Mr. Takahashi's Opening Address at Baselworld, 2018

Good morning everyone. It's a great pleasure for me to be here today. This is my first opportunity to address you all as President of Seiko Watch Corporation. I know you come to Baselworld to see new products that will excite your readers, so in the next 40 minutes my team will show you Seiko's newest and best products. I'm sure they will talk about technology and design. However, I am here to say that technology and design are not enough. As President, I believe Seiko must offer more going forward. You will see Seiko use both our company heritage and our cultural heritage to set our products apart from the rest.

Everyone in this room knows Seiko. You know about our products, our brand, and our long unbroken history as an independent company. You know we built our reputation over 120 years ago as a maker of excellent mechanical watches. You know we are proud of our technology and innovation. In the past, we wanted to prove to the world that our technology was as good or better than anyone else's. Of course, we won many awards and we proved that point again and again. From now on, I don't want to focus on how we can be as good as others. Instead, I want Seiko to promote the things that make us unique.

One of those things is our cultural heritage. Our company only began doing business in 1881, but we are part of a thousand-year tradition of Japanese craftsmen. In so many areas, Japanese masters perfected the art of making things by hand. They combined beautiful design, innovative technology, and superb craftsmanship, and then they added something special: heart. The result was not simply beautiful crafts, but art. This is our heritage. This is who we are. Seiko products are much more than technology. They are works of timeless beauty. I'm not talking about the kind of external beauty that comes from factory finishing or decoration. I'm talking about true artistic beauty, the kind that starts inside when a skilled craftsman creates something with his own two hands. Each Seiko watch is more than a precise machine. Each one represents the Japanese concept of beauty. That is our DNA. That is how I see Seiko, and that is how you will see us grow in the coming years.

Now, I'd like to mention an ongoing shift in emphasis in Seiko's marketing strategy. As we shift from a local focus to a global strategy, we are unifying our branding and marketing content. We chose five brands as the best symbols of Seiko quality, and we are concentrating our efforts on those five brands in all markets worldwide. First, our flagship brand, the ambassador of Japanese watchmaking: Grand Seiko. By the way, I'm happy to say that Grand Seiko is now doing very well as an independent brand. The four other key brands are Prospex, Presage, Premier, and Astron. Each of these brands has unique characteristics that we want to emphasize in every market. We will develop our five global brands into a strong, long-term growth engine that is less and less affected by changes in the world economy.

Everyone comes to Baselworld to talk about change. I want to talk about what does not change: our spirit and our company identity. In the 19th century, our founder Kintaro Hattori talked about staying one step ahead of the rest. In the 20th century, we stayed ahead by inventing new technologies. Of course, we are still proud of our technology, but now we also want to emphasize our history and our heritage. Starting immediately, you will see the words 'Since 1881' under the Seiko name in our communications. And going forward, we will help customers to understand and appreciate our products as symbols of Japanese art and craftsmanship. Our company's promise sums up our brand image: today we want to be known not simply for technical innovation and outstanding design, but also for affecting customers' emotions. That is, and always will be, an important part of Seiko's DNA.

Thank you for your time and attention. I look forward to talking to you individually later on. Thank you very much.