10,000th Review of the Tissot PRX

I have been told my reviews are too long (how dare you)! so here is my attempt to shorten them and become more to the point and succinct! I will be changing the grading business where each category will be out of 10 and a total score out of 40. And yes, this will be 10,000th Tissot PRX review but I wanted to have a crack at reviewing a truly sentimental watch! 

Sizing (including wearability on the wrist):

This integrated bracelet offering from Tissot has a case diameter of 40mm. Lug to lug is difficult to measure with the solid protruding end links. So if you measure out to the fixed links, it is 50mm. After removing the links it wears very nicely on the wrist so much so that the watch even slides perfectly under a business shirt. Forget lug width. It does not have one! but folks are starting to offer straps. Artisan Straps is one of them (PRX Artisan Straps Link). 

Grade: 8/10

Movement: Yes yes yes it has plastic bits. But millions of PRX (I assume) have been bought and worn and I am yet to see/hear a lot of complaints. I have the version with the Powermatic 80 providing 80h of power reserve with a Nicachron balance hairspring. And this ensures a fairly impressive antimagnetic performance. Simply said the feeling of putting it down on a Friday and then picking it back up on Monday for work and it still ticking away is just AWESOME. Accuracy for the 8 months I have had this watch has also been awesome. It is running on average at +2s/day. I also like Tissot's transparency with the replacement cost of the movement on their website. So total cost of ownership is also calculable.

Grade: 9/10

Bracelet: This is the start of the show for me! You may want to put or buy this watch on a strap, but the watch does NOT work the same without the bracelet. With a butterfly clasp, it is the star of the show just the way it shines when the light hits it. And be it indoor lighting or sunlight, it really elevates the watch into the accessible luxury realm. It is also very comfortable to wear and it does not declare war on your arm hair.

Grade: 10/10 

Case and Dial: The colour of the dial is ice blue and it is the same colour as my wife's dad's first car. No wonder this watch is more on her wrist than mine! Need I say more? OK I will give it a shot. The patterned dial adds depth and texture to the dial that elevates this watch to a new stratosphere. Simple hands and a white date dial make this watch truly a great homage to its 1970s predecessor. Simple text makes the dial look uncluttered (take notes Rolex!). To conclude: clean, simple, and classy.

Grade: 9/10

Overall Grade: 36 out of 40. 

What are your alternatives? Christopher Ward, Rolex OysterQuartz, AP Royal Oak, Patek Phillipe Nautilus, Nivada Grenchen F77 OR  Zenith Defy Skyline. And I am sure I am missing a few but none of the alternatives are as accessible and look as luxurious and classy as the Tissot PRX Powermatic 80

Greatest Seiko Ever

Even my wife loves this watch! That's right ..... She likes a watch I bought. That fact alone does 50% of the heavy lifting for this Seiko to be anointed as the greatest Seiko of all time in my books! 

Is everyone done with my hyperbolies? OK, awesome. Now let us get the facts out of the way first. The technical specifications go a long way not only to elevate your wrist game but make it suitable for wrists of multiple sizes.

Case Material: Stainless Steel

Case Diameter: 42mm (wears smaller)

Case Thickness: 13mm

Band Material: Stainless Steel

Band Width: 21mm

Movement: Quartz

Caliber: 7T62

Chronograph Function: Yes

Alarm Function: Yes

Slide Rule Bezel: Yes

Dial Color: Black

Crystal: Hardlex

Water Resistance: 200 meters (660 feet)

Luminous Hands and Markers: Yes

Clasp: Deployment Clasp

Height: 12mm tall 

Lug to Lug: 44mm

Movement: 

The movement is a 7T62 grab-and-go quartz movement. Frequency of 32,768 Hz and boasts and accuracy of plus minus 15 seconds a month. And let me tell you it runs a LOT better than the specifications state. Although the stated battery life is 3 years, I am 4 years into owning this watch and I am yet to require a battery change. But my favourite function has to be the second time zone function. If you pull out the crown to the outermost position and press the bottom pusher, you can set the watch to any time you want, which really helps me set the time to Indian timezone. And yes that is important to me cause not only is that my home country, but it is one of those half-hour timezones which makes it awkward to track using a GMT hand.

Grade: A+

Case: 

Stainless steel case with 2 screw-down pushers which help add to the 200m water resistance. Brushed lugs and a polished case, create a wonderful contrast. Two screw-down pushers at the 2 and 4 o'clock position along with a screw-down crown give this watch an impressive 200m WR (which is insane for an aviation watch like the Flighty). So it has combined the best of both worlds, a pilot's watch and a dive watch. The bezel is obvious and made of stainless steel with an aluminum insert. The sawtooth edge makes it easy to grab and rotate. The friction is also perfect for the bi-directional bezel. The colorways on the bezel match perfectly with the colours on the dial. Are you ever going to use the bezel? Most likely no. But better to have such a bezel and not need it, rather than needing it and not having it right? 

Grade: A

Bracelet: 

This is probably the weakest link of this watch. With the polished center links, it is an absolute scratch magnet. But that is not the worst of it, cause I always love to wear my watches on the bracelet, it is the second link away from lugs that really sticks out like a sore thumb and it is NOT smooth at all as you will see in the pic below. Another negative is the bracelet does not taper at all. Does not bug me too much but I can see why it might frustrate a few. However, there are 4 holes of micro-adjust and it is super comfortable, so if you can get over that one less-than-pretty link in the bracelet, it is awesome! 

Grade: B+

Dial: 

This is the start of the show! The busyness and the layering of the dial is simply spectacular. Together with the bezel, and the inner chapter ring, the number of functions available for you to play around with is an overkill. But it is not an overkill in a negative sense. It might look really busy but, somehow the use of the real estate is clean and classy. Even the details around the applied Seiko logo, the applied hour markers, and even the polished hands of the subdials is simply perfect. The design of the dial makes the Flighty perfect for a boardroom and also the beach! yes, that is the range of this watch! The hardlex crystal and the distortions it creates are also mesmerizing. And the icing is the yellow tachymeter and 12-clock subdial. Just adds a pop to the watch! 

Grade: A+ (triple plus)

Overall Grade: A. Buy it while they are still available for reasonable prices! You will not regret it! Want a tool watch for all occasions! SNA411 is the answer!