The Thong Sia Company was founded as a small trading firm in 1959 by Ng Chue Meng but gradually expanded into the watch business when it was appointed as the sole Southeast Asian agent for Japanese watchmaker Seiko in 1963. The company initially focused on the sale and servicing of watches and clocks, but subsequently ventured into the manufacturing of timepieces with the opening of its million-dollar factory-cum-showroom at Bideford Road in March 1969. Known as Thong Sia House, the ground floor of the three-storey building housed the main showroom which showcased Seiko watches ranging in price from $100 to a few thousand dollars. A temporary manufacturing facility located on the top floor of the building produced Seiko transistor wall clocks. Situated at the courtyard of Thong Sia House was a tower that housed an electronic quartz master clock which controlled 37 other slave clocks located all over the building. It was announced at the building’s opening that a full-scale watch production plant would eventually be established at the Jurong Industrial Estate.
