Japan has long had a cultural affinity with “light” and “shadow.” From ancient times, the Japanese people have not only valued “light,” but also have paid attention to its eternal neighbor, “shadow.” This harmony between the two has given birth to deep gradations and delicate expressions. We enjoy feeling this beauty, incorporating it into elements of our daily life such as architecture and tools; more important still, we also have elevated it to arts such as painting, the tea ceremony, and flower arranging. This aesthetic sense felt toward “light” and “shadow,” along with our love for Japanese culture and nature and our dedication to perfection in the background, is the spirit of Japanese manufacturing for Grand Seiko.
Grand Seiko is a brand that masters the essence of the wristwatch. This essence comprises precise and invariable “accuracy” comforting its wearer for life, “legibility” to clearly acknowledge the continuously ticking time, and confidence-giving “beauty.” Since its birth in 1960, Grand Seiko has—thanks to the skills of expert artisans who have mastered these three elements—pursued a higher level and has continuously evolved toward the goal of creating a watch that stands atop the pinnacle of the world.
The Japanese sense of aesthetics toward “light” and “shadow” is often found in our sensitive and sophisticated designs. Case, dial, hands, hour markers—all the parts that constitute the individual parts of a watch—are flat or two-dimensional surfaces. In order to clearly read the time, even in poor light, our watches are designed to catch more light by expanding the flat surfaces, while at the same time creating parts upon which black shadows fall. Such a shape gracefully captures the light while beautifully creating shadows, thereby expressing sharpness, roundness and elegance. Long beloved by the Japanese people, this infinite gradation of interwoven light and shadow can be appreciated in many shapes and gives birth to truly beautiful timepieces.
“Light” and “shadow,” which breathe life into Grand Seiko, are the founding stones of the Japanese sense of aesthetics. Opposite yet reliant on each other to exist, how do Japanese people look upon them, and how have they elevated them to the status of beauty? This column will, over 10 articles, try to elucidate this sense of aesthetics toward “light” and “shadow,” which have taken root in Japan, through the words of experts in various fields.