smoky, bronze-hued cocktail reflected the gold case burgundy dials and
brown leather strap of the Presage SRPD 36 models. We drank a green
concoction at Chumley’s to highlight Seiko’s newest green dial Presage
automatic.
OPEN THE DOOR
The speakeasies evoked a feeling of ancient decadence, built as much
on the physical appearance of the small, bricked underground rooms
festooned with mirrors, artifacts, long wooden bars and padded leather
chairs as the historical knowledge that, at one time, places like these
meant that you were getting away with something. And possibly that’s
one of the secrets of Seiko: their watches are imbued with art and
science that isn’t always apparent at first glance, like the door to a
speakeasy. Open it, and you’ll find another world inside, one no longer
associated with hardware stores and pawnshops.
Watch companies tell stories and wrap their products around narra-
tives ranging from activities to heritage, value, exclusivity, humor, or, in
the case of Seiko, history expressed through materials and colors. Seiko
is one of the few brands that has a fan and collector base so dedicated
that they have built mythologies around specific models.
The names Orange Monster, Sumo, Tuna Can, Samurai, Turtle, Captain
Willard and Arnie each refer to legendary Seiko models, with the names
created and adopted by the public. This level of cerebral brand tattooing
has always been endemic to Seiko, whose products have been popular-
ized through channels that most brands spend billions to emulate: word
of mouth and true organic adoption.
To understand this phenomenon requires going backwards in time, to
an era when Seiko wasn’t shepherding busloads of people around one of
the most expensive cities in the world.
BRANDING
Success in brand marketing and adoption comes from an instant
association with a positive affect when a name is referenced. Brands
work to craft this definition for decades. Think of Harley Davidson,
Ferrari and Veuve Clicquot, and you’ll typically conjure a strong
impression that has moved consumers to adoption.
Seiko is a brand that endeared itself to the American market through
multiple touch points: visibility as the official timekeeper of the 1964
Tokyo Olympics; creating brand ambassadors out of a generation of GIs
serving in the Asian theatre during Vietnam and the splashy develop-
ment of an early quartz watch, the Astron 35SQ.
The brand’s pure utility as a true diver’s watch, offering high value on
a style that emulated the best products in the business, helped cement
one of the cornerstones of its market foothold. Look at a vintage Seiko
and you’ll see traces of a Blancpain Fifty Fathoms in the curved glass
crystal, or the dial markings of a Rolex Submariner.
Seiko knows the market, which it has studied for decades. In the spirit
of other classic brands, Seiko has chosen evolution over revolution, and
every model pays homage, in its own unique way, to its predecessor,
much in the way any iteration Porsche 911 is identifiable as belonging to
the same family.
If there is one idea string that sums up the essence of the Seiko brand
it would be this: identify a need, develop a solution and constantly
refine a successful strategy. The aftermath of these fifty-plus years of
marketing is a brand with tentacles in multiple consumer sectors.
And now, like a skillful sushi chef with a pair of yanagiba knives, Seiko
is in the midst of paring down its cephalopod into a more palatable and
refined network.
LISTENING TO CUSTOMERS
Rob Brennan is an affable, industry savvy sales professional, and one
of Seiko’s key executives as SVP of sales in the U.S. I cornered him at
58 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | FALL 2019