sacramento kings standings n the last decade, there have been several contenders for the best-value automatic watch. Something in the vein of “the first watch you buy when you’re just getting into the hobby.” I’m talking pieces like the Seiko SKX007, or the Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical. Two years ago, Tissot unveiled a throwback watch that pays homage to a quartz model from the 1970s. It was called the Tissot PRX – an integrated bracelet steel sports watch for under $400. While cool (very cool), its lack of pure mechanics kept it on the other side of the room from the aforementioned models. All that changed with the introduction of the Tissot PRX Powermatic 80.
Effectively, this was a mechanical variation on the PRX theme. It maintained the 40mm integrated design but added a patterned dial in a variety of colors. The most sacramento kings standings popular is the blue dial version which (we have to say it) is quite reminiscent of a certain similarly styled watch that costs many multiples more than this one. But hey, no one brand owns the steel sports watch design, and no one brand owns the ability to add a little depth and visual interest to a dial.
And with that, we are left with the subject of today’s review – the blue dial PRX Powermatic 80. It’s a watch that has entered the cultural conversation both in an out of the small niche world of watches. I recall seeing a television commercial for this watch during NBA All-Star weekend last year. I’ve seen it on wrists from colleagues here at Hodinkee to complete strangers on the New York subway.
To say that the PRX is popular would be an understatement. Now, the quartz version presents incredible value at $395, but I will argue that the $675 price tag of the Powermatic is even more value-packed. With it, you are getting a watch sacramento kings standings with heritage from a historic brand fitted with an ETA-based caliber (on the ETA 2824, via the ETA CO7.111). On top of that, you get a seriously great bracelet and clasp system.
A lot of the quality and value inherent to this watch is a byproduct of an often-maligned element of the industry, the watch group conglomerate structure. In this case, the Swatch Group which owns Tissot. Through this system, Tissot is able to achieve lower costs and receive higher quality movement through Swatch’s ownership of ETA. We see the same sort of thing when it comes to Hamilton (also part of the Swatch Group). To me, this allows a better product to reach a wider audience at a lower price. It’s all upside really.
I’ve long been intrigued by the Tissot PRX. I realize that it is based on a ’70s quartz Seastar so it has heritage in that respect. But I also know that it looks sacramento kings standings very much like certain watches from AP and Patek. What I was most interested in while spending a week with this Tissot PRX Powermatic 80 is whether it would feel like a budget luxury or its own thing. There was only one way to find out.
Handling the Tissot PRX for the first time, what initially struck me was the heft and overall quality of the watch. It’s not like I was expecting it to feel like plastic or something, but somehow I anticipated a lightness or a sense that Tissot had cut corners somewhere. None of that was true. From the dial to the hands to the angles of the case to the flexibility of the bracelet to the clasp, everything on this watch felt well constructed, thoughtful, and of a piece.
There’s no denying the pseudo-faux-Tapisserie effect at play on the dial. Somehow it is easy to look past on this watch and I think I know why. Even though the PRX is playing on design motifs that date back to the ’70s, there’s a styling to the PRX logo that feels like it’s pulled from a 1980s movie poster. The dial pattern similarly gives off this sort of effect that feels like square pixels and has me wanting to put my Tron VHS on a tube television. Call me crazy, fair enough, that’s just one man’s opinion.
But that effect sacramento kings standings dictates what it feels like to wear this watch. Walking down the streets of Williamsburg in Brooklyn (for those thinking I meant the colonial variety), I had the urge to throw some Journey songs on my headphones, and I hate Journey unless we’re talking the Sopranos finale.
I digress. What I found most interesting about the wearing experience with the PRX was just how luxe it feels on the wrist. I began to think back to the idea of the perfect first watch, and the Tissot PRX Powermatic 80 began to really fit that mold. For way less than $1,000, you’re getting a watch that wears like $20k – especially to passersby.
While I understand that Tissot’s target demographic for this watch is the young watch buyer, I can’t help but see this thing become an enthusiast darling if it isn’t already. Sure, it’s two years old but these things take time to really catch on. And I think we are finally starting to see it transition from a niche object to a broader wrist presence.I’ll never forget last year’s NBA playoffs when social media thought Klay Thompson was wearing a Vacheron Constantin 222 only to realize it was a gold Tissot PRX. The watch looks and wears like that. It punches way…way above its weight.
Here we have a quartz-crisis era re-edition that is playing in the same sandbox as the PRX by offering a steel sports watch design with an integrated bracelet. With this sacramento kings standings watch, you get a blue dial with a detailed pattern and automatic movement. Unlike the PRX, this piece slots in just north of $1,000.
Clearly, the 1970s were the age of integrated bracelet design. The Zenith Defy Skyline is hardly competition (given the price) unless you are the kind of person that buys a Tissot PRX and gets so enamored with the overall design of it that the only logical next purchase is a more expensive watch with a similar look, and feel.
That line of thinking would logically take you here, the watch most people see when they look at a PRX. This is only competition insofar as we are talking about the general design tenants of the watch: the fact that it’s steel, the fact that it has an automatic movement with an exhibition caseback, the fact that it has a blue dial with a pattern, and the fact that it tells the time. Other than that, these pieces belong in entirely different horological universes.
Concluding Thoughts
Continuing on my line of thinking as it pertains to the AP Royal Oak, I think it’s really something that we are even having this conversation. It is no mistake that the PRX contains this certain aesthetic. And while I could rail against the watch and the brand for going this route, I think it only does good things for the watch, a potential buyer, and the hobby at large.
I enjoyed my sacramento kings standings time with this watch and imagined myself as someone experiencing mechanical timekeeping throughout my week with it. It was cosplay of sorts, but it put me in the right headspace to enjoy the watch properly. When I came to, I realized I just like the watch full stop.
Aside from the MoonSwatch, it’s hard to think of a budget-friendly watch that has broken out of the watch world and into the real one. The Tissot PRX is certainly such a watch and it will be interesting to watch how its influence grows in the years to come. he Tissot PRX is one of the few watches that comes without any caveats. Just a fun, well-designed, reasonably priced watch – a breed that sometimes feels in short supply nowadays.
Well, there was one caveat: At 40mm and an effective lug-to-lug around 51mm, the original Tissot PRX Powermatic 80 was too big for some wrists (read: my wrists). With the introduction of a smaller 35mm version, now there’s PRX fun for nearly everyone.
In June, Tissot announced it was bringing the Powermatic 80 movement to the 35mm PRX. While the smaller PRX has long been available with a quartz movement and smooth dial, Tissot was giving the midsized PRX the big boy treatment.
The modern Tissot PRX takes its inspiration from the Tissot Seastar, an integrated-bracelet sports watch from the 1970s that rode the groovy vibe of integrated-bracelet sports watches. sacramento kings standings The modern PRX does the same, offering an affordable alternative to those other integrated bracelet watches.
Let’s start with the specs of the PRX Powermatic 35mm. It’s 10.9mm thick and has a lug-to-lug of 39mm, but wears like 44mm long because the first bracelet link is fixed. The case finishing is familiar from the larger PRX: mostly brushed, but with plenty of polished surfaces for contrast, including the bezel, case bevels, and inner flanks of the bracelet.
The bracelet tapers sacramento kings standings nicely to a butterfly clasp. The clasp feels a bit plastic-y and doesn’t have the satisfying “click” of a more expensive bracelet, but I think such satisfaction costs more than 700 bucks in 2023. There’s no micro-adjust, but the bracelet links are relatively short and I didn’t have a problem finding a nice fit.