Tissot PRC 200 Powermatic 80

I’ve been waiting for the Tissot PRC 200 with the Powermatic movement to become available since last fall.  Finally it has trickled onto the American retail market and I found one at a great price that I couldn’t resist.  By the way, don’t let the photos on Tissot’s site or other retailers web pages sway you.  This watch is bright, brilliant, and down right shiny.  I just don’t understand why watch companies post such dull pictures of their product.

Anyway, I just realized a few things.  Tissot is pronounced TEE SO and the PRC stands for Precision, Robustness, and Classic.  You ought to know these things when you wear  their watch!

The watch is powered by ETA’s Powermatic 80 movement.  I have that movement in another Tissot, the Luxury Automatic, but this version has added the day display to the date.  Here’s a good rundown on how ETA achieved the 80 hour power reserve.  Another article goes into a little more detail on its claimed accuracy.  Apparently the new escapement has no regulator and it is pegged by laser at the factory.

Here’s the specs on the watch:

-Sapphire crystal

-anti-reflective coating

-660 feet of water resistance

-screw down crown

-39mm width and 11.9mm thick

The case is interesting in of itself. The small bezel is highly polished while the rest of the case is brushed, interrupted by lines of polished stainless steel. The case measures 39mm across, which to some might seem small against today’s watches that are bloated to 50mm!  In all reality, this watch is 95% dial and looks big as a result.

As I said, the small bezel is highly polished which flows over to the dial.  The markers, hands, and the day/date frame are just as polished.  The watch catches the light and just seems “exuberant.”

I choose the dark blue dial, which I think highlights the stainless steel markers and hands.  The outer ring which slants into the dial has printed hashes and numerals for minutes.  That transitions into concentric grooves onto which hour markers are placed, as well as the numbers 12, 6, and 9.

The framed day/date sits at 3 o’clock.  One of the reasons I wanted this watch was the addition of the day function to the Powermatic movement.  Not only did Tissot add this feature, they made sure to fully frame the day and date, thus hiding the separate  day and date rings.  A minor thing, but seeing the wheels cheapens a good watch in my opinion.

Finally, the inner dial is flat surface.

The crown as I noted is screw down.  It is remarkably large (making winding a breeze) and it is decorated by a large “T”.

The back of the case has an exhibition window which shows off a charcoal rotor which is slightly decorated.  The rest of the  movement is unadorned.

The movement has 23 jewels and beats at a rate of 21,600.

The bracelet is stainless steel.  The larger links are brushed while the smaller ones are polished.  The clasp is a fold over that includes a safety release.

A blue dial, a highly polished bezel, and a Powermatic movement with a day and date function—what isn’t to like?