Seiko President Akio Naito on Grand Seiko’s impressive growth, community engagement, and making icons
Jamie WeissMost luxury brand executives I’ve had the chance to interview have often expressed mixed feelings about trips to Australia. While they usually have nothing but praise for the Land Down Under, everything gets prefaced with some comment about how long the flight is – there’s a slight sense of imposition. But when I sat down for my interview with Akio Naito earlier this week in Melbourne, there was none of that prefacing. “This is a bit of a homecoming – Australia was where it all started for me,” Naito explained.
That wasn’t him just being polite, either. From 2002 to 2006, Naito was the Managing Director of Seiko Australia. Now, in 2024, he is the President of Seiko Watch Corporation, the company within the Seiko Group responsible for marketing all Seiko brands, including Seiko, Alba, Credor and of course, Grand Seiko, of which Naito is also the CEO. Back in Australia to confirm the opening of Grand Seiko’s much-anticipated second standalone Australian boutique in Melbourne, Naito shared that his time in Australia was incredibly formative.
“It was the first overseas assignment, as well as for me, the first time to get involved in the watch business. Prior to that, I was in the in-house legal department, and I couldn’t imagine I would be the head of an overseas subsidiary, but that opportunity arose… [It was] the first time to manage the organisation as CEO, and first time to really interact with our Australian employees. So that was, you know, such an experience.”
In that sense, things have come full circle. After spending his four years in Australia frequently travelling to and from Seiko’s local HQ in Sydney to Melbourne – as well as hearing strong feedback from the Melbourne watch community about wanting their own GS boutique – Naito explained that he was very happy that Grand Seiko’s Melbourne boutique is close to opening in the city’s iconic Block Arcade.
“For Grand Seiko, Sydney was obviously the priority in opening a boutique, but it has been my dream to open one in Melbourne to provide people to discover the beauty of Grand Seiko in person, without having to go to Sydney. The way our dials and cases play with light and reflections can only truly be appreciated in person; a photo, no matter how beautifully shot, does not do it justice,” he relates – something many GS aficionados including myself would definitely agree with.
Of course, a new boutique in Melbourne isn’t the biggest development to happen to the Grand Seiko brand this year. If we’re talking simply boutique openings, the brand’s new flagship in NYC, now the largest GS boutique in the world, is certainly a bigger deal. However, having a greater presence in Australia is particularly important for Grand Seiko as Australia is a valuable bellwether in terms of predicting global trends for the brand, Naito reveals.
“I haven’t been directly involved in the Australian business for such a long time, so I’m trying hard to catch up with the changing trends! But to me, what I understand is the market has become more mature. People became interested in what’s the best thing coming from the brand, as opposed to settling for what is available to them. Also, its proximity to Asia and its diversity – there are so many people from different cultural backgrounds – means it’s really a unique country… It’s not exactly Asia, but certainly not Europe, it’s a bit of everything. So this market has become even more important for us as a sort of testing ground for new products, as well as what the global market trend will become in the near future… In that sense, we are focusing more and more on the market environment here.”
It’s always buoying to hear the head of a brand talk about wanting to better understand different markets, consumers and their community – particularly at a time when some watch brand presidents are publically dismissing community feedback… However, Naito’s done more than most. He made a stir earlier this year when he directly responded to collector feedback about wanting micro-adjustment on Grand Seiko bracelets on LinkedIn, saying it’s “on the way” – an uncharacteristically candid moment from a Japanese watch CEO. When I brought this moment up, Naito laughed. “That was a disaster internally!”
“All the guys in the product development department didn’t like me speaking out, but that issue has been raised by consumers for a number of years, and internally, we were aware of that issue and a lot of discussion has taken place in Tokyo,” Naito confirms. “There are, of course, technical issues, as well as the IP-related issues from the patents covering certain technical elements… For Grand Seiko to make it happen, we have internally a certain sort of standard for durability and ease of use… As a brand, we cannot compromise the quality of the micro adjustment. We want to come up with a unique, easy-to-use, durable micro-adjustment, which suits the Grand Seiko brand. At the time when I said ‘it’s coming’, we internally thought we were almost there. In the very near future, we’ll be able to commercialise that… So I made a statement!”
He adds: “Other than that, we have been receiving a lot of requests for more slim manual-winding timepieces. Earlier this year, we introduced the Calibre 9SA4, our new hand-wound high-beat movement, for the first time in more than 50 years. We are still aware of the high demand for slim, manual-winding timepieces, and we will continue trying to live up to our customer’s expectations as much as possible.”
Of course, balancing supply and demand is one of the trickiest acts in the watch industry. Grand Seiko has a distinctly loyal fan base around the world, with various GS9 communities, and GS has traditionally rewarded this worldwide fan base with region-exclusive limited editions. But as the brand continues its rapid pace of growth, I put it to Naito: are you concerned with continuing to produce so many regional limited editions? Naito explains that it’s not that straightforward.
“We started selling the Grand Seiko brand in the global market in 2010, and then, as we struggled for the first few years, we decided to separate Grand Seiko from Seiko and made Grand Seiko an independent brand in 2017. At that point, we started to see the real rapid growth of the brand outside of Japan. In the process of that rapid growth, we needed to attract as many Grand Seiko fans to come to purchase our products, and for that purpose, we intentionally created limited editions, regional limited editions, shop-specific limited editions, and anniversary editions. Those were the drivers for our growth; it was a necessity for us,” Naito admits.
“In retrospect, we now think, as we created so many products, it might be difficult for the average consumer – not so much the watch fans – to see the face of the brand. So, as opposed to spreading out so many different models, we should be focused on some of the best-selling models, like the Snowflake or White Birch… The strategy from now on – we’ve been working on this project for a year or so – but trying to reduce the number of SKUs and probably more selectively releasing limited edition models. Another reason why we think it advantageous, not just for us, but for the consumers, to see fewer SKUs, is that we will be able to provide the after-sales services for a longer period of time… That’s something we are very much mindful of.”
This strategy around focusing on the brand’s most iconic models makes sense. Grand Seiko undeniably has icons – Snowflake, Shunbun, White Birch, Omiwatari, the list goes on – but there’s a consensus among enthusiasts that GS could do more to champion them. That’s set to change, it seems. Naito further explains that Grand Seiko is especially focusing on the Evolution 9 collection, which it wants to develop into a recognisable halo collection for the brand.
“The Evolution 9 collection is the pinnacle of the brand, where we maintain the basic grammar of the design stemming from the 44GS, but improving that concept and grammar to the next level of legibility and beauty. That’s why E9 was born, and we believe it can be a face of the brand. We will introduce more variation, including Heritage, Sports and Elegance [models] centered around that E9 design concept. In both design and function, our E9 watches showcase the brand’s pursuit to push back watchmaking boundaries. I am confident that the Evolution 9 collection will become one that watch fans will associate the brand as we move forward.”
It’s a bold statement, but one that I’m sure Naito will be able to back it up. He and the brand are aware that they need to make it easier to, as I put it, “talk Grand Seiko”. It sometimes feels as if you need to be able to speak a Grand Seiko language, between the sea of reference numbers, case design languages, or unique alloys like Ever-Brilliant Steel and Brilliant Hard Titanium. It’s something Naito is acutely aware of, he told me.
“This has been discussed at length in Japan, because ideally, it could be easier to remember, like Seamaster for Omega or GMT-Master for Rolex or Royal Oak for Audemars Piguet. But [at the moment] we cannot create a name for each individual collection – rather it’s more our fans calling it 44GS, 62GS… We try to follow what’s emerged in the marketplace as far as nicknames – we let them naturally evolve.” Perhaps this will change as GS gradually reduces the number of SKUs and is able to focus more on specific collections or references.
It’s clear from talking with Naito that Grand Seiko – at the highest level – genuinely cares about its customers. But Naito elaborates that it’s “quite natural” for him and the Grand Seiko brand to listen to and consider its community. “We have GS9 Clubs all over the world… GS fans are so passionate, and they have so many things to say about the brand, which we are always very willing to listen to… I cannot say we can, you know, adapt or answer 100% of their requests, but at least we are here to listen to their voices. In Japan, where we have over 40,000 GS9 Club members, every time we organise an event, we see two, three generations of GS fans coming – the whole family! And that passion is just incredible.”
When you purchase a fine timepiece, it’s rarely a purely transactional exercise – at least not ideally. Watches are emotional purchases – acquiring one also buys into a way of life and a community – and there’s no brand where this is more true than Grand Seiko. Seiko might be one of the largest watch brands in the world, but its Grand Seiko division and its CEO haven’t forgotten where they come from, and how important the community has been to its global success. GS has flourished under Akio Naito’s leadership, and it seems to me that his plans to further refine the brand’s offerings while continuing to stay in step with its fans bode well for its future.