It’s always nice when a watch brand has a She’s All That moment. Usually, that happens thanks to the release of a ‘hype watch’ – an instant classic that totally changes the conversation around a brand’s place in the market almost overnight.
This is most definitely the case with Tissot and the PRX Powermatic 80. It’s not as if the brand has a bad reputation before, obviously – generally speaking, it was known for very decent, well made and affordably priced dress watches, making great use of sister company ETA for movements that provided plenty of bang for buck in the performance department. But the PRX Powermatic 80, a 2021 reimagining of a heritage quartz model from the late 1970s, became one of the hype watches of last year thanks to its newly trendy integrated sports-watch aesthetic and the Powermatic 80 calibre that powered it.
Thanks to the continued popularity of the PRX (green-dial and chronograph variants have just been released), Tissot has a unique chance to ride the crest of a wave of its own making. Its newest, collection the Seastar, does just this: gone are the classic safe-bet dressy aesthetics; the line features chunky, bold modern divers in both form and function. A unidirectional dive bezel is present on all of them, with a mix of 36-46mm case sizes in an array of dial colours and finishes, available on steel bracelets and fabric or rubber straps.
The Seastar T-Sport 2000 Professional, a true diver's watch
The Tissot Seastar 100, with quartz movement and 36mm case
In a similar way that the original PRX borrowed much of its look from Vacheron Constantin’s Historiques 222 (which itself is now newly re-released for 2022, possibly in response to the PRX Powermatic 80’s popularity), the collection has more than a bit of Rolex Yacht-Master about it, especially the T-Sport Seastar 1000 on an integrated rubber strap. The 2000 Professional meanwhile, is a proper dive watch: a 43mm case, 600m of water resistance, ISO 6425-standard, black PVD coating, a beautifully textured blue dial and that Powermatic 80 movement keeping things ticking over, and still under £1,000. It’s another big win for the Swiss brand, and one that should help continue a notable and impressive return to relevance.
From £345; tissotwatches.com
