Posted by Grand Seiko’s heart lies with its Heritage Collection. The Heritage Collection comprises timepieces emphasizing well-balanced design and encapsulating watchmaking’s simple, pure essentials. A wide selection of classic watches brings back to life the design and styles of the earliest Grand Seiko timepieces, which include the 44GS and 62GS from 1967. The collection epitomizes the uniquely Japanese Grand Seiko aesthetic and offers simplicity and perfection – things that Grand Seiko has always stood for.
However, what can we learn from Grand Seiko? There are plenty of things that we can learn from Grand Seiko.
Innovation And Luxury
One route that Grand Seiko has succeeded in is to innovate a luxury breakaway brand. For many founders, there is one big dream. And that dream is to produce a product that can disrupt an industry and last a lifetime. It may be lofty, but it is one fulfilling goal to make. There are plenty of lessons to be learned. More importantly, some principles can be applied to your own business.
Kintaro Hattori founded Seiko Watch Corporation and has revolutionized the watch industry with movement, design, and style innovations. The culmination of these innovations produced the first Grand Seiko timepiece in 1960. The piece is geared towards durability, wearability, accuracy, and design, thus carving out a niche for the 60s’ crowded watch market.
Grand Seiko was created – a push for pure watchmaking perfection with an artisanal approach. It was a return to elevated traditional watchmaking. And it adhered to Hattori’s vision for Seiko.
Be Unique
A lesson in uniqueness is what we can learn from Seiko. You need to play up your business’s unique parts and elements to be unique. It is like how Grand Seiko has produced a signature style based on aesthetic and technical expertise. You have to find your niche and then turn up a notch in the parts that make your products unique.
The Evolution 9 timepieces adhere to design rules. The rationale is to maximize the light the watches refract and reflect – thus giving the brand a unique and recognizable style.
Dedication
In 1960, Grand Seiko began. The goal of Grand Seiko had been to produce the most accurate handcrafted timepiece in the world. It had taken twenty-eight (28) years for one engineer (Yoshikazu Akahane) to create the spring drive movement. The watch movement combines the beauty of mechanical and the accuracy of quartz watchmaking.
Yoshikazu Akahane had dedicated almost three decades, 600 prototypes, and endless setbacks to create the final but perfect movement. If you want to disrupt the scene, then you must master patience.
Ethics Into Action
Lastly, there is respect given to the natural world in Grand Seiko’s designs. In its designs, Grand Seiko works alongside local authorities to support, protect, and sustain the birch forests in the Hiraniwa Plateau, where the brand’s studio is situated.
Grand Seiko’s studio and manufacturing facilities put a premium on staff wellness with rajio taisō, an exercise routine, and specialty-designed desks made by a local carpenter.
Wrapping Up
Grand Seiko leaves a grand legacy that is hard to replace. Dedication to the craft, practicing ethics, and the brand’s uniqueness contribute to its value as a brand. It is also a brand that many people can learn from.