The company was founded in 1881, when Kintarō Hattori opened a watch and jewelry shop called “K. Hattori” (服部時計店 Hattori Tokeiten^?) in the Ginzaarea of Tokyo, Japan. Eleven years later, in 1892, he began to produce clocks under the name Seikosha (精工舎 Seikōsha^?), meaning roughly “House of Exquisite Workmanship”. According to Seiko’s official company history, titled “A Journey In Time: The Remarkable Story of Seiko” (2003), Seiko is aJapanese word meaning “exquisite,” “minute,” or “success”. (The meaning “exquisite” is usually written 精巧, while the meaning “success” is usually written 成功.)

Info gleaned from Wikipedia