The history of Seiko began in 1881 when Kintaro Hattori opened a shop in Ginza to repair and sell timepieces. In 1913, his company produced Japan’s first wristwatch, the Laurel, and many achievements that have advanced the art of watchmaking followed, from the first Grand Seiko watch in 1960, to observatory-trial performances that took the industry by storm a few years later, to the groundbreaking technology that is Spring Drive in 1999.