Tissot is well known today as an entry level luxury watch brand, Tissot was founded in 1853 by Charles-Felicien Tissot and his son Charles-Emile in the Swiss city of Le Locle.
They have produced the first dual time zone watch in 1853, probably this was the first dual time zone pocket watch in history; as well as the first anti-magnetic watch in 1929.
Also they have introduced the first plastic watch in 1971; also watches out of stones and wood
Tissot merged with Omega in 1930, and watches out of this era are sought after by collectors.
Tissot has joined Swatch group in 1983, and since then they have moved into a different segment and targeting broader market segments.
The watch under discussion today is the PRC200 Automatic Chronograph;
This was my first mechanical chronograph ever, and I actually blame it for the watch collecting hobby, this bug that hit me hard few years back.
The PRC200 is an amazing time piece and one of their most popular watches in their line;
It has a lot of variant movements, dials and case designs.
The one discussed today is the grey dial automatic chronograph, model T014427
It is a chunky watch measuring around 43.5 mm, and around 53 mm lug to lug.
The hands are the classic thin sword hands on most of the PRC200 line, with a small rounded date window.
The seconds and minutes sub dials have a nice texture to them, which gives the watch a nice and unique look.
Printing on the dial is flawless as you expect from a Tissot, and the hours markers are applied nicely, with dual ones on the 12, 3, 6 & 9 hours, which is a kind of unique and nice touch.
The case is highly polished with 2 thin brushed strips on the side, I personaly prefer brushed cases or at least brushed sides, but the polished case here give the watch a real luxury and dressy feel.
The bracelet is mainly polished so it can easily get scratches and desk marks, also it has hallow end links and was a bit rattly, I wore it with the bracelet for 2 years, but when I started putting it on leather straps, I started to admire it more and more, and it started to get a lot more wrist time.
The watch height is about 16mm, so it is really chuncky and can’t get easily under cuffs; which contradicts the dressy feel and look.
The lugs are nicely curved downwards, but because of the case back size, it doesn’t really sit well on small wrists.
The screw-down crown is signed, but it is on the smaller size, so unscrew it is sometimes hard.
The chronograph pushers are a bit stiff, but I rarely use them, so maybe that’s why, I really don’t know.
Te exhibition case back is gorgeous, although the movement is not heavily decorated but it is really pleasant to stare at every now and then.
The movement is the solid ETA C01.211 which was introduced in 2009. When my watch was new the movement wasn’t that accurate for the first 6 months, with around +5 mins a week, afterwards it became extremely accurate with around -15 sec a week,
The crystal is a flat sapphire one, which sits around 1mm above the case; it looks great.
Despite of all the negatives I’ve mentioned above, I love this watch, it is a very unique watch, and too me it is a keeper.
Also no one can beat the price which is around 600$; Swiss Made Automatic Chronograph, tell me where you can find these specifications below the 1500$ mark.
I’ve also tried it on natos and zulus, it became chunkier but it gave the watch a unique sporty look, that really fascinated me.
