Seiko’s 135-year history has been marked by a ceaseless determination to innovate in every aspect of the watchmaker’s art. The company began when Kintaro Hattori, whose great grandson is currently company president, founded a clock repair shop in central Tokyo. After only eleven years of trading, the company manufactured its first clock, swiftly followed by its first watch in 1895. As Japan’s railway system expanded throughout the early twentieth century, precise timing became increasingly crucial, and the Seikosha, as the company was then known, pocket watch was the only one to be officially approved by the Japanese Railway Network. This tradition continues to this day, with Seiko railroad watches used to regulate the schedules of Japan’s fleet of bullet trains that can travel at a staggering 580kph. On August 28th, 1953, commercial television arrived in Japan. At exactly 7pm, the country’s first ever television advertisement was broadcast, promoting a Seiko alarm clock; not only had Seiko revolutionized how watches were made, but also how they were sold. The 1960s saw Seiko completely alter the watchmaking industry in a way that no company ever has before or since. In a daring challenge to the centuries old status of Swiss watchmaking, Seiko released the Grand Seiko in 1960. The philosophy behind the watch was simple and yet enormously difficult to realise: a watch that would be as precise, durable, easy to wear and beautiful as humanly possible. Such a bold pursuit produced staggering results, with the first ever Grand Seiko being accurate to within +12 to -3 seconds a day, possessing a 45 hour power reserve and the first Japanese watch to receive a rating of excellence from the Bureaux Officiels de Contróle de la Marche des Montres. Nine years later, Seiko dealt its killer blow to the established status of Swiss watchmaking by introducing the world’s first quartz watch, the Seiko Quartz Astron. This irreversibly altered the course of timepiece manufacture forever. By harnessing the piezoelectric effect of crystals to keep time and then condensing it into timepiece form, Seiko had produced a watch that was accurate to within 5 seconds per month, 100 times more accurate than any other watch and ran continuously for a year, roughly 250 times longer than most mechanical watches. As a result of this, Swiss watchmaking was plunged into what is now known as the “quartz crisis,” with its failure to embrace the potential of this revolutionary new quartz technology forcing several established and respected brands to close their doors. By continuing to embrace its mantra of unceasing innovation, Seiko in the latter half of the twentieth century and up to the present day has continued to be responsible for a string of industry-leading advances in the technology of time. This includes the introduction of the world’s first TV watch in 1983, and the pioneering release of the Seiko Kinetic in 1988, the first ever watch to generate its own electricity from the movement of the wearer. More recently, this titan of Japanese watchmaking has released the world’s first watch specifically engineered for a spacewalk, the Seiko Spring Drive Spacewalk, and the Seiko Astron GPS Solar, a watch that recognizes the time zone the wearer is in and adjusts itself accordingly. In addition to this Seiko has also been the official timekeeper for a staggering 5 Olympic Games, 4 FIFA World Cups and every IAAF World Championships from 1987 onwards. Seiko are unique in that they manufacture every aspect of every watch in-house via a crack team of expert watchmakers, with this even including growing their own quartz crystals and sapphires. This dedication to the refinement of the watchmaker’s art has informed every Seiko watch from its inception to the present day, meaning that each timepiece that leaves its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility is a pure expression of the possibilities afforded by the ruthless pursuit of perfection.   The Seiko Prospex family uses Seiko’s innovative ethos to combat the watchmaker’s greatest challenge, adventure sports. Whether at sea, on land or in the sky, this collection of timepieces will deliver trademark Seiko precision and reliability in even the most adverse of weather conditions.   This Seiko Prospex Solar Stainless Steel Black Dial Men’s Watch (SNE437P1) has a black dial protected by a stainless steel case and Hardlex glass. Featuring a unidirectional rotating bezel, luminous hands and hour markers, a day display, and driven by Seiko’s pioneering solar battery, the watch is water resistant to 20ATM.