Short — The First Quartz Watch Cost as Much as a New Toyota
Christmas Day 1969: the Seiko Astron goes on sale at ¥450,000 — about the price of a new Toyota Corolla. Within a decade a $10 watch beats it, Switzerland loses two-thirds of its watch industry, and the rescue is a 51-part plastic Swatch. Standalone vertical short.
3credits—sourcesAll episodes
Used For
Credit
Source
01Seiko Quartz Astron (1969)
Deutsches UhrenmuseumSeiko Astron.jpg / CC BY-SA 4.0
02Watch factory floor, c. 1890 (American)
unknown photographer, Columbus Metropolitan Library via DPLAColumbus Watch Company interior photograph - DPLA - 0460905296b9a20613aaca7f4c6c5d1f.jpg / Public domain