The company started in 1881, when Kintaro Hattori opened a watch and jewellery store called "K.Hattori in Tokyo, Japan. In 1892, he began to produce clocks under the name Seikosha. Now trading of course as Seiko. Seiko comes from the japanese word meaning "exquisite","minute" or "success".
The first watches produced under the Seiko brand appeared in 1924. In 1969, Seiko introduced the Astron, the world's first production quartz watch; when it was introduced, it cost the same as a medium-sized car. Seiko later went on to introduce the first quartz chronograph. In 1985, Seiko established a joint factory. Recognized as a leader in timekeeping accuracy, Seiko products are often used as the official timekeepers of the major sporting events, including the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup editions in Argentina 1978, Spain 1982, Mexico 1986, and Italy 1990.
Seiko is perhaps known best, though, for its wristwatches. They are known for their advanced technology and are one of the few wristwatch manufacturers that produce all of their watches and movements entirely in-house. Even minor items such as the oils used in lubricating the watches and the luminous compounds used on the hands and the dials are produced by the Seiko factories.
Seiko Kinetic watches account for a large proportion of sales nowadays and combine the self-energizing attributes of an automatic watch with quartz accuracy. There is no battery to change; the watch is entirely powered by its movement in everyday wear.
Various Seiko watches were worn by the cinematic James Bond 007 in four films starring Roger Moore from 1977–85. Also, a Seiko watch was worn by Sean Connery in the 1983 Bond film Never say never again. A Seiko Chronograph is also worn by Jason Bourne in the book "The Bourne Identity" by Robert Ludlum