One place that you don’t want to skimp on is your desk chair, especially when your job requires lots of sitting. One such job is watch maker. Many watch makers sit of uncomfortable benches. Why? Well, because they don’t think too much about it. For generations watch maker desks have more or less stayed the same, but the advent of the ergonomic desk chair is relatively new in comparison. So you have a degree of “that is how it is done” mentality. It doesn’t need to be that way, and it is not always that way. At Seiko’s high end watch movement manufacture location in Japan, the watch makers are blessed with comfortable Herman Miller ergonomic chairs. This was a deliberate decision at the company, because it was clear that workers need to be happy and healthy. Seiko admitted that while outfitting the work benches with the chairs was more expensive, it proved to be worth it. I didn’t see anyone complain. Plus, with watch makers needing not only to sit for long hours, but to be still when they are, the best chairs are almost a necessity.
So why Herman Miller? Well, I don’t know all the reasons. Part of the reason has to do with how widely used Herman Miller chairs are. The most famous is the Aeron, and they also have newer popular models such as the Mira, Embody, and Setu. Unlike most desk chairs, Herman Miller chairs are much more durable, designed after trials and careful study, and made in the USA. Actually, the world’s best ergonomic desk chairs are most all made in the USA. Which is nice to see in Japan, as the people making the country’s best watches, are sitting in our country’s best chairs.
Seeing this fact at Seiko got me thinking, and I wonder what chairs watch makers all over the world use. Regardless of what chairs luxury watch makers are sitting in, I hope they have finally realized the benefit of sitting in a quality ergonomic chair given the nature of their work. Because I want happy watch makers, making happy watches. I too actually have a Herman Miller chair for my desk where I sit and write (endlessly). I can easily say that I would never go back to what I sat on before.
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