Spring Drive's Beginning

The first stage of the revolution started when Seiko introduced its initial quartz watches in 1969. Quartz watches guaranteed supreme accuracy of timekeeping. Yet, they had a significant flaw - they greatly relied on the battery, an outside power source, that implied the necessity to replace the battery from time to time. In the 1980s the Seiko Epson engineers started experimenting with the development of a new type of a quartz movement that would independently generate its own power with help of 'automatic generating system'. The very first watch under the Seiko brand was released in 1924.Seiko watches are produced completely in-house. The Seiko watch-makers do the research and development, design and produce the movement, assemble all the components, produce the case and bracelet. The engineers applied electronic micro-miniaturization and developed the timepiece equipped with a device comparable to a tiny electrical power plant found inside the watch. The appearance of the Seiko Kinetic marked the second stage of the great quartz revolution. The new timepieces no longer required a battery. The initial version of the technology, AGS, was introduced in 1988. Later, in 1994 Seiko released its Kinetic watch line provided with a new improved movement.The Seiko Spring Drive highlighted the third stage of the quartz revolution, the so-called mechatronic 'quiet revolution'. The escapement represents the weakest link of a mechanical movement.