How Cool Are Seiko Kinetic Watches

Before we get in to the subject of kinetic wristwatches here is a little back ground on the company and how it all began. The Seiko Corporation was actually preceded by Kintaro Hattori of K. Hattori & Co., Ltd., which eventually evolved in to the Company now known as Seiko. in 1902 they started producing table clocks and musical clocks. in 1913 the firs wristwatch is produced in Japan. In 1924 the first watch that bears the name of Seiko is produced. In 1955 the first self-winding watch is produced in Japan. These types of watches did not require winding they would wind themselves by the movement of the wearers wrist. In 1964 this watch company is the official timer of the Olympic games in Tokyo. Five years later they introduce the first quartz watch called the Seiko Astron. In the 70's the first American subsidiary was established. Between 1970 and 1979 subsidiaries were established in The UK, Canada, Germany, Brazil, Australia, Panama, Switzerland and Sweden. So you can see there was significant expansion in those years. The 80's brought more subsidiaries being established in the Netherlands, Dubai and Thailand. Not only this but also the worlds first talking clock the Seiko Pyramid talk is introduced as well as an introduction of a quartz watch with a sweep second hand and the world's first automatic power generating quartz watch which is today’s modern kinetic. The first intelligent analogue quartz watch with alarm, chronograph and timer functions controlled by an IC "computer on a chip." is also introduced.


Ok lets talk about Seiko Kinetic watches and how they basically work.
Kinetic watches are powered off of the movement of the wrist. This is much like the old automatics however with a major improvement. Back then an automatic or self winding wristwatch would stay running and winding itself as long as it was worn however once you took it off in a few days it would stop therefore requiring you to reset the time next time it is worn. Now one way to eliminate this is to buy a watch winder which keeps the watch wound while it is not being worn. Now Seiko Kinetic watches are much more sophisticated then automatics they also use the movement of the wearer for power but with the major difference being that that power is transferred via an oscillating weight. This oscillating weight can spin 100,000 rpms faster then a formula one race car. A generating coil block is used to turn the magnetic charge of the rotor in to electricity to power the watch. Also the extra energy is stored in the kinetic watches energy unit which stores enough energy to keep the watch working for months without it having to be worn. There are many kinetic watches available. The kinetic auto relay is capable of Energy storage for up to 4 years of time memory. Sportura Kinetic watches are the high end of this type of watch which cost from $450 to $2500. A Regular kinetic will set you back anywhere from $225 to around $500. I think these are the nicest most technologically advanced watches available with the exception of Citizens Ecodrive wristwatches.