Credor - in fact Crêt D'or - as a product line launched in late 1974, but at that time not as a standalone brand and not with the distinctive golden mountain crest at the 12 ‘clock position.

Seiko described this line “as a world of beauty that blends the brilliance of materials in the world with the world of beauty that harmonizes with the delicate taste. It is the highest peak of the watch and the delicate silhouette shines with the elegant supreme beauty - Seiko Crêt D'or”. The 18k logo is a representation of the mountain symbol 山, modified to show them rising to meet three stars in the sky. The extension of the base and the placement of the stars form an equilateral triangle, once again resembling a mountain range.

Of course in the early 1970’s Seiko produced high end precious metal models. They were presented in the standard catalogs, but many only in the Seiko Luxury catalogs and were available only through select dealers in a similar way as the Laurel then or the Master Shop models today.

When the branding changed to Credor exclusively in 1980, it showed Seiko’s commitment to establish a luxury line equaling Grand Seiko. The majority of watches were branded as Credor, with a small number of Seiko branded models. None of these watches however featured the new logo.

In 1981 the first 4 watch models are shown with the Credor mountain logo, the silver dialed KEL 130 and smaller KSR 090 and the golden dial KEL 144 and smaller KSR 104.

Credor today is a very well recognised brand, however only recently outside of Japan. Credor always represented high level craftsmanship with unique design styles, incorporating precious metals, precious stones and unique design twists found nowhere else. The Eichi II and Fugaku are excellent albeit prohibitively expensive examples. Vintage models fortunately tend to provide astonishing value for the amount of money spent on them.