What makes Japanese watchmaking intriguing? It’s the duality of technology and artistry

It’s funny how Japanese horology has quickly changed its tune despite nearly obliterating the Swiss watch industry in the 1970s with quartz technology. What began as a revolutionary force prioritising accuracy and affordability has evolved into a nuanced appreciation for the traditions it once threatened. 

That, however, is precisely what makes mechanical watches from the Land of the Rising Sun so fascinating. Like the country itself, they blend (however harmoniously or discordantly) modern innovation with ancestral craftsmanship, leading to watches with a distinctly Japanese aesthetic and character. 

Japanese watchmaking came into its own later than its European counterparts, following Portuguese missionaries’ introduction of mechanical timepieces in the mid-16th century. During the Edo period, Japan’s isolationist policies spurred the development of its own distinctive timekeeping tradition. 

The result was the wadokei — a style of clock that measured time not in fixed hours but in temporal segments that shifted with the seasons, reflecting the natural rhythms of day and night.

Modern watchmaking eventually emerged following the 1872 calendar reform (switching from the lunisolar calendar to the more practical solar calendar). Pioneers like Kingen-sha produced wall clocks by 1875, demonstrating the feasibility of domestic clock manufacturing. 

The watershed moment came in 1881 when Kintaro Hattori founded what would become Seiko, establishing a commitment to vertical integration that would define Japanese manufacturing excellence. Japan’s first pocket watch, the Laurel, was introduced in 1895, and its first domestic wristwatch, the Laurel, followed in 1913, marking a significant shift towards modern watchmaking. 

Today, Japanese watchmaking lies at a fascinating intersection of industrial prowess and artisanal excellence. Independent watchmakers like Hajime Asaoka and Masahiro Kikuno represent the pinnacle of this evolution. Both are self-taught savants whose ingenuity earned them memberships in the prestigious Academie Horlogere des Createurs Independants (AHCI), eye-watering auction prices, and despair-inducing waitlists. 

But their journey to horological prominence wasn’t built in isolation but rather on the shoulders of giants like Seiko, Casio, and more — companies that invested in advanced research facilities, trained generations of skilled technicians, and created the foundation that made Japanese watchmaking possible.

Seiko

Creator of Japan’s first pocket watch (Timekeeper), wristwatch (Laurel), and quartz watch (Astron), Seiko’s influence on the nation’s watchmaking history has been and continues to be monumental. 

Unconstrained by the Swiss horological snobbery, Seiko was free to pursue precision at any cost, triggering the Quartz Revolution (or Quartz Crisis, depending on which continent you’re asking) following the launch of the Astron in 1969. 

The innovations continued unabated. In the 1980s, Seiko developed its Kinetic technology, harnessing the wearer’s movements to generate electricity — eliminating battery replacements and enhancing environmental sustainability. 

About a decade later, as mechanical watches experienced a renaissance, Seiko unveiled its groundbreaking Spring Drive movement. This movement brilliantly combined a traditional mainspring with an electronic regulator for quartz-like accuracy while preserving the signature smooth-sweeping seconds hand of mechanical tickers. 

Today, Seiko offers seven distinct collections in numerous styles, including popular collaborations with anime and video game franchises. But its Prospex diving range is perhaps its most celebrated line — Japan’s first diving watch that pioneered high-frequency movements and the first professional diving watch with a titanium case.

Remarkably, Seiko remains one of only two fully integrated watch manufacturers globally (alongside Rolex), producing every component in-house from multiple facilities across Japan — from movements and cases to dials and hands. The company even grows its own quartz crystals, illustrating a self-sufficiency that few watchmakers can match. 

From growing crystals to growing an industry, Seiko didn’t just make watches — it made watchmaking history.

Grand Seiko

Seiko’s mission was to establish watchmaking as a viable Japanese industry. Having achieved this, it set its sights on challenging Swiss dominance, and thus, Grand Seiko emerged in 1960. Its goal was straightforward (if not somewhat lofty): to make “the best watch in the world”. 

Operating as Seiko’s premium calling card, Grand Seiko was to embody precision engineering alongside design restraint. The radical Spring Drive movement was developed for Grand Seiko, while its Hi-Beat calibres — operating at a faster-than-average 36,000 vibrations per hour — earned recognition comparable to Zenith’s celebrated El Primero.

Following its independence from Seiko in 2017 (though remaining under the Seiko Watch Corporation umbrella), Grand Seiko continued to develop its own approach to watchmaking, releasing a completely new escapement design — the Dual Impulse Escapement — in 2020’s Caliber 9SA5, as well as its first fully mechanical complication (i.e., not a Spring Drive) in the impressive Kodo Constant-Force Tourbillon in 2022. 

Grand Seiko doesn’t just barrel ahead with technical innovation; it also knows how to slow down and smell the sakura. Its dress watches reflect the landscapes surrounding its Shizukuishi and Shiojiri facilities, with simpler models often serving as seasonal canvases that capture everything from the crystalline surface of a frozen Lake Suwa to the delicate hues of spring wisteria.

Complicated or not, every Grand Seiko creation adheres to the “Grammar of Design” principles established by Seiko’s design chief, Taro Tanaka, in 1967. These guidelines emphasise distortion-free surfaces, precise edges, and the signature Zaratsu polishing technique that produces mirror-like finishes with flawlessly sharp transitions between surfaces.

In a world obsessed with Swiss provenance, Grand Seiko stands as watchmaking’s most compelling counterargument — proving that horological perfection speaks Japanese as fluently as French or German.

Minase

Minase is a relatively young watch brand established only in 2005, but its parent company, Kyowa, has been manufacturing high-performance precision tools since 1963. After expanding its portfolio to include the production of watch cases, creating complete timepieces was the next logical step, leading to the establishment of Minase, named after the ancient village that houses its workshop.

Minase uses ETA ebauches, so horological finesse isn’t exactly within its wheelhouse, but skill and expertise are still evident in every other aspect of its timepieces. Minase cases draw inspiration from Japanese 3D puzzles, renowned for their beauty and deceptive complexity.

These cases function as sophisticated modular systems with multiple detachable components, allowing every element — from bracelet links to lugs — to be disassembled and replaced when necessary. While fiendishly tricky to manufacture and hand-finish, this patented construction promises customers greater longevity.

This innovative architecture creates a distinctive visual identity. The movement resides within an inner case, which is then housed inside the main outer case. Instead of a conventional dial, the movement’s plate is the dial surface, with an index ring positioned above. 

This configuration produces a captivating floating effect, as the inner case appears suspended within the outer structure. In collections like the Windows series, featuring multiple sapphire crystal panels, this design provides unimpeded views of the movement from various angles.

Central to Minase’s identity is a dedication to “monozukuri”, the Japanese philosophy of handcraftsmanship. Every steel component undergoes hand-finishing using the Zaratsu polishing technique, and each timepiece is hand-assembled from beginning to end. The dials frequently showcase traditional Japanese artistic methods, including Akita silver filigree, urushi lacquer, gold engraving, micro-painting, and champleve enamel. 

This commitment to handwork means Minase produces fewer than 500 watches annually. It appears that even the newest voices can still speak with the oldest wisdom.

Casio

Of all the brands on this list, Casio’s origins could not be further from traditional horology. When engineer Tadao Kashio founded the company in 1946, his first successful product was the yubiwa pipe — a finger ring that acted as a portable, hands-free accessory for smoking cigarettes. 

Using profits from this invention, the company quickly pivoted to developing calculators and invented the first all-electronic compact calculator in 1957. 

Casio wasn’t terribly interested in mechanical innovations, but that translated to digital innovations instead. In 1974, the Casiotron became the world’s first wristwatch to incorporate an automatic calendar function and pioneered resin cases — a lighter, cheaper alternative to metal that proved ideal for mass production. 

The iconic F-91W, released in 1989, became the world’s bestselling timepiece for decades, with annual production reaching 3 million units.

While Casio remains synonymous with affordable, functional watches — particularly the virtually indestructible G-Shock line — the company also caters to the deep-pocketed. The MT-G (Metal Twisted G-Shock) series marries the G-Shock’s legendary toughness with premium materials like carbon fibre, with steel parts featuring hand-finished techniques like Zaratsu polishing and knurling.

Meanwhile, the MR-G line, launched in 1996, realised the ambitious vision of creating an “unbreakable metal watch” — essentially a full-metal G-Shock. Over the years, successive generations of the MR-G incorporated more styles, alloys, colours, and finishings, culminating in the brand’s flashiest models. 

The new katana-inspired MRG-B2000JS-1A captures this progression perfectly, featuring a titanium case and bezel with distinctive sword-tempering patterns and a bracelet that echoes aogai-nuri, a traditional Japanese mother-of-pearl inlay. Underpinning this elegance is pure engineering, with the solar-powered module 5625 providing radio-controlled timekeeping, Bluetooth connectivity, and numerous other functions. 

Excellent watchmaking needn’t always involve historic methods and time-honoured conventions. At Casio, technology becomes tradition, and innovation is its finest craft. 

Orient Star

Like Grand Seiko’s relationship with Seiko, Orient Star is the independent, elevated expression of the accessible Orient brand. The key distinction is Orient Star’s exclusive focus on mechanical movements, all manufactured in-house at their facilities in Akita prefecture.

The Orient Watch Company began as Yoshida Watch Shop, founded by Shogoro Yoshida in 1901. Initially a wholesale business selling imported pocket watches, it eventually expanded into producing its own wristwatches and clocks. Following the post-World War II collapse of the Japanese economy, the company briefly closed in 1949 before being revived a year later and renamed Orient Watch Company in 1951.

In 2017, it merged with the Seiko Epson Corporation (a supplier to Seiko Group companies). This strategic partnership granted Orient Star access to Epson’s advanced semiconductor manufacturing expertise, culminating in the 2021 release of the Orient Star Skeleton featuring a silicon escapement. 

Epson’s sophisticated Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology also enables precision processing at the micron level, substantially enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of critical mechanical components like escape wheels.

Orient Star designs sporty, classic, and contemporary watches, although skeletonised movements and power reserve indicators are some of its more recognisable design elements. The brand has recently garnered attention for its celestially-inspired M Collections, named after the astronomical Messier Catalog. 

These special editions appear across all three core series and are characterised by their vibrant, textured dials — often featuring graduated mother-of-pearl — and moon phase complications.

Orient Star is a testament to Japan’s mechanical mastery in a horological universe dominated by Western stars. Who said exceptional watchmaking value has to come with a Swiss price tag?