Japan

Seiko's ultra-premium in-house brand, positioned above Grand Seiko; the flagship Eichi and Spring Drive Tourbillon lines are hand-built in single-digit annual quantities at Seiko Epson's Micro Artist Studio in Shiojiri, the same Shinshu complex that produces mechanical Grand Seiko.

Mechanical Grand Seikos are built at the Shinshu Watch Studio in Shiojiri (Nagano); Spring Drive and the high-end mechanical lines are made at the Shizukuishi Watch Studio in Iwate.

Founded by Hajime Asaoka in 2019 as a direct-to-consumer line built on a modified NH35A base, extending his ultra-high-end independent atelier practice to an accessible price point. Shares the Tokyo region with Seiko.

Kintarō Hattori opened a clock-and-watch repair shop in the Ginza district of Tokyo in 1881; the brand’s mechanical watches today are made at the Morioka Seiko Instruments plant in Iwate and the Shinshu Watch Studio in Shiojiri.

Orient Watch was founded in 1950 in Hachioji (Tokyo), one of the few Japanese watch brands to develop and manufacture its own movement in-house. Now a Seiko Epson subsidiary, the Hachioji factory still produces in-house calibers (including the F6922 used in the Ray diver and F6B22 in the Sun & Moon) that compete against Swiss ETA at a fraction of the cost.

Founded in Tokyo in 1918 as the Shokosha Watch Research Institute; the Citizen name dates from 1924. Headquartered in Tokorozawa, Saitama, since 1930. Best known for the Eco-Drive light-powered quartz platform (1976); the Series 8 mechanical line (represented in this catalog) is the modern carve-out from the quartz-dominant product family.

Shizukuishi Watch Studio assembles the hand-wound Heritage and high-end mechanical Grand Seiko lines; the Iwate studio is roughly 600 km north of the Shinshu studio.

Morioka Seiko Instruments: the Iwate plant where Seiko’s mechanical Prospex and the higher-spec 6R-series calibers are assembled. Shares the Iwate region with the Grand Seiko Shizukuishi studio.