Postwar1946-59

Rebuilding after the war forced Seiko to modernise rather than resume. The Super of 1950 was the first Japanese wristwatch with center seconds; the Marvel of 1956, designed from a clean sheet instead of adapted from prewar calibers, was the real turning point and outperformed everything the company had made before it.

By the end of the fifties the pieces of the modern company were in place: the Lord Marvel and Crown above the standard range, the Magic Lever winding system of 1959 that still drives Seiko automatics today, and production split between the Suwa and Daini factories, whose internal rivalry powered the decade that followed.