Tissot plastic

So apparently the the pallet forks and escape wheels in the tissot PRX powermatic 80s are made of plastic? Not that im disagreeing, but so many people said tissot had replied to this saying it was polymer. But I can find tissot's reply or an article about it anywhere! So please help me out and it to me? Thanks!

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Plastic is a polymer. You want to know if it is a polymer other than plastic?

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Its only in the Powermatic 80.111 which Tissot seems to be very fond of while every other Swatch brand uses 611 Powermatic 80 in even cheaper models.

The rest of the Powermatic variants have traditional materials. Tissot Gentleman uses the 811 Powermatic which tbh is the best watch they make that is very well priced and finished.

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Magstime

Plastic is a polymer. You want to know if it is a polymer other than plastic?

i want to find the article where tissot mentions it is a polymer

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where is the article of news where they admit it or like add to the discussion i cant find it anywhere. Someone please confirm and send the screenshot for it on this discussion tab

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nightfury95

Its only in the Powermatic 80.111 which Tissot seems to be very fond of while every other Swatch brand uses 611 Powermatic 80 in even cheaper models.

The rest of the Powermatic variants have traditional materials. Tissot Gentleman uses the 811 Powermatic which tbh is the best watch they make that is very well priced and finished.

thank you, im making a presentation about the PRX so this is very helpful.

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https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/questions-about-eta-c07-powermatic-80-h-10-etc.5104577/

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There are quite a bit of forums discussing the parts within the Powermatic movement and few have exposed the escapement and pallet forks within the 111 P80 variant.

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Hmmmm?? very interesting ... is the Powermatic 80 variant in the Tissot Le Locle equipped with polymer (plastic) parts? Seems a bit odd in a watch costing $1.4K CDN??

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I get where folks are coming from, but IMO this is another new material that brands are experimenting with. It may or may not be a trend that catches on in the affordable watch world.

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Ah, Tissot did this in the 1970's and many of those are still running. The idea is that it's self lubricating, which is why they have 2 less jewels.

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It's at least an interesting approach. I might get one of those watches out of morbid curiosity.

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Inkitatus

Ah, Tissot did this in the 1970's and many of those are still running. The idea is that it's self lubricating, which is why they have 2 less jewels.

The thought of two less jewels might indeed be unsettling for many potential buyers

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I believe any of the Powermatic 80 movements which say “hi tech escapement” on the rotor are the ones with polymer parts. Still, polymer is self lubricating and resistant to magnetism.

Don’t really care. How many watches out there have a mechanical movement held in place with a nylon movement holder?

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Is the concern that it's not serviceable or won't last as long between service intervals?

It's not as visually pleasing to look at, but from a functionality and budget standpoint I don't understand the issue.

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It’s plastic. I went into a tissot boutique a few months ago and asked them about this (showed them an article) when they were talking about the movement. I remember showing him pics from online, he said he had to look into this.

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Does it really matter though? I’ve not seen very often if ever posts about p80 watches breaking apart because of it 🤔

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Tissot was THE pioneer in durable plastic parts in mechanical movements back in the 70s so I’m not worried that my SeaStar 2K will be around for a very long time

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WATCHmole

Is the concern that it's not serviceable or won't last as long between service intervals?

It's not as visually pleasing to look at, but from a functionality and budget standpoint I don't understand the issue.

From what I have taken, the powermatics are not serviceable and non adjustable.

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Watch movements have always had parts that need to eventually get replaced. Most obvious one is the mainspring. Plastic as a material is perfectly fine or even superior under the right circumstances. Only time will tell how durable these parts on these movements actually are.

The movements are serviceable, just get a quote from Swatch group if you're skeptical. But again, that's not really the point I think. Sometimes movements get swapped out because they are inexpensive enough to do so. The NH35 for example is technically serviceable, but it makes little sense to do so for a movement that costs well under $100. If Swatch Group have made their P80 movement manufacturing so streamlined they can afford to just swap them then that's just a business model, it says nothing about the dependability of the movement. Using the same example, it's widely accepted that the NH35 is very dependable.

In summary, I believe the only thing that matters is reliability. There are Swiss movements out there made entirely with metal parts that have many issues (some Soprod I've heard of). By contrast, I see more people complaining about the plastic parts on P80s than I see people having actual issues with the movement itself. Of course this is anecdotal, but it's my honest experience and opinion.

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Jup, Polymer/ plastic in the basic Powermatic 80, used mostly in the PRX and LeLocle, Gentleman and all other Swatch Group brands use a Nivaflex or Nivechron Hairspring with regular pallets. The idea was cutting costs and a self lubricsting property that mimics silicon components. It runs quite well in my experience but it’s plastic and babyblue nonetheless

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Plastics are carbon polymers.Think of it as "budget silicon". I mean when you think about it shares pretty much all the properties of silicon except that it's a bit softer and won't last quite as long... but it is just as (un)repairable once it does wear down.

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Why on God's green earth would you use plastic? Is it that much cheaper? Things break at their weakest link.

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Look at this cheap PRX movement with plastic in it! Garbage for the plebs! 🤣

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hasenfeffer

Why on God's green earth would you use plastic? Is it that much cheaper? Things break at their weakest link.

Plastic isn't necessarily the weakest link. It depends on the plastic.

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Flolorian

Jup, Polymer/ plastic in the basic Powermatic 80, used mostly in the PRX and LeLocle, Gentleman and all other Swatch Group brands use a Nivaflex or Nivechron Hairspring with regular pallets. The idea was cutting costs and a self lubricsting property that mimics silicon components. It runs quite well in my experience but it’s plastic and babyblue nonetheless

Perhaps if it was Tiffany blue… alright, I’ll see myself out

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Plastic fantastic... puts it in the same league as moonswatch, swatch and (gasp) Casios or Gshock. Not that it wont tell time as well or last longer, just not as premium as you would expect from a "mechanical"...

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Silicone hairspings escapements and pallet fork made from one piece of vibrating flexible polymer is a good thing if the material is engineered and constructed molecularly with newer techniques and technologies, so good question!

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thekris

The issue isn't plastic, it's the placement of that plastic. Somebody above mentioned plastic movement holders. Well, that's a piece that isn't designed to move so it's not subject to friction, torsion, or other forces. There's no reason not to make that out of plastic. If plastic can survive in the ocean or a landfill for 50 million years, it should be fine holding your watch movement for the next 50 years.

Now a pallet fork is different. It's designed to move quite a lot so will be subject to forces that may cause it to fail. The issue is that plastic may (or may not) fail sooner than metal, and I think that's what has people worried. That and the perception that plastic is for throwing away, so this must be a throw-away movement. I don't know what if any plan Tissot has for if/when these parts start to fail, but it seems to me you could replace a plastic part just as easily as a metal one.

Also 50 years from now when it finally fails , AI online will have a one piece watch movement that draws perfect true time in an infinite sweep drawing energy from the quantum vacuum measuring beats In Planck lengths to replace your movement with so give plastic a crack !! Oh and they will only cost you a few thousand satoshi’s ! Send in your watch case and returned asap with above replacement movement bwah …

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JohnnyPop83

From what I have taken, the powermatics are not serviceable and non adjustable.

No it’s cheap enough to replace and examine and improve each iteration with its replacement, it’s a business model , time will tell if works or not hey.

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Fishing nets not plastic straws are the problem Phil , I agree in principle though but if they are upcycled of desolved back into a liquid as synthetic fuel to be clean burned then it’s not plastic I’ve got the problem , its people without your and my sense of what it represents at this present way we collectively think or don’t think , If watches were ceramic and silicone made to not have built in obsolescence and a future repurpose plan for all parts , then the future might still get better ❤️‍🩹. Just a man with too much time on his hands to rant 😂

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H&K has been using polymer for ever,followed by Glock.hope my Tissot p80’s last.😄