international sporting event in 1964 where Seiko became the official timekeeper was a watershed moment for the company.

Measuring and recording race results quickly and accurately

Science was the theme of this event, and Seiko, with the slogan, “A step ahead of conventional timekeeping,” was selected as the official timekeeper. Epson, a Seiko Group company and then named Suwa Seikosha, played a part in the Games. The company had developed a crystal chronometer based on quartz watch technology from the 59A project. In addition, the company developed, and for a time marketed, a printing timer. This quartz oscillator-type digital stop clock offered electronic timekeeping, a digital display, and a printing option.

These innovations paved the road to unprecedented speed and accuracy, and the company’s timekeeping business flourished. The words, “for the first time no one complained about the timekeeping,” spoke volumes.

This success was followed by the world’s-first compact, lightweight digital printer, the EP-101 (1968). The following year, the world’s first quartz watch, the Seiko Quartz Astron 35SQ, was launched.

Development of the EP-101

In the years following the 1964 sports event, the company transitioned into a comprehensive manufacturer that handled its own marketing, sales, and service. In the latter 1960s, when electronic desktop calculators first emerged, the company focused on small printers that had potential applications in calculators. The results was the commercialization of the EP-101, in 1968.

The EP-101 marked a new era in digital printing. The printer was lightweight and small enough to fit in the palm of a hand. Moreover, it used 1/20th the power of conventional printers. Epson developed the printer in the spirit of if it doesn’t exist, we should make it. This concept in the information equipment field became an opportunity to exercise the company’s compact, efficient, and precision technologies cultivated through watch manufacturing. The EP-101 exceeded expectations, selling a cumulative total of 1.44 million units.

The development of the EP-101, a printing timer that was used to quickly and accurately time international sporting events, spawned what is now the company’s core business: printing solutions.

Never satisfied with the status quo. The highest standards of craftsmanship.

The challenge to develop a quartz wristwatch continued. The goal was to reduce a quartz clock to the size of a wristwatch, saving space and power. To achieve this goal, the company had to overcome many hurdles. Specifically, it had to produce a crystal oscillator, electronic circuits, and motor in sizes that didn’t exist. Ultimately, Epson made them in-house, as procuring them from outside sources would bring a new set of problems.

In 1969, the company introduced the world’s first quartz wristwatch, the Seiko Quartz Astron. This ushered in a new era of timekeeping many other achievements and accolades would follow, including a prestigious IEEE Milestone Award (2004) and Heritage of Future Technology (2018 and 2019), acknowledging the company’s contributions to technological development for the world. Among the achievements was the first LCD digital quartz watch with a six-digit display, launched in 1978.

From the printing timer and the EP-101 to the commercialisation of the quartz watch, all products represent innovation. If something doesn’t exist, we make it ourselves. This spirit of creativity and challenge has never wavered and remains today.

We provided the world with accurate time.

It was 1959 when our most important project began. Project 59A would redefine horology, from mechanical watches to new technologies. The goal: create the next generation of highly accurate watches to change sporting competitions. This would lead to the world’s first quartz watch and also to our compact, efficient, and precision technologies. A mindset that we still maintain today.

It all started with a dream to change the world. We competed in the international watch competition held in Switzerland, the pinnacle of mechanical watchmaking. Our first attempt in the wristwatch division was a failure, but it drove us to go forward. Later, thanks to the tireless effort of employees, we achieved more accurate timepieces and garnered some of the world’s top awards.

For us though, it’s not about awards. It’s about delivering accurate time to people around the world. So, we made our quartz technology, the fruit of our quest for compact, efficient, and precision technologies, available to the world. Now this patented technology spans the globe and gives everyone more accurate time. We believe time belongs to no one; we all have a right to it. Many years have passed since then, but our quest for compact, efficient, and precise technology continues.

The thinking behind efficient, compact, and precision technologies.

Our company’s mindset has always been to create and manufacture products with technology that saves energy, time, effort, and space.

Watches in the mid-20th century required more power, were larger, and less accurate than the watches of today. The goal was to make them smaller, more accurate, and more efficient.

As a result, Seiko watches deliver convenience and make life more colourful. Epson employees strive to master efficient, compact, and precision technologies, bringing these qualities to products and the world.

After 1945, Daiwa Kogyo and the Suwa Plant of Daini Seikosha — which merged into Suwa Seikosha in 1959 — began full-scale production of wristwatches. In 1959, thanks to some excellent engineers, the company developed Japan’s first originally designed wristwatch, the Marvel. The Japanese considered it an amazing feat for its accuracy and quality, and the Marvel dominated the first five places in Japan’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry’s Quality Comparison Testing Board for the Assessment of Domestic Timepieces.

By 1958, the company dominated the first nine places in the Quality Comparison Testing Board for the Assessment of International Timepieces. However, never content with the status quo, Seiko Epson sought to become the global leader.

Project 59A and the birth of the world’s first quartz wristwatch.

This event marked the beginning of efficient, compact, and precision technologies. Project 59A (its internal designation) would become the watch to change watchmaking.

The name refers to the year 1959, and “A” marks the project’s importance. It kicked off with three proposals: an electronic tuning fork watch, an area where another company already had the lead, a watch with an electric balance wheel, and a quartz timer, which was about the size of a locker at the time.

The first two proposals had critical weaknesses, so efforts went into the quartz timer, which would alter the course of horology. The first quartz timepieces we developed were still the size of table clocks, but the company began entering timepieces in the Neuchâtel Chronometer Competition in Switzerland, which determines the benchmark for timepieces. While repeatedly striving to reduce size and improve accuracy, the company began taking awards for the marine chronometer and board categories, showing the world a new level of standards. While refining technology through the Observatory Chronometer Competition, the company further reduced size and power efficiency through practical applications such as the Antarctic observation team and the Shinkansen bullet train. By 1969, ten years after the 59A project, Seiko introduced the world’s first quartz wristwatch, the Seiko Quartz Astron 35SQ.

Manufacturing automation and expansion, leading to mass-production on a global scale.

Turning attention to manufacturing for a moment, Seiko Epson streamlined design, division of labour (Belt-Line), and automated assembly in the mid-1960s, as high precision requires high coordination. The origin of our current manufacturing solutions — or robotics — is an automated technology. In 1983, the company began external sales of precision assembly robots, and by 2009, work had expanded. Later came the Compact 6-Axis Robots, offering optimal performance for precision assembly of small parts.

As automation evolved in watchmaking, Seiko Epson became a global leader in wristwatch production.

Technology exists to serve everyone, not a select few

The company not only continued to develop quartz watch technology but also pursued the advances in accuracy in mechanical watches, rivaling some big names in the Neuchâtel Chronometer Competition. In 1964, Seiko entered its first mechanical watch, placing poorly at 144th.

However, that poor result inspired improvement, and in 1968 at the Geneva Observatory Chronometer Competition, Seiko dominated the top places in the mechanical wristwatch category. This effort verified our precision technology. Among the winners was Kyoko Nakayama, the first woman to hold the title of Contemporary Master Craftsperson and the first woman in the competition’s long history to enter and win the regulateur’s prize.

High-precision competitions are like F1 races and are distinct from commercial products. To make better products available to more people, the technology and skills used to develop watches came to life in the Grand Seiko brand.

We didn’t reserve its technology to develop compact, efficient, and accurate watches for a select few. Instead, we made the technology available so that everyone could enjoy world-quality, accurate watches. The result was quartz wristwatches, a technology developed in Japan, spread around the world, putting accurate time on the wrists of the global population.

Today, Seiko Epson remains steadfast in the belief that technology alone doesn’t solve problems; the mindset of employees does.

Compact, efficient, and precision technologies reduce environmental impacts, and this corporate stance has broadened to provide confidence and hope to not only employees but also to communities around the world.