Tissot Watches: The Entry to Swiss Watchmaking

For a lot of buyers, Tissot is the moment a watch stops being an accessory and starts being a purchase. The company has made watches in Le Locle, in the Swiss Jura, since 1853, and today it sells genuinely Swiss watches at prices that start below many fashion brands. Its single biggest success of recent years is the PRX, a revival of a 1970s steel watch with an integrated bracelet, which brought the most fashionable shape in watchmaking to a price most people can reach. This guide covers the US range, with prices from Tissot's own US site, and is honest about where the extra money over a Japanese watch goes.

Watch Index · prices checked October 9, 2026

The watches in this guide, ranked

Every watch this guide mentions, ranked by Value Score or by what one watch costs today with each store's current offer counted.

Why the PRX became Tissot's best known watch

The PRX takes a Tissot design from the late 1970s: a flat, tonneau shaped steel case, a bracelet of short links that flows straight out of it, and a slim bezel around a simple dial. That is the integrated bracelet sports watch, a look whose best known Swiss versions start at about $13,500. Tissot sells it for a fraction of that, and it is the closest any affordable watch gets to those proportions and that finish. We compare it with every cheaper alternative in our guide to integrated bracelet watches.

The range is simple once you see it as a grid of size and movement:

• Quartz, 40mm: the Tissot PRX 40mm at $450, with a smooth sunray dial.
• Automatic, 40mm: the Tissot PRX Powermatic 80 40mm at $850, with the textured waffle pattern dial and a display caseback.
• Automatic, 35mm: the Tissot PRX Powermatic 80 35mm at $795, the same design scaled down.
• Quartz, 35mm in gold tone: the Tissot PRX 35mm at $575, with a golden PVD case and bracelet and a champagne dial.

The quartz PRX is the better value; the automatic is the better watch, because the movement and the dial are both a real step up.

What does Powermatic 80 mean?

Powermatic 80 is the automatic movement Tissot uses across much of its range. The number refers to its power reserve: around 80 hours, according to Tissot, which means you can take the watch off on Friday evening and it will still be running on Monday morning. Most affordable automatics, including Seiko's 4R36, run for around 40 hours. Some versions also use a silicon balance spring, which Tissot says resists magnetism. If you are new to mechanical watches, how automatic watches work explains why power reserve matters day to day.

The rest of the range

PR 100: the entry point

The Tissot PR 100 40mm at $350 is the least expensive Tissot we would recommend. It is a 40mm steel quartz watch on a bracelet with a quick release system, and Tissot lists a sapphire crystal and a 316L steel case. It lacks the PRX's design status, but it is a properly made Swiss watch for the price of a mid range Seiko.

Gentleman: the everyday dress watch

The Tissot Gentleman 40mm Quartz at $495 and the Tissot Gentleman Powermatic 80 at $950 are round, conservative watches built to sit under a shirt cuff. The automatic version is one of the best all round watches Tissot makes, though it costs nearly twice the quartz.

Le Locle: the traditional automatic

Named after the town Tissot still calls home, the Tissot Le Locle Powermatic 80 at $715 is a 39.3mm dress automatic on a strap, with Roman numerals and a display caseback. It is the most classical watch in the range.

Seastar: the diver

The Tissot Seastar 1000 40mm at $515 is the quartz version of Tissot's dive watch, with a rotating bezel and a 40mm case. For more on real divers at this price, see the best dive watches under $500.

Tissot at a glance

*as listed on each brand's US website, October 2026

Is Tissot worth the premium over Japanese brands?

Partly. At the same price as a PRX quartz you could buy a Citizen Tsuyosa automatic, and a Seiko 5 Sports costs less than either. What Tissot gives you is design (the PRX in particular), the Powermatic 80's long reserve, and the Swiss name, which some buyers value and others do not. Tissot's two year warranty is shorter than Seiko's three or Citizen's five. We go through these trade offs properly in Japanese vs Swiss watches.

The PRX look for less

If the PRX appeals for its shape and its textured dial rather than its movement, there are cheaper ways to wear the style. The Lucky Fours Oceanus, shown above, pairs an integrated steel bracelet with an octagonal bezel and a blue checkered dial for $79.99, with a quartz movement and a 316L stainless steel case. It is not Swiss and does not claim to be; it is simply the look for much less money. The PRX remains the better watch.

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