Seiko Group Transforms Pace Gallery Into A Japanese Retreat

On an outdoor terrace six floors above the streets of Manhattan, Seiko Group did something unexpected for a  watch company Tuesday night: it asked everyone to slow down.

For the New York presentation of “The Gift of Time,” Seiko Group transformed the outdoor terrace of Pace Gallery into a serene Japanese tea garden, complete with a Tea House designed by renowned Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and offered a traditional tea ceremony led by tea master Souyuu Yamazaki of the Urasenke school.

Against the backdrop of the New York skyline, guests removed their shoes, entered the intimate Tea House and experienced the deliberate ritual of Japanese tea service. It was quiet, calming and surprisingly transporting — particularly in a city where stopping for even a few minutes can feel like a luxury. And that  was exactly the point.

At the heart of “The Gift of Time” is the Japanese concept of ma, a word that can refer to an interval, opening or space between things. It is also the idea that the space between moments has meaning of its own — that sometimes we need to stop, breathe and experience time rather than simply measure it.

For Seiko Group, whose businesses include Seiko, Grand Seiko, Credor and Wako, among others, New York seemed an especially appropriate place to explore that idea.

During a private interview, Hiromi Kanagawa, Senior Executive Vice President of Seiko Group Corporation, said that after presenting  “The Gift of Time” in Paris last year, the team discussed where it should go next. New York quickly emerged as the choice. “New York is a city that never sleeps. It’s energetic, it’s fast paced,” Kanagawa said. “It really deserves the gift of time.”

The Tea House itself has its own intriguing story. Designed by Kuma, it was constructed without nails so that it can be disassembled, transported and rebuilt in different places around the world. After appearing in Paris, it traveled to New York — something Kanagawa said had a certain romanticism for her. Built by French carpenters working from Kuma’s design, the traveling Tea House also became, in its own way, a collaboration across countries and cultures.

But the “ma” experience extended well beyond the Tea House. Inside Pace Gallery, the seventh and eighth floors were devoted to different aspects of Seiko Group’s history and Japanese culture, with the exhibition organized around three themes: History, Culture and blank or open space. Historic and contemporary watches from Grand Seiko and Credor offered a look at the Group’s watchmaking heritage, while objects presented by Wako, the famed Ginza specialty store that is also part of Seiko Group, explored Japanese craftsmanship and culture. A wooden architectural model of Grand Seiko Studio Shizukuishi further connected watchmaking, architecture and the natural environment.

On the eighth floor, a screening room continuously presented “The Gift of Time,” the short film directed by Paula Chowles and first shown in Paris last year. The film likens the passage and flow of time to nature and suggests the need for space within our increasingly busy lives — room to breathe, pause and simply experience the moments between everything else. In fact, the entire evening seemed designed around the idea of taking moments in time.

Guests moved between the indoor exhibits and outdoor garden, watched the film, experienced the tea ceremony or simply stopped to talk with friends. Specially created cocktails and small bites from New York chef Hiroki Odo and bartender Takuma Watanabe of Martiny’s — along with Japanese whisky — added another layer of Japanese hospitality to the evening.

Rather than feeling like a traditional watch event centered on a series of products, it became a place to take time out with friends and experience different aspects of Japanese culture. I can’t recall another watch company recreating an entire Japanese garden and Tea House in the middle of Manhattan and inviting guests to experience a formal tea ceremony as part of an exhibition on time.

Kanagawa, who assumed her current role earlier this year, told me she believes it is important for Seiko Group to communicate not only its products, but also the stories and philosophy behind the company — both to consumers around the world and to future generations within the Group.

That distinction was important here. Seiko Group has spent nearly 145 years creating instruments that measure time, yet “The Gift of Time” was less about measuring it than about considering how we experience it.

In a virtual welcome, Seiko Group Chairman, Group CEO and Group CCO Shinji Hattori explained that the company had thought carefully about what “The Gift of Time” could mean in a city like New York. “For such a fast-paced, high-energy city, we thought hard about what ‘The Gift of Time’ could mean,” Hattori said. “And decided that the best ‘gift’ for this city would be the gift of MA.”

Perhaps the most telling comment, though, came at the end of my conversation with Kanagawa. Rather than continue explaining what she hoped visitors would take away from the exhibition, she told me she preferred that we simply experience it and decide for ourselves how it made us feel. Then she thanked me for “gifting us your time, your precious time.”

The watch industry spends an extraordinary amount of energy measuring, dividing and displaying time. Yet the time we choose to give — to another person, to an experience or even to ourselves — may be considerably harder to quantify.

For a few hours inside Pace Gallery and in the Japanese garden overlooking Manhattan, Seiko Group made a persuasive case for leaving a little space between the seconds.