New Boutiques
Today, the company is boosting production of its luxury products. Grand Seiko is doubling its main price range to $5,000 to $15,000. The watchmaker plans two more standalone boutiques for that brand soon, Takahashi said, after opening the world’s first Grand Seiko boutique in November in California. Seiko has some 80 boutiques around the world.

At Seiko’s Morioka factory in northern Japan, watch assembly resembles the process seen in Switzerland -- except for a certain Japanese quirk: periodic interruptions by soft music and instructions for employees to take an exercise break. After a few stretches and jumps, the team, seated at customized wooden desks, gets back to inserting balance wheels, the pendulum-like devices that tick out the time in mechanical watches.

Citizen, too, has been moving upmarket. In 2016, the company gained control of Switzerland’s Frederique Constant, Alpina and DeMonaco -- giving it control of brands with entry prices from about $1,000 to more than $10,000. Citizen CEO Toshio Tokura told Bloomberg News in January the company is open to acquisitions to tap more luxury spending.

“We’re looking at the market and seeing how consumer taste is diversifying,” he said. “One brand is not enough.”

There’s no shortage of struggling or up-for-sale Swiss brands. Breitling, known for aviation-themed timepieces, was sold to CVC Capital Partners last year. Maurice Lacroix failed to find a buyer when it was put up for sale by owner DKSH Holding AG.

Times Square
In 2014, Citizen opened a flagship boutique in Times Square in New York, where it showcases new models such as last year’s Billy Jean King commemorative watch.

Seiko, Citizen and Casio Computer Co. increased their share of the global timepiece market for the first time in a decade in 2016, to a combined 10.2 percent, according to Bank Vontobel’s Weber.

The push into higher price segments may not please all watch aficionados, according to Ariel Adams, who founded the popular U.S. website “A Blog to Watch.”

“They are actually alienating so many of the people that made Grand Seiko popular since they were beloved for their price, not their glitz,” Adams said. “They were for people who wanted a seriously conceived watch without Swiss pretentiousness.”

The Swiss industry could benefit in another way. Just as the revival of Germany’s luxury brand A. Lange & Soehne in the 1990s helped push high-end watchmakers like Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin to be more creative, Seiko is doing the same for the whole Swiss watch industry, which is dominated by three companies: Swatch, Richemont and Rolex, according to “Best of Time” co-author Dowling.