argely reserved for the Japanese market, Credor positions itself at “the highest echelon” of watchmaking craftsmanship. Over the decades, Credor has produced the first Japanese watch with complications – the Node Spring Drive Sonnerie (2006) – and the Node Spring Drive Minute Repeater (2011), not to mention Seiko’s first tourbillon, Fugaku (2016).

But the Credor lineage also includes jewellery watches and watches that highlight Japan’s most exquisite arts and crafts. Production of these watches is entrusted to the best artisans of the famous Micro Artist Studio: Seiko’s luxury watch workshop at Shiojiri in the historic region of Shinshu, at the cultural crossroads between eastern and western Japan.

Credor 50th Anniversary Eichi II Limited Edition. What better way to mark the 50th anniversary of Credor than with this special edition of the Eichi II. By virtue of its absolute simplicity, its deep-blue, hand-painted porcelain dial and its hand-wound Spring Drive movement with its exclusive Japanese architecture, the Eichi II is the quintessence of Credor horology – horology that combines the ancestral craft of porcelain-painting with the modernity of the peerless Spring Drive movement (+/15 seconds a month). The subtility of the myriad reflections of the ruri-coloured dial (ruri means lapis lazuli) is further enhanced by the 18k gold of the slim hour markers and elegant bezel (39mm case).

On the occasion of its 50th anniversary, Credor presents two reeditions of two milestone watches in its history: the Eichi II (inspired by the original Eichi, released in 2008) and the Locomotive by Gérald Genta, released in 1979.

These two limited editions – 30 for the Eichi II and 300 for the Locomotive – will be available in Europe starting this summer, priced at €48,000 for the Eichi II and €14,000 for the highly collectable Genta Locomotive.

Is this a prelude to a greater presence by Credor on the international markets? There are grounds to think so.

Credor Locomotive Limited Edition The collaboration between Seiko and Gérald Genta, who had a deep love of Japan, began back in the 1970s. The name, Locomotive, that Genta chose for this hexagonal watch – so characteristic of his style – was based on “the hope that it would be a driving force” for the newly created Credor. This new edition scrupulously reproduces Genta’s codes while adapting them to today’s more advanced techniques. For example, the six screws around the bezel are no longer decorative, but functional. The case and bracelet are made in high-grade, meticulously polished titanium. The textured dial pattern, inspired by steam locomotives, is made up of 1,600 radial lines engraved directly on the dial by means of a specially designed mechanical process to give the appearance of hand-engraving. And unlike Genta’s original Locomotive, which was quartz-driven, this watch is powered by a new, automatic movement, exclusive to Credor, which is less than 9mm thick.