Welcome to our new home at Baselworld!
The new Seiko Pavilion has been designed, first and foremost, to make our guests feel at home and at ease. The architects set out to create the ideal ‘villa’ for Seiko. We want to welcome all our visitors to a more open exhibit area than ever, where they could see, feel and experience our brand in an atmosphere of leisure and luxury. We want our guests to enjoy a high quality and relaxed time in our villa; our guests are our friends and we intend that they will feel completely at home.
The style of the new Seiko Pavilion is inspired by the ideals of Modernist Architecture, those of which, a major Japanese traditional architecture style seen from early 17th century echoes (a major Japanese traditional architecture style (sukiya-zukuri such as Katsura-Rikyu) seen from early 17th century has similarity with Modernist Architecture); we have similar sense of beauty as Modernist Architecture. It is simple, universal and functional but it is also a place that draws you in with its air of calm and luxurious comfort. Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier would approve!
The ground floor of the Seiko pavilion consists of two blocks: the Grand Seiko wing and the Seiko wing. The Grand Seiko wing is constructed from black stones, which are set horizontally and exude a quiet dignity. The Seiko wing is made from white stone. The white symbolize the light of Seiko’s spirit of innovation and the black the richness of Seiko’s tradition. We hope that such ideas come to our guests’ minds as they approach our new home. The asymmetrical parting line of the stones expresses the dynamism of Seiko. The upper wall is made of glass with a fine latticework which is illuminated from the inside. The lattice is one of the elements seen in the traditional Japanese wooden house. It expresses the depth of Seiko with our 131 year history and our long determination to be always “one step ahead”.
Nine 55 inch screens show the feature of the year; this year it is the Astron GPS Solar. In the center space of Seiko wing, Astron’s GPS reception and auto-time adjustment can be experienced with a working watch assisted by hostesses from the afternoon of Thursday to Sunday evening.
The regular window is designed to have color consistency with actual general displays. The asymmetrical shape of the back board again expresses the dynamism of Seiko. White board is made of Miura ori, which was developed as part of the space program by Dr. Miura in the 1970’s and is used for the space antennae of astronomy satellites. It is one of the latest 100 Japanese style inventions selected by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan in 2006.
In place of the big screen in the Seiko wing, the Grand Seiko wing has a horizontal window with a 55 inch monitor. We explain here that Seiko is a true ‘manufacture’. Each window features a caliber of Grand Seiko; 9F, 9R and 9S. Pictures of manufacturing Grand Seiko in the fine watchmaking studios of Shizuku-ishi and Shinshu Watch Studio, a representative model of each caliber, a movement and a component are displayed in each window.
In the center showcase, the beauty of Grand Seiko is exhibited.
The sparkling cases, markers and hands are displayed as artistic objects, which is indeed what they are. The display is inspired by a Japanese Karesansui, or landscaped rock garden.
The regular window is designed using the same color as the actual displays we use in Grand Seiko retail stores. The wood is Guibourtia. The back panel is made of silver foil covered with urethane paint.
The Grand Seiko’s dark-blue color appears in the gradation of the panel from black to light blue. The white back board is a plaster board made by experienced craftsmen.
At BASELWORLD, there is a clear segmentation for each exhibition venue in the show. The Seiko Stand is located in the global brands area on the first floor in the Hall of Dreams (Hall 1.1) at position D79 & D83.
