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Tissot are a very well established Swiss watch brand which makes both automatic and quartz watches. Typically Tissot watches are the entry-level in to Swiss automatic timepieces. Whilst Tissot is certainly not a cheap brand, it is at the lower end of Swiss-made mechanical watches.
The company was founded in 1853 by father and son duo Charles-Felicien & Charles-Emile Tissot. For those wondering, Tissot is a fairly common Swiss surname, which is why it’s used in other watch brands with no association such as Mathey-Tissot.
Formed in the birthplace of the Swiss watchmaking town Le-Locle, it was not long before the company began to sell their watches accross mainland Europe, particularly to the nobility of Russia.
During the 1930’s, Tissot merged with luxury watch brand Omega. This has led to various models from this period becoming very collectable and expensive.
Tissot and other Swiss watch companies were extremely well performing up until the quartz crisis of the 1970s. After an uncertain period, Omega and Tissot tried competing with Japanese giants such as Seiko and Citizen without much success.
Thankfully both companies were acquired (after split in to individual brands) by the Swatch Group in 1998. This has led to Omega becoming a luxury watch manufacturer once again, whilst Tissot dominates the lower levels of the Swiss mechanical industry.
In terms of innovation, Tissot has a fairly rich history. They were the first brand to make the following watches; 2-timezone pocket watch, antimagnetic watch, watch made of wood & watch made of plastic. Whilst this may not seem like an achievement. At the time of development this was groundbreaking and has led the way for many other companies to follow.
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Is Tissot Considered A Luxury Watch Brand?
No. Tissot sits slightly out of range of the “luxury” price point. Aside from the T-Complication Squelette series or limited edition models, it is very difficult to find a Tissot watch which costs over $1000. In addition to this, if you think of the brands classic models such as T-Touch, Powermatic or Seastar series, none of these models are luxury. Granted, they are very established watches with a decent history behind them. But they simply cannot be compared to the likes of the Omega Seamaster or Rolex GMT.
Given that the watches are Swiss made and use solid ETA movements. There is some overlap between brands such as Tag Heuer, Raymond Weil & Frederique Constant. However, all of these brands have either in-house movements or have designed very expensive and complicated watches. For example Raymond Weil have a $40000 rose gold watch, where as Frederique Constant have a $25000 tourbillon. Tissot do not offer this level of luxury watchmaking.
Do Tissot Watches Hold Their Value?
Tissot watches will not hold their value as well as luxury brands such as Rolex or Audemars Piguet. Having said that, compared to made in China fashion watches, Tissot watches hold value a lot better.
The main reason for this is the quality of the finishing, as well as the ETA movements used inside Tissot models. When compared with fashion brands that use Miyota quartz movements, this alone makes Tissot watches instantly more valuable, even from a scrap/parts perspective.
Not only this, but due to the brands history of making quality watches, the name Tissot is a lot more respected than the likes of Hugo Boss, Olivia Burton or Coach.
You will still lose money if you buy a brand new Tissot and look to sell it, but it won’t depreciate as much when compared to other similar costing brands.
Are Tissot Watches Collectable?
Modern Tissot watches are not really collectable since they are mass-produced. However, as Tissot was merged with Omega during the 1930’s, this has created a market of rare watches which are very sought after by collectors. These watches typically say “Omega watch company”, followed by “Tissot” on the dial.
As Omega is considered a luxury brand, there are many avid fans who wish to get their hands on a timepiece which will never be reproduced. This has caused a spike in prices for certain rare models made during this period.
Who Makes Tissot Watches?
Tissot is its own company, but are a subsidary of the Swatch group. As the Swatch group own the movement manufacturer ETA, you will find this movement in all Tissot watches.
Therefore, Tissot is similar to other standalone companies that use Swiss movements in their watches. Similar companies are both Raymond Weil and Frederique Constant. Both of these watch brands make their own watches, but use various Swiss movement brands as they do not create any in-house.
Where Are Tissot Watches Made?
Tissot are a true Swiss brand. All Tissot watches are made in Switzerland.
Why Are Tissot Watches So Cheap? (Compared To Other Swiss Brands)
Tissot position themselves to be some of the most affordable Swiss watches due to their longstanding ownership by the Swatch group. Not only this, but the brand has had several models such as the powermatic, t-touch and seastar series for many years. Whilst technology and movements are constantly updated, Tissot does not have to pour money in to research and development as much as very high end brands such as Richard Mille.
The Swatch group also do not want Tissot competing directly with other brands that they own. Therefore it would be silly to price Tissot watches at the same level as Swatch or Omega watches. By pricing every brand at different levels, you have more exposure to the overall market and will sell more watches.
How To Tell If your Tissot Watch Is Real
Unfortunately Tissot watches are some of the most counterfeited in the entire industry. Due to the fact that there are a number of best selling Tissot watch designs (see below), there is not a magic formula to determine whether a Tissot is fake or real in a matter of seconds.
One of the first things you should do is look at the hand length compared to online images of Tissot watches from the official website. This is one thing that counterfeiters often overlook, for example the minute hand might brush the indicators on the real version of a watch, but it may far exceed this distance on a fake version.
A fairly easy way is to test the lumes. By putting your Tissot watch under a bright light, you will make the watch luminous. Fake watches also have this feature, but use poor quality lunimova and therefore it doesn’t last very long, nor is it very bright. Real Tissot lume will last around 30 minutes if the watch is brand new.
Lastly, if you are very unsure you can always inspect the movement. Tissot will engrave their movements, but they will always be a variation of ETA. Fake Tissot watches will often use ETA cloned movements, which are not quite as accurate, nor quite as well finished. Any watch technician will be able to tell if an ETA movement is fake or real by simply taking the caseback off the said watch.
Are Tissot Watches Worth Buying?
This depends on whether you appreciate the brand or not. If you want an entry-level Swiss watch (particularly an automatic) then Tissot are pretty much the go-to brand. You can find good deals from Japanese manufacturers such as Citizen and Seiko, but these are obviously never Swiss-made.
In terms of value for money, prestige and using quality movements, Tissot comes out on top compared to many other brands made outside of Switzerland.
If you’re looking for a high quality Swiss watch, Tissot is probably not the answer. There are many other Swiss brands which produce much more high end pieces with spectacularly made in-house movements. Of course, if you want this level of quality, you’re going to have to pay extra for it. There is no doubt however, that Tissot are a good quality watch brand and very reliable.
Overall, if you are wanting to get in to Swiss automatic watches, there isn’t much better choice than Tissot.
The Best Tissot Watches By Model
Powermatic 80
The Powermatic 80 was a real breakthrough when it was first released and is still impressive today. This movement is available in quite a lot of the Tissot range including the Seastar, but is mostly used in classic Tissot dress watches.
Overall, the powermatic is a great value for money and a great starters watch for anyone looking to get in to automatic watches. The reason being is that you’re getting a Swiss-made ETA automatic movement for a very good price. Not only this, but the power reserve is a massive 80 hours. This means that if you’re new to mechanical watches, you can take this off and never worry about it. Even if you don’t wear it for 2-3 days, you will not have to worry about winding your watch again since it will always be ticking.
T-Race
The distinctive design of the T-Race separates it from all of the other racing themed watches on the market. In general, you have designs such as the Tag Heuer F1 series, with many other brands trying to jump on the bandwagon.
Tissot is mostly associated with motorbike racing and not F1. This can be seen in many of the special edition T-Race boxes, where the watch is presented in a small motorcycle helmet.
In terms of value for money, the T-Race is very average. If you are willing to look, you will easily find Swiss quartz watches for a lot less money. However, given the originality of the design and the reputation of the brand, you will not really find any other watch that looks quite like this. So if you like the work that has gone in to creating this watch, you do not really have any other choices.
Seastar
Seastar is Tissots take on the classic dive watch, most often compared to a Rolex Submariner.
It should first be noted that the Seastar is available in both quartz and automatic. Like any other watch brand, Tissot will of course charge more for an automatic since it costs a lot more to manufacture. The Seastar is a real dive watch (although likely won’t be used for this) as it has up to 300 meters water resistance.
However, in todays day and age, nobody is wearing fashionable watches for scuba diving. Dive watches of the past have become acceptable to wear in social and corporate settings. The seastar is no different and is a good value dive watch which can be worn on any occasian.
PRS 516 Chronograph
If you’re looking for a sports style chronograph, the PRS 516 range is probably best suited for you. Although relatively expensive for what you’re getting, it is still quite a lot cheaper than a Tag Heuer F1. In general, the Tissot PRS 516 & Tag F1 are very similar. They both have a sports style design and are both Swiss-made watches which are quite pricey.
Given that the Tissot is 3x cheaper, it is much better value. In terms of movement, you get a standard ETA quartz, which is very solid, but still a little overpriced. Overall, if you can find another brand that offers a similar design for cheaper, that would likely be better than the PRS.
Couturier
Couturier is the sophisticated model of Tissot. Designed to be an everyday wear which is not loud of flambouyant, it does its job superbly.
In addition to this, the Couturier automatic models are very good value. There are not many (or any I can think of) Swiss made mechanical watches with 80 hour power reserve for anywhere near this price. Couturier is not the cheapest model of Tissot watch, but is still well worth the money. Overall, you will pay a bit extra when comparing this to other entry-level automatic watches, but the quality you receive is well worth it.
Quickster – Budget Choice
Depending on which specific model of quickster you want, you can find a real bargain. Given that the watch pictured above is relatively non-complicated and plain, this is pretty much the cheapest Tissot watch you can buy.
The positives of the quickster are that it is not as loud and one dimensional as many of the other Tissot watches. This is easily something you could wear in a boardroom or in a restuarant on the weekend. It is a lot less remarkable than many of the other Tissot designs, but in fairness is priced accordingly.
T-Touch
The T-Touch is a classic design made by Tissot and has been very consistent since its release all the way back in 1999. Using an ana-digi movement, the watch takes advantage of all the functions it can. Whilst you can wear a T-Touch as an everyday watch, due to its variety of complications, its best used as an outdoors watch. It has the typical ABC (altimeter, barometer, compass) that are so popular on todays smartwatches.
In terms of value for money, the T-Touch is pretty good. There isn’t really anything else on the market to compare it to, other than Chinese made watches which simply don’t get anywhere near it. Of course, you can find similar features on a smartwatch for a similar price, but smartwatches are not really watches. Also the battery will last a lot, lot longer on a T-touch than it will in any kind of modern smartwatch.
T-Complication Squelette
The most expensive watch that Tissot make is the Squelette. First of all, this is a hand wound watch, not an automatic, which is a little disappointing for the price. With that being said, the movement used is an ETA 6497-1 which has an extremely good reputation.
It should be noted that this watch wears pretty large as it has a 48mm case. Not only this, but due to the watch being a skeleton design with blue hands, it is very loud and will attract a lot of attention (wanted or unwanted). In terms of value for money, the watch is not bad, but not too good either. If you were to buy the movement alone, it would set you back in the region of $500, so you can’t really have too many complaints about overpricing.
