eiko celebrates its 145^th anniversary in 2026, the Japanese group is entering a new phase in the evolution of its brand architecture — and doing so from a position of growing financial strength.

In its latest nine-month results (ended December 31, 2025), Seiko Group reported net sales of around ¥254 billion (about $1.6 billion), up from roughly ¥232 billion ($1.5 billion) a year earlier, while operating profit rose to about ¥29 billion ($185 million)

Driven largely by the watches division and the global expansion of brands such as Grand Seiko and Seiko, this momentum has prompted the group to step up investment in marketing and brand development ahead of Watches and Wonders Geneva 2026.

Having successfully established Grand Seiko as an internationally recognised luxury watch brand, the company is now turning its attention to Credor (based on the French “crête d’or”, or crest of gold) — long admired in Japan but still relatively discreet internationally.

Credor’s debut at Watches and Wonders signals a clear strategic shift. Historically focused on the domestic market and known for refined jewellery watches and the use of precious materials, the brand is now being repositioned with a streamlined collection and a renewed identity centred on beauty and elegance. Credor’s brand philosophy is “The Creativity of Artisans”.

In conversation with Europa Star, Akio Naito, President of Seiko Watch Corporation, discusses the distinct roles of Seiko, Grand Seiko and Credor, the challenges of expanding high-end watchmaking production in Japan, and how growing global interest in Japanese craftsmanship is opening new opportunities for the group’s most exclusive creations.

Europa Star: For the first time, Credor is present at Watches and Wonders, signalling a new phase of international expansion. Could you explain how the three brands — Seiko, Grand Seiko and Credor — are positioned?

Akio Naito: Grand Seiko was founded in 1960 as the pinnacle of Seiko watchmaking. Its mission was to pursue the highest level of functionality — accuracy, legibility, durability and precision. It represents the most advanced expression of watchmaking within Seiko.

Credor came later, in 1974. Like Grand Seiko at the time, it began as a collection within the Seiko brand. It was only in 2019 that Credor became an independent brand positioned in the luxury segment. From the beginning, however, its philosophy was different. While Grand Seiko focused on performance and precision, Credor emphasised beauty, elegance and precious materials, often incorporating gold, jewellery elements and decorative craftsmanship.

When I joined the company about 40 years ago, Credor was actually ten times larger than Grand Seiko in Japan. The brand initially grew through jewellery watches, but over time expanded into sports watches and stainless steel models. Eventually the collection became too broad and risked losing its identity. Distribution within Japan had also expanded significantly. Four to five years ago, we realised it was time to become much more selective.

Our first step was to restart and reposition Credor domestically before bringing it back to the global stage. Today the brand has regained a clear identity distinct from Grand Seiko. At the same time, Grand Seiko has grown strongly internationally, and customers are now far more open to high-end watchmaking coming from Japan.

How do you define the DNA of Credor today?

We do not want to position Credor too strongly as a “Japanese” brand. Grand Seiko already expresses Japanese nature, craftsmanship and aesthetics very clearly. Credor is different. While the artisans naturally convey a Japanese sensibility, the brand aims to communicate a more universal idea of beauty and elegance.

Today the collection revolves around three main pillars: Goldfeather, Locomotive and Eichi II, a very pure three-hand Spring Drive watch. Credor is not defined by traditional categories such as sports or dress watches. The guiding principle is simply beauty and elegance.

Where will Credor sit in terms of pricing compared to Grand Seiko?

In general, Credor will sit slightly above Grand Seiko in terms of price range. In the past, the brand has produced highly complicated watches, including minute repeaters and tourbillons.

However, the idea is not to position Credor purely through price. Rather, Credor and Grand Seiko are meant to coexist at the highest level of Japanese watchmaking, each with its own distinct identity.

In the future we may open more dedicated Credor salons. We already have the Credor Salon in Kyoto, and as the brand develops internationally we are exploring further retail separation.

You mentioned that the brand’s collection was streamlined in Japan. What did that involve?

We significantly reduced the number of SKUs and focused on the models that best express the brand’s identity. The objective was to make Credor clearer and more distinctive.

Retailers understood that we were serious about repositioning the brand as a true luxury watchmaker. At the same time, production is naturally limited because these watches are extremely complex to manufacture. Expanding capacity is not easy, and training skilled watchmakers takes time.

Credor watches are produced by dedicated watchmakers at the Shizukuishi Watch Studio and Micro Artist Studio, so scaling production inevitably takes time.

Which markets do you expect to respond most strongly to Credor?

The United States was the first market to respond strongly to Grand Seiko, and we expect positive momentum there for Credor as well. At the same time, we see strong potential in Asia and the Middle East. Our main constraint remains production capacity.

What did you learn from Grand Seiko’s international expansion that could benefit Credor?

When I moved from Tokyo to the United States about ten years ago to establish our company there, one of the first things I discovered was a small but extremely passionate community of Grand Seiko collectors. Whenever we invited watchmakers to New York, these enthusiasts gathered in large numbers. They exchanged knowledge and information very quickly, and that community played a crucial role in the brand’s development.

At the same time, it was important to clearly separate Grand Seiko from Seiko. In 2017 we moved the Grand Seiko logo to the 12 o’clock position, which helped communicate that it was a distinct brand.

Credor is not yet as widely known as Seiko or Grand Seiko, but the success of Grand Seiko over the past decade has helped prepare the ground for Credor internationally.

How did your markets evolve in 2025 for Seiko, Grand Seiko and Credor?

Overall, 2025 was a very positive year. Tourism in Japan reached record levels, with more than 40 million visitors. For many travellers, visiting Japan has become a must-do experience. Visitors from Asia, America and Europe are discovering our brands locally, often taking advantage of the weak yen.

Like the broader luxury sector, Grand Seiko experienced a slowdown over the past two to three years after several years of strong growth. However, since late last year we have seen renewed momentum, particularly in the United States.

At a time when many luxury watch brands are facing difficulties, we continue to see strong interest in collections such as Seiko Prospex, King Seiko and Presage. In the United States we increased Grand Seiko prices last year partly due to tariffs.

The Middle East has been a strategic focus for the past decade. Historically, distribution there was oriented toward entry-level Seiko models such as Seiko 5 Sports, but we are gradually transitioning toward a more luxury-oriented network.

In Europe, the structure has already evolved. Seiko and Grand Seiko now operate more independently, with boutiques such as the Grand Seiko Boutique on Place Vendôme in Paris. Growth in Europe has been steady, although markets such as Germany and France have recently been more challenging.

How does Japanese culture influence your brands internationally?

For Grand Seiko, the themes of nature, time and Japanese aesthetics will remain central. For Seiko, which is a global brand, the focus is more on the identity of each collection — Presage, King Seiko or Prospex — rather than directly emphasising Japanese culture.

Interestingly, customers do not necessarily move step by step from Seiko to Grand Seiko. Many discover the brands independently and then explore the different collections.

Could you share a preview of your plans for 2026?

2026 marks the 145^th anniversary of the company, so we will introduce several commemorative editions across our brands.

Credor will be one of the key topics this year, particularly with new launches presented at Watches and Wonders.

What are your priorities in R&D?

One challenge today is the rising cost of precious metals, so we are studying alternative alloys and materials such as titanium across several brands.

Accuracy also remains a core focus. For Grand Seiko we continue to pursue higher precision with Spring Drive technology. Thermo-compensation techniques long used in Seiko quartz movements — including the 9F calibre developed by our colleagues at Seiko Epson — were later incorporated into advanced Spring Drive movements and further refined to achieve the Ultra Fine Accuracy (U.F.A.) level (at ±20 seconds per year, U.F.A. represents the highest accuracy currently achieved by a mainspring-powered wristwatch movement, editor’s note).

We are also continuing to develop advanced movements such as the Kodo constant-force tourbillon, although demand currently exceeds our production capacity.

We already have the Grand Seiko Standard for mechanical movements, which measures accuracy across six positions and three temperature conditions. We are now working on clearer ways to communicate this standard.

Beyond Japanese watchmaking, what is your vision for the future of global watchmaking?

Three weeks ago in Tokyo there was an event dedicated to independent watchmakers. People were fascinated by the passion and creativity behind each individual watch. Watchmaking is not only an industrial activity — it is also an art form driven by passion.

As a company we must embrace that spirit. Profitability matters, of course, but what ultimately attracts people to watches is the emotion and craftsmanship behind them.

Passion for watchmaking goes beyond nationality. Whether someone comes from Switzerland, Japan or elsewhere, what matters is the desire to create something meaningful.