King Seiko versus Grand SeikoYou cant imagine this today, but back in the 1960s, Seiko made two of its manufactories?compete with?each other. These two plants were?Suwa Seikosha and?Daini Seikosha. The objective was simple, to design beautiful watches and create the most accurate movements. Suwa Seikosha introduced the very first Grand Seiko in 1960. Not much later, in 1961, Daini Seikosha came with the first King Seiko. The rivalry went on until the 1970s. This history is documented everywhere on the internet, yet official documentation is not really available on the subject (or only in Japanese language).Grand Seiko is pretty well known. After an absence of 24 years, not counting the quartz Grand Seiko introduction in 1988, Grand Seiko is back in 1998. But what about King Seiko? It died in the 1970s and only a few collectors and enthusiasts seem to be aware of this once great collection.Vintage Grand SeikoWhen I was looking for some vintage Grand Seiko watches, I noticed that the times you could pick these up for cheap are long gone. You can still find them for an interesting amount of money, on eBay and on forums. But often there is something wrong with it, either not serviced or not original. Not serviced is an issue with a lot of watches. Worn out parts need to be replaced and then it comes to availability of these parts.Anyway, it was actually Michael Stockton who made me aware of this alternative collection of Seiko watches. He showed me the King Seiko watch he has during one of our first meetings. He did an in-depth review?of that King Seiko 45-7001 in this article.My WatchmakerFast forward a few months. I meet up with my watchmaker or our watchmaker, as most Fratello Watches team members uses his services and he shows me a watch roll packed with Seikos. King Seikos and Grand Seikos. The Grand Seikos are quartz watches and the King Seikos are all mechanical. Things went really wrong when he told me to take the watch roll with me, to have a closer look.