Review of Tissot PR 100 (Ladies and men’s)
These two models from Tissot are really outside of my normal range of watches, but since I had the chances to handle them I was interested what 400-500 dollars could buy in the mechanical watch world. From my previous review of the Orient Mako we found what the Japanese had to offer at the 110 and 200-dollar levels. It can pretty much be summarized up as stamped clasp, stamped end link, in house roughly finished non-hacking automatic movement, and excellent value if you pick correctly. Now that we’ve gone to the Swiss, it can be expected you’ll get less value Surprisingly it seems that since the near-death experience of the quartz crisis, Le Locle has been able to get its act together and produce excellent value.
These two models from Tissot are really outside of my normal range of watches, but since I had the chances to handle them I was interested what 400-500 dollars could buy in the mechanical watch world. From my previous review of the Orient Mako we found what the Japanese had to offer at the 110 and 200-dollar levels. It can pretty much be summarized up as stamped clasp, stamped end link, in house roughly finished non-hacking automatic movement, and excellent value if you pick correctly. Now that we’ve gone to the Swiss, it can be expected you’ll get less value Surprisingly it seems that since the near-death experience of the quartz crisis, Le Locle has been able to get its act together and produce excellent value.
The first thing that appeals to me is the tame size of the
watches, the women’s is 27mm while the men’s is 37mm. The 37mm hits the sweet
spot for a dressier watch (I believe the optimal is between 35 and 38mm).
This review will apply to both the women’s and men’s version
of the PR 100 since the differences are only in the size and movement, which
I’ll comment on separately at the end.
Dial/Hands
The dial is surprisingly complex for a watch of this price,
while guilloche and blue hands are totally absent, the black dial has a crisp
circular brushed pattern, but upon careful observation, there is a hint of
brown which helps add depth to the dial. I’m not sure whether this is the brass
underneath showing through the paint or because the paint has is simply dark
brown, but it’s a nice touch.
The white printing is good but not flawless as the edges of
letters can be a bit rough. The applied markers are relatively plain but I have
no suspicion they’ll be falling off like those on a Canal street Rolex.
The hands are lumed (presumably with superluminova) but I
would count on reading it in the middle of the night. The overall layout is
good and without too much excessive clutter. The date is small but that’s the
nature of the small non-big date movement.
Case
The case is made of stainless steel, but I’m not sure if
it’s 316L or an alternative. But it feels solid, even the engraving on the
caseback is machined instead of laser engraved. Thankfully the retainer ring
(as viewed without opening the case) seems to be metal instead of plastic,
which helps with the feeling of the watch. The case is tastefully brushed with
a polished bezel and simply does its job quite nicely. A nice touch is the
slight space on the back of the case which really makes the crown much easier
to operate. One point of concern is that despite the supposed 100m water
resistance, the crown is not screw in and the case back appears to be snap on,
but I trust that these dress watches aren’t the watch of choice for COMEX.
Bracelet
Watches are like this is probably why my childhood dream
Rolex ownership ended in two weeks. The Rolex had hollow center bracelet links
and stamped end links, all while costing over 10 times as much. In fact the
Bracelet value alone could buy both the gent’s and ladies PR 100 with change to
spare to go on a dinner date wearing both. But I digress; the bracelet is made
of solid links with solid end links. The SEL should help the durability
immensely as stamped end links tend to deform with a few years of wear (they
can be repaired by bending them back in shape, but it’s not exactly preferred).
The removable links are held with pins, as is standard on lower priced watches.
Ironically, some think that expanded pins are more secure than the more
expensive and more upscale spring bars (for 5+ row bracelets) or screws: I tend
to agree while still preferring screws.
The clasp is stamped, but feels reasonably okay. Overall the
bracelet has a slightly loose feeling, but I see no reason why it wouldn’t be
durable. It just doesn’t feel extremely well finished.
Movement
While both movements can be considered “in-house”, they’re
arguably the most commonly found movements in any watch that claims to be swiss
made today. Unlike similarly priced watches from Japan, the movement has both
quick set date and has a hack seconds function. Strangely enough, the women’s
version has a slightly better finished movement, not that it counts for much.
The women’s ETA 2671 has a brushed finish on a few bridges while the men’s is
plainly matte throughout. Neither will qualify for the Poiçon de Geneve or the
Qualite Fleurier so finishing is a null point. The 2824 is a notably well
performing movement that actually won the Concours internationale de
chronometrie in 2011 for the non-tourbillon category. I’m sure the ETA 2671 is also
a well performing and rugged movement, but its smaller size makes it inherently
more fault prone.
Value
So it would seem that despite all the power that the “Swiss
Made” label has, a good value can still be had. The quality of the finish came
at a bit of a surprise to me, in a good way. It meets many more of the
criterion for a good watch than could be expected at the price point. Solid end
links, in-house movement, and sapphire crystals are all there. Would I
personally wear the watch? No. But I can still admire the excellent value it
represents. They’re still good looking watches, both of a reasonable diameter
and thickness, and also with tastefully executed bracelets. It’s a good daily
wearer, in the truest sense of the term.
