Tissot PRX 40mm Powermatic 80 Review

First of all merry Christmas watchcrunch, did you treat yourself at the end of the year?  luckily for one of my friend he got his birthday earlier this december and surprisingly his girlfriend gave him this tissot prx as a birthday present. after tissot released prx few years ago he always wanted to buy one, but never pulled the trigger because some other needs. i can tell that he's very happy with this gift, and im happy for him too. now im borrowed his watch for a few days to take some photograph and reviewed it, so here it is

definition

prx stands for "precise and robust" and x stands for 10 atmospheres for depth

history

1970 - 1980 was the rise of the steel integrated sport watch in the history of watch industry. first zenith came with a 1969 defy (very sure this is the first integrated bracelet sport watch), but then it was audemars piguet royal oak (genta design) which popularized this genre. and suddenly many watch brands jump into this bandwagon altogether patek, iwc, piaget, rolex, etc. then 1978 tissot also released their own integrated bracelet sport watch which is seastar quartz. the seastar quartz from what i know is a clomage to the 1977 rolex datejust oysterquartz. i mean this looks like the same watch with different branding right.

now back at the modern day of 2021 tissot re-released the 1978 seastar with new name and modern specs which is the 40mm prx. it came with two different movement which is quartz with sunburst dial and automatic with waffle dial. one that my friend have is the green automatic variant.

case

the modern day prx case is diametre is 39,25mm with 44,25mm lug to lug width, but it definitely looks larger to wear because of the fixed end link that cannot move (increasing the effective lug to lug to 51mm). it definitely looks too big on my 6,2" wrist because of this fixed end link, i think it could be smaller if you change to the leather strap option. the case was made of 316L stainless steel with mostly brushed finished and small polished area at the bezel. i like the case design, they do chamfer the upper side case so it doesnt feel sharp, but the down side of the case do feel sharp (just like my speedmaster case). i think this area could be improved.

dial and hands

the dial on the automatic prx is waffle dial that remind me of royal oak without the small circular pattern inside the dial which is beautiful in my opinion, i got no complain about it. the hands and the indices consist of baton shaped which fit nicely with overall case design. there are some superluminova lume on the indices and hands.

crystal and backcase

the front prx case was equipped with flat saphirre crystal with antireflective coating which is nice for 650$ watch. the prx also has see through caseback with saphirre crystal on it. in order to remove the caseback i think we need to use ball suction case opener as there arent any grip for the standart case opener. in the term of decoration they do decorated the rotor only with tissot branding and hairline motive i guess, always a fan of see through caseback.

crown and wr

i considered the sport integrated bracelet watch as a form of gada watch so the 100m wr is enough for everyday use even if it doesnt have a screw down crown. the crown size is nice, easy to grip, and i like that they put tissot logo in it.

movement

now this is the most controversial topic on the watch, the powermatic 80 / eta c07111. from my deep dive into the internet basically tissot modified the base eta 2824-2 and the different are:

• they bring down the vibration from 28800bph to 21600bph, the hands maybe not as smooth as the 2824-2 but on the positive site the power reserve is increase to 80 hours.

• they have less jewel which is 23 compared to the 25 jewel on 2824-2.

• no regulator (etachron), but i found on the other forum that said it can be regulated but not as easy as other movement that have regulator.

• escapement wheel and pallet fork made from plastic. some says its a good things because it is self lubricated, however there are some report i found that it is hard to source the part if the watchmaker didnt have a swatch account. just a things to consider if you want to bought a watch with this movement.

bracelet and clasp

for the bracelet design im not really a fan of, for me its a little bit too plain. in the terms of quality and feel is a little bit better than entry level seiko bracelet, bracelet movement feel nice not too loose, equipped with quick release which is nice, but on the negative side the brushed finishing feels a bit rough (i compared to my orient miltat bracelet and the brushed feels more premium in my opinion), also there are many sharp edge on the side and on the transition between the bracelet and the clasp. but i like the butterfly clasp on this watch, not the most practical but i like the seamless look.

conclusion

the tissot prx definitely split the people into two categories, some like it and the other hated it. while it is not a perfect watch, im happy as we the watch enthusiast got an affordable option for this integrated bracelet type watch (other option is citizen tsuyosa), even the cw twelve price are more expensive than prx. also kudos to tissot to released the 35mm option for smaller wrist consumer. so do you guys like the prx? did you own one? thx for reading, cheers.🍺