Old SEIKO Signage

[Old Expat Beast]

Just came across this photo of the old Kowloon Railway Station just before it was demolished in 1978, and noticed the SEIKO sign. Can you see it?

[drockadam]

Super cool! Wonder if it was tucked away before demolition?

[pandrew6l]

Wow !! I first saw that Clock Tower at the RR station in 1956, arriving HK with my father.

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by drockadam

Super cool! Wonder if it was tucked away before demolition?

I doubt it!

Originally Posted by Pandrew6l

Wow !! I first saw that Clock Tower at the RR station in 1956, arriving HK with my father.

That's very interesting, such a long time ago. My first sight of it was in 1988, by which time the rest of the station was sadly long gone and the ugly Cultural Centre was almost open instead. At least the Clock Tower remains, as do the Star Ferry and Star House where the SEIKO sign was. You can see part of the latter in this pic I took recently.

[scarlet knight]

Not to hijack, anyone recognize this building?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by scarlet knight

Not to hijack, anyone recognize this building?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yep.

Wako building in Ginza, Tokyo.

https://www.plus9time.com/blog/2020/...ko-clock-tower

[scarlet knight]

We were there in September, 2019, visiting Japan from the NY metro area. Picked up a Seiko Prospex new Black Monster with a Kanji date wheel.

We haven’t traveled since the pandemic started, it feels like fifty years ago.

[Old Expat Beast]

Our last trip abroad was also Japan, December 2019 for the Osaka Marathon. We used to go 3 or 4 times a year, but no idea when the next trip will be. Probably not till at least 2023 at this rate.

[Old Expat Beast]

Back in Hong Kong, here's one from around the late 60s or early 1970s on the side of a tram. This one is pulling one of about a dozen firsts-class trailers that were used to ease overcrowding from the mid-60s to early '80s. Note the Orient sign above the tram.

[quakeroatmeal]

Last time I was in Japan was October 2019, I got to buy a Grand Seiko right in the Wako Building in Ginza! It was quite an experience. I hope to go back soon some day.

The Godzilla was just about to be released, and I got a shot of the display in the window. Was pretty neat! Also got to handle number 1 of 650.

[DCheeta]

I love these old signs in Asia. This one is from Seoul in the (I think) late 60’s. At the time I believe there was an interesting partnership between a Korean Orient Watch company and the Japanese company, whereby the Korean company made cases, dials, etc and the movements were supplied by Orient Japan.

It’s hard to find info on it. Apparently the Korean company also used the brand name Galaxy, but try googling “Galaxy Watch Korea” now and all you get is Samsung smart watches.

Anyway, the copy ribbon on the bottom of the screen on this YouTube screen shot says “Seoul Orient Hotel” in Korean, which I think is just a mistake by the maker of the video. To me it just looks like a typical watch ad from that era, not a hotel.

[DCheeta]

I love the old Hong Kong photos! I’ve never been there, but I have such a romantic image of Hong Kong in my mind. I’ll be there some day soon, but I suspect all of these old signs are long gone.

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by DCheeta

I love the old Hong Kong photos! I’ve never been there, but I have such a romantic image of Hong Kong in my mind. I’ll be there some day soon, but I suspect all of these old signs are long gone.

Did you see this old thread I started about Rolex signage in Hong Kong, Dave? I think you might be in there somewhere

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=346892

[sensui]

Great photos all. Man I miss Japan and frankly traveling to the rest of Asia. Seiko's history really is deep.

[mongrelnomoad]

God these photos make me miss the Far East. My Dad used to work in Beijing in the 80s, and we'd 'decompress' by flying into Hong Kong or going to visit my family in Tokyo. Brings back so many memories...

[pandrew6l]

Originally Posted by Old Expat Beast

Back in Hong Kong, here's one from around the late 60s or early 1970s on the side of a tram. This one is pulling one of about a dozen firsts-class trailers that were used to ease overcrowding from the mid-60s to early '80s. Note the Orient sign above the tram.

Johnston Road , Wanchai ?

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by Pandrew6l

Johnston Road , Wanchai ?

Yes, at the junction with Wan Chai Road

[pandrew6l]

Wow , good work , thanks.

[Patton250]

Awesome pictures. Love the history.

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by Pandrew6l

Wow , good work , thanks.

Originally Posted by Patton250

Awesome pictures. Love the history.

[Old Expat Beast]

Here's the same SEIKO sign as seen in the first photo, but from street level and I think a few years earlier...

[pandrew6l]

I did not know Orient Watch ( sign above tram on building) was around in the 60s. Were they a Seiko brand/company that far back ?

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by Pandrew6l

I did not know Orient Watch ( sign above tram on building) was around in the 60s. Were they a Seiko brand/company that far back ?

As far as I know Orient started up in the early 50s and was bought (or at least a majority acquired) by Seiko about 20 years ago.

[Ichiran]

This thread reminds of a very happy period during my secondary school years and also my liking for a clock tower, which is 31-metre tall and was completed way back in 1925. The four clocks on the tower were donated by Seiko. Said clock was destroyed and removed during World War II, and was restored in the early 1970s, with replacements donated by Seiko. The clock tower went through a series of restoration and expansion in the 1990s and in 1999, the clock tower was gazetted as a national monument.

Clock tower.jpg
(Photo by BonniPink)

chs_tower1.jpg
(Photo from wikipedia)

Chia Hoy, the first MD of Thong Sia, in their 80th Anniversary commemorative book (1991) wrote that "the clock tower came about nearly 50 years ago because the school wanted more reliable time keeping that require little maintenance. It was the first master-slave clock system in Singapore that could synchronise the time in the whole school, and was so sophisticated that the bells could provide different signal times for the different science and arts classes."

How very Seiko.

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by Ichiran

This thread reminds of a very happy period during my secondary school years and also my liking for a clock tower, which is 31-metre tall and was completed way back in 1925. The four clocks on the tower were donated by Seiko. Said clock was destroyed and removed during World War II, and was restored in the early 1970s, with replacements donated by Seiko. The clock tower went through a series of restoration and expansion in the 1990s and in 1999, the clock tower was gazetted as a national monument.



Chia Hoy, the first MD of Thong Sia, in their 80th Anniversary commemorative book (1991) wrote that "the clock tower came about nearly 50 years ago because the school wanted more reliable time keeping that require little maintenance. It was the first master-slave clock system in Singapore that could synchronise the time in the whole school, and was so sophisticated that the bells could provide different signal times for the different science and arts classes."

How very Seiko.

Very interesting. The Kowloon Railway clock tower similarly was the first electric clock tower in HK and had one unit powering four clock faces when installed in the early 1920s.

[DCheeta]

Originally Posted by Old Expat Beast

Did you see this old thread I started about Rolex signage in Hong Kong, Dave? I think you might be in there somewhere

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=346892

Yeah! I remember that thread, and now I just perused it all again. I love it.

Incidentally, I did buy the book you recommended (City Of Darkness) and it’s been a mainstay in my living room ever since.

[Cru Jones]

Great thread and photos, thanks. Keep 'em coming.

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by DCheeta

Yeah! I remember that thread, and now I just perused it all again. I love it.

Incidentally, I did buy the book you recommended (City Of Darkness) and it’s been a mainstay in my living room ever since.

That's good to know, Dave

[Greg.A]

Originally Posted by Old Expat Beast

Just came across this photo of the old Kowloon Railway Station just before it was demolished in 1978, and noticed the SEIKO sign. Can you see it?

OMG, this pictures makes you appreciates the fact that the clock tower still remains standing in the modern times

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by Greg.A

OMG, this pictures makes you appreciates the fact that the clock tower still remains standing in the modern times

It sure does. Here it is in 1914, just before the station opened and with no clocks yet installed.