Confession time: I’ve long been something of a Tissot PRX skeptic. The ultra popular watches have found a wide and enthusiastic audience, but for me they always seemed just a little too much like a Royal Oak homage. I know, I know – they are based on watches from the Tissot back catalog and a side by side comparison reveals plenty of obvious differences. It’s a somewhat irrational position, perhaps, but they feel a little too close for comfort if observed from a distance. But Tissot recently revealed a pair of new watches in the PRX line that took me by surprise in how much I was immediately drawn to them, and taken together they are possibly the most unconventional and visually striking watches in this collection to date.
There’s a huge variety of PRX watches out there – it’s a line that has become the centerpiece of Tissot’s expansive catalog in recent years. There are quartz and mechanical versions of these watches in multiple sizes (40mm and 35mm), as well as a mechanical chronograph. Tissot has also made the PRX in a dizzying array of colors, with gold plated case options as well. The newly introduced variants fall in the PRX Powermatic 80 camp, so they feature Tissot’s 80 hour automatic movement, and each comes in at the 40mm size.
The release that seemed to garner the most traction from the most online members of the watch community was the new PRX with a forged carbon case. This is the first time forged carbon has been used in a PRX, and it immediately strikes me as a very contemporary look for a watch that is normally loaded with 1970s design cues. It also feels like a sibling to last year’s Tissot Sideral, which was a surprise hit for Tissot that also featured a forged carbon case. It seems likely that Tissot saw the success of that watch and made the very sensible decision to bring the material to the PRX line.
The forged carbon PRX however differs from the Sideral in a significant way (beyond the obvious difference in case shape and the overarching style). The Sideral’s secret weapon was the bold dial color options that complemented the forged carbon case, while the PRX is a more traditional all black take on the forged carbon concept. It lends the piece a more serious and tactical feel. The dial is also forged carbon, which gives everything a cohesive look, and draws out more obvious differences from watch to watch (no two examples will be exactly the same due to the nature of the forged carbon material).
Just as I’m not usually a PRX guy, I’m also not typically a forged carbon guy, but what can I say? I think this watch looks great. I am certainly drawn from time to time to an all black sports watch, and this version of the PRX reminds me quite a bit, at least at a glance, of the Zenith Defy Classic in black ceramic that I used to own. By the numbers, it would likely wear somewhat similarly. The case shape (and the way it’s mounted to an integrated rubber strap) is familiar, and the PRX measures a slim 11.2mm tall and is just 44mm from lug to lug.
The new PRX to drop at the same time as the forged carbon release is actually a pair of watches with attractive gradient dials (known officially and simply as the PRX 40 Gradient Dial editions). These watches, in stainless steel cases and mounted to integrated bracelets, are actually the references I’d choose among the new releases just announced. There are two options available, one with a gradient from a cool light blue to a much darker shade, and the other from black to a similarly dark shade of blue. Each, it would appear, plays with the light in interesting ways, and you can see tones of purple and a variety of blues throughout. The gradient effect is also executed from 12:00 to 6:00 along the dial’s y-axis, rather than from the center, which is a fun and unique change of pace that Tissot deserves some credit for.
These watches have similar specs to previously released editions of the PRX, but it’s worth pointing out that the forged carbon’s case height at 11.2mm is just a tad thicker than standard for the 40mm reference, which is 10.9mm and reflected in the gradient releases. Also, while both feature Powermatic 80 movements, the forged carbon uses the upgraded “Si” version, which incorporates a silicon hairspring for additional magnetic resistance.
The new Tissot PRX Powermatic 80 releases with gradient dials retail for $725, and the forged carbon PRX has a retail price of $995. Tissot
