Seiko & Citizen Watch Forum Message Archive

Hi Wayne,

I'm glad you found my post interesting.

I'm sorry but I don't think I can really answer your first question. I'll bet Katsu Higuchi would have a better idea about that since he sells both Swiss and Japanese watches. My impression is you are on the mark with your suggestion.

Regarding your second question, I think there is no doubt that having a Swiss watch such as a Rolex Submariner would be much more of a source of pride for your average company freshman than having a Seiko MarineMaster.

Seiko has an image of being "shibui" (old fashioned). Owning a Seiko was a source of pride for current company freshmen's grandparents, so they seem out of date to many young Japanese. I've only seen one Japanese person actually wearing a MarineMaster 300m Automatic -- he was about 35 years old, obviously a salaryman. I saw him on a plane to Osaka with this wife and two young kids. I've seen guys his age wearing a Rolex Sub many, many times.

I've noticed a trend recently where younger Japanese in their 20's, 30's and 40's who love watches tend to go for Rolex or Omega (and G-Shock for the weekend), whereas some executives in their 50's and 60's are starting to wear REALLY expensive Swiss ones like Franck Muller.

Most Japanese men in their 70's and 80's wear Seiko or Citizen.