The first Grand Seiko

“King of Watches”

Taking everything they learned throughout the ‘50s, the team driving the Grand Seiko project focused on creating a timepiece that would be low maintenance, easy-to-wear, highly legible, and incredibly beautiful.

Launched in 1960, the first Grand Seiko was a major technical leap forward. The new Caliber 3180 built on the foundation of the 560 introduced in the Crown just a year earlier. It featured the latest Diashock system, hacking seconds, a fine-adjustment regulator, and a barrel hole jewel. The movement was rated to an impressive +12 to -3 seconds a day and offered a power reserve of 45 hours. It was also the first watch made in Japan to be compliant with the Bureaux Officiels de Contrôle de la Marche des Montres in Geneva, which was at the time the most respected chronometer testing body.

Design wise, the first Grand Seiko set some important standards, many of which have been carried through to this day. At 12 o’clock is the Grand Seiko logo rendered in a dramatic Gothic font, chosen for its traditional look demonstrating Grand Seiko’s reverence for the long history of mechanical watchmaking. Adorning the dial are diamond-cut markers and broad hands, which today are considered to be defining features of Grand Seiko timepieces and achieve the goal of high legibility and timeless beauty. Around back, the closed case back features the Grand Seiko lion, the brand’s enduring symbol and a reflection of the ambition of the Grand Seiko team to make the “king of watches” with precision, durability, and beauty at the forefront.