Seiko Holdings (formerly known as K. Hattori & Co, Ltd) is a holding company responsible for many watch brands, including Seiko, Grand Seiko, and Credor. Hattori became known as Seiko in 1990 and has become a holding company for the various separate companies in 2007. The company includes the former Daini Seikosha and Suwa Seikosha as well as the current Shizukuishi Watch Studio and Orient.
Seiko began in 1881 when Kintarō Hattori opened the K. Hattori watch and jewelry shop in Ginza, Tokyo, Japan. In 1882, Hattori founded a clock manufacturing operation known as Seikosha, which became K. Hattori & Co, Ltd. in 1917.
Watch production operations were split to become Daini Seikosha in 1937, and this company continued until 2009. Seiko established a joint venture with Daiwa Kogyo in Suwa, Nagano in 1943, which would become Daini Seikosha in 1959. Daini and Suwa operated semi-independently and indeed competitively through the "golden age" of Japanese watchmaking, establishing the Marvel, Lord Marvel, Grand Seiko, and King Seiko lines.
Morioka Seiko Instruments, founded in 1970, began producing watch movements two years later. It was brought together with Daini Seikosha to become Seiko Instruments & Electronics in 1983 and was brought into Seiko Holdings in 2009. Domestic watchmaking was brought to Morioka, Iwate in 1999 and a high-end watchmaking operation, Shizukuishi Watch Studio, was founded in 2004. Today, Shizukuishi is responsible for Grand Seiko and Credor.
Seiko's electronics business, Epson Corporation, was merged with Suwa in 1985 to become Seiko Epson Corporation, which focuses on mass-market quartz watches under Seiko Holdings and also operates the Orient watch company today.
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