Watchmaking history: Seiko Astron

Why every watch collector should own a Seiko quartz watch. Every watch collector, inverested in the development of wrist watches should own a humble Seiko quartz watch. Why? Lets go back to 1880. In 1880 Jacques and Pierre Curie discovered the piezoelectric properties of quartz. Forty one years later, in 1921 the first quartz crystal oscillator was built by Walter G. Cady. In 1927 the first quartz clock was built by at the Bell Telephone Laboratories. The world's first analog quartz wristwatches were unveiled in 1967, the Beta 21 revealed by the Centre Electronique Horloger in Neuchatel Switzerland, and the prototype of the Astron revealed by Seiko in Japan in the same year.

Seiko Astron. In 1969, Seiko produced the world's first quartz wristwatch available for sale to the public, the Astron. Released on Christmas day in 1969, this watch revolutionized the world of time. The quartz frequency at that time was 8192 Hz, one-fourth the frequency today. One of the major "features" of the watch was its step motion second (the ticking motion of the second hand) by mounting an open step motor. With a leather strap and a gold case, it was an expensive watch in its day. Back in 1969, a Astron commanded a hefty US$1,250.

While mechanical watches, are the creme the la creme of watch making, the quartz movement was the most significant development in watchmaking in the 20th century. I think, it is a fair enough reason to own a Seiko quartz.

About Seiko. In 1881, when Kintarō Hattori opened a watch and jewelry shop called "K. Hattori" in Tokyo, Japan. Eleven years later, he began to produce clocks under the name Seikosha. The first watches produced under the Seiko brand appeared in 1924. Today the company is namedSeiko Holdings Corporation.