Grand Seiko’s Been Growing Like Crazy in the United States. Now What?

Welcome to Dialed In, Esquire’s column bringing you horological happenings and the most essential news from the watch world.

If you know watches, you know Seiko. It has a well-earned reputation for offering reasonably priced everyday timepieces that punch well above their price point. In fact, for many collectors, Seiko was the beginning of it all—the first mechanical watch that led them down the rabbit hole and into the warrens of the watch world. That’s great for budding enthusiasts, but it’s exactly what bedeviled the company’s luxury brand, Grand Seiko, when it first came to the U.S. in 2010.

Nowadays, American watch fans might be drawn to Grand Seiko’s 65-year history of technical superiority, from the high-beat mechanical movements that have been a staple since the ’60s to innovations like Spring Drive, which combines a traditional mainspring with an electronic regulator for unparalleled precision. Or maybe they find the aesthetics—rooted in nature and often directly inspired by the Japanese landscapes outside Grand Seiko’s two watchmaking hubs—particularly compelling. Most of the time, it’s a bit of both. But in 2010, most folks didn’t even know what the brand was, much less what they liked about it.

Akio Naito at the Grand Seiko Studio Shizukuishi.

“Back then, Grand Seiko was almost nonexistent in the U.S. market,” says Akio Naito, president of Seiko Watch Corporation. Even after half a decade, folks just weren’t buying. “In the minds of the consumers and the retailers, Seiko was perceived to be a middle price point—affordable but far from luxury.” So in 2016 (and prior to being appointed to his current position), Naito transferred from Tokyo to New Jersey with the goal of reinvigorating the brand stateside.

By 2017, Grand Seiko had been split off from the rest of American operations to focus exclusively on the high-end market. Naito recruited Swiss industry vets to help run the show and help unfamiliar retailers and shoppers really understand its offering and value proposition. It was a full-throttle effort—and it worked. Within a period of five or six years, Naito says, the Grand Seiko grew tenfold in the States.

The fan-favorite “Snowflake” dial on the Spring Drive model SBGA211.

Some folks might rest on those laurels. Not Naito. Now he’s focused on growing Grand Seiko even more by cultivating younger audiences, telling new stories, and, of course, ensuring that every watch the brand sells is good enough to pass on to the next generation. Read on for some (condensed and edited) highlights from the man himself.

On watch-world hierarchies and Gen Z customers

“The younger generation, Gen Z, many of them seem to be skeptical about the established hierarchy of brands, in which a brand like Rolex is the top. Everybody seems to worship Rolex in their parents’ generation. But there are people, especially in the tech industry, who see the value beyond a socially accepted, commercially driven brand hierarchy. And for those people, I think Grand Seiko had a great appeal because we are sort of an understated brand. Many people don’t necessarily distinguish Grand Seiko from Seiko. But once you dive into the world of Grand Seiko and look at the history, you soon discover Grand Seiko is totally different. And that was something these younger consumers discovered and were very much attracted to.”

On building buzz in the early days

“When I first started visiting the top retailers in different local areas, the immediate reaction that I received back in 2016 or early part of ’17 was ‘No, we don’t carry Seiko. All the brands we carry are either Swiss or German. And if we carry Seiko, a Japanese brand, that destroys our prestige.’ So I told the owners, ‘I will bring a watchmaker from Japan and do the demonstration. And we will reach out to the local watch fans. Let’s just use the space that you have.’ We did that quite frequently, and every place, every venue that we went to with our watchmaker, there were young watch fans from the area, and they were so excited. They were saying, ‘Oh, finally now I can see Grand Seiko actually being assembled.’ That type of passion transferred to the owners, and the owners started accepting our brand.”

The “Cherry Blossom” (or “Sakura”) dial on another Grand Seiko hit, the Spring Drive SBGA413.

On getting back to nature

“In recent years, as we started developing Grand Seiko outside of Japan and adapting the brand philosophy of ‘The Nature of Time,’ we put more emphasis on the natural beautiful surroundings of our two watch studios in Shizukuishi and Shinshu. We’ve taken themes from the natural environment, like a snowflake dial or a Mount Iwate dial. We explain those aesthetics in the context of the Japanese culture or Japanese tradition, and it differentiates us from the design elements of Swiss brands.”

On the continuing project of growing Grand Seiko

“We have to broaden our customer base. We started by communicating with core watch fans and the younger generation, and the brand recognition has increased substantially. But as we reach the stage where we are today, we need to attract people who are reaching up to purchase luxury watches but not necessarily interested in Japan, or those people who may feel alienated when we push the Japan-ness too much. It’s a delicate balance, because we have to maintain a consistent brand philosophy and image. But at the same time, we should revisit the brand’s origin, which was a technological aspect of the brand, like a unique movement, an accuracy, and the superiority as a timepiece. Those have, I think, more universal appeal as opposed to the cultural context.”

The bracelet of the recent “Mt. Iwate” model SLGH027.

On creating something that can be passed down

“A wristwatch is a unique item, because it can be with the wearer always. You often purchase an expensive wristwatch as a memory of some event, like when you get married or have a baby or whatever. So it’s something that can represent a moment in your lifetime. And even it can be a memory of somebody as it’s passed on from generation to generation. But because a wristwatch is not just an accessory but a functional tool, we must ensure that, as a tool, it can work as it was originally designed for generations.”