Update | Grand Seiko's president outlines strategy to take the brand higher than ever

This article has been edited significantly after we received a request from a Grand Seiko representative to double-check certain statements and facts.

Edited article continue as follows:

In an interview published today (on the 6th of June) on Hodinkee Japan, Seiko Watch Corporation president Akio Naito laid out an ambitious next chapter for Grand Seiko: the brand wants to expand its reach to consumers who do not consider themselves watch enthusiasts — without leaving the enthusiast community behind. Going hand-in-hand with the brand's US presence expansion and the overall drive to be a more premium brand, that constitutes the "third phase."

Speaking to Hodinkee Japan editor Masaharu Wada at Watches & Wonders Geneva 2026, Naito talked about what he calls the brand's "third phase". "How do we deliver our appeal to people who are not watch enthusiasts?" Naito said. "That is our theme right now." The framing is expansion, not replacement: GS is trying to grow into a new audience while the enthusiast community remains its foundation.

It's an interesting admission from the head of a brand that built its global reputation almost entirely on the back of goodwill of enthusiasts. Grand Seiko's rise outside Japan is largely a word-of-mouth story. Collectors who discovered the brand's finishing quality, Spring Drive movement tech, and stunning nature-inspired dials before mainstream luxury publications were even paying attention. That community, in many ways, did the marketing.

Now, the brand is gunning for a different audience, it seems. And the strategy to get there is somewhat clear. Seiko's watch division has been outpacing Swiss rivals in both growth and margins, with strong US demand driving a big chunk of that momentum — and Naito is doubling down on that market specifically. The Shohei Ohtani global ambassador deal which was announced earlier this year is explicitly an American play. Naito added that European visitors at W&W responded to Ohtani with relative indifference, while American and Asian audiences had the exact opposite reaction.

The third phase of the brand's development, per Naito, comes after the second phase, dubbed expansion, hit a wall in 2022, presumably due to the global economy's woes caused by COVID-19.