When it comes to ladies’ watches, Tissot is known for its well-priced automatics, specifically containing the celebrated Powermatic 80 movement. But the brand is also known for its great design and value-for-money features, particularly when it comes to utilitarian day-wear watches for women, and that carries over to its quartz watches. The new Tissot Flamingo and Tissot PR100 Lady Sport Chic models are both robust day watches with quality elements, including impressive water resistance and plenty of options – exactly what women are looking for right now.
There are four new references in the Flamingo collection, including two stainless steel models, one full yellow gold PVD, and one full rose gold PVD. The new features are examples of the value/quality ration, including a reworked dial that has a thin ring in the same hue as the case, 12 diamonds to mark the hours, and a bracelet that has been reworked to make it more tapered. The ring-shaped links decrease in size as they reach the clasp. The overall look and feel is that of a piece of jewelry, including a clasp that opens discreetly on the side. The asymmetrical lugs add a design element that further enhances the jewelry feel.
The movement is quartz, with an all-important end-of-life (EOL) battery indicator. This is a great feature because it is addresses the reason so many women (well, this woman) will not wear quartz if they can afford an automatic. It is annoying to pick up the watch you want to wear on a given day only to find that the battery is dead. An automatic or manual-wound mechanical watch only requires winding and resetting. With quartz, you have to take it to a jeweler or watch repair store and either wait or leave it there while someone (perhaps not even a watchmaker) opens the case and replaces the battery. The EOL indicator takes the surprise out of battery replacement, so you can at least plan ahead.
Other elements of the Flamingo are top notch. It has a sapphire crystal. The 26mm case is 316L, the highest quality of stainless steel, and it is water-resistant to 50m, the acceptable standard for sports watches, and pretty robust for a ladies’ bracelet watch. Another great bonus is the self-adjusting bracelet, with removable links small enough for almost micro adjustments. The diamonds are also top-notch – Top Wesselton, to be specific, which is the watch industry’s way of saying high color – F or G, which is very white. It generally also means high clarity, because it wouldn’t make sense to use diamonds of such a high color without top clarity values as well, which means VS or VVS. Tissot also guarantees its diamonds are purchased from legitimate sources and are conflict-free.
The new PR100 Lady Sport Chic is also aimed at everyday wear, but it’s a little sportier than the Flamingo. The case is 36mm, which is not only bigger than the Flamingo but bigger than previous PR100 Lady models, including the automatic version, which maxes out at 34mm. The movement in the new piece is quartz, and it also has the fantastic EOL feature. The dial is set with 12 diamonds – also Top Wesselton – standing in as hour markers, and there is an option with simple non-diamond markers. The dial can be either mother-of-pearl or sunray. The hands and indexes are luminescent.
There are two versions of the PR100 Lady Sport Chic: one is 316L stainless steel and the other is two-tone, combining steel with PVD rose gold on the bezel and central bracelet links. The watch is water-resistant to 100m, making it as suitable for weekend water sports as it is for weekday office wear. Functions include hours, minutes, seconds and a date window at 6 o’clock.
The PR100 Sport Chic is priced between $375 and $565, and the Flamingo is priced between $350 and $415. tissotwatches.com
