Tissot Seastar Review

I especially enjoy writing Hubpages reviews of products that I have had personal experience with. Once such product is the Tissot Seastar watch series. Many Americans had not heard of the Swiss watch maker Tissot until they became a NASCAR sponsor. The unlikely partnership of a noisy American sport and a no nonsense Swiss watchmaker  has had the effect of increasing brand awareness somewhat, but Tissot still enjoys better name recognition overseas, where is is perceived as an affordable luxury watch. 

Tissot might be thought of as the "poor man's Rolex" by some, since there is no other Swiss made watch that comes close in terms of quality and style at a fraction of the price. Tissot watches range from over $1000 to around $180 on the low end.

The Tissot Seastar Series: What You Get For The Money

What makes the Seastar watch series unique among similar priced watches is the quality of construction. All Seastar dive watches are rated to 200 meters or 660 feet, which is far beyond the depth of SCUBA diving and are made with marine grade stainless steel. The case back, and screw down stem are all protected by high pressure O rings.

Another very rich feature is the scratch resistant sapphire glass face. Sapphire glass is one of the hardest man made substances. Many dive watches, including Invicta, Reactor and Luminox, cut corners use softer mineral glass instead. (My Luminox shows scratches after only two months).  Even though mineral glass is "hardened" it is still much easier to scratch than sapphire glass. On the MHO's hardness scale Sapphire glass is two points higher.  Sapphire glass is found on Rolex, Omega and Tag Heuer watches. What having a sapphire glass face means, for those who actually wear dive watches in the real world, where there is coral and rocks, is that years from your purchase date you will still most likely have a clear, scratch face.

My own analog Seastar was purchased in 2002 and has been treated very roughly, yet the face is scratch free. This is one of the best features of the watch considering it sells for far less than a Rolex or Tag Heuer.

What's On The Inside Of The Tissot Seastar

Tissot quartz - analog Seastar watches have a precision Swiss made, multi - jeweled movement. Accuracy is within a couple of seconds a month. I'm a big fan of accurate watches, even if there are not as many tiny precision parts whirring around inside. Quartz based watches like the Seastar beat even the best Rolex chronometer in terms of accuracy. There is still plenty of fine Swiss craftsmanship in the watch to please even an engineer.

I can understand the appeal of an automatic watch. There is something pleasing knowing that there are hundreds of finely machined parts, put together by hand, that are all working in unison to deliver accurate timekeeping. It's just that you can't see any of that stuff anyway. What I really don't like about them is the fact that they may lose up to five minutes a month, that they require regular trips to a watchmaker for oiling and maintenance, and must be worn or placed on an automatic watch winder every couple of days to keep running. In addition, automatic watches, no mater who makes the, are not as rugged as quartz based ones.

All of that does not fit my lifestyle or my definition of a rugged watch, which is why I own the analog Tissot Seastar. All that being said, if you prefer an automatic watch, the Tissot Seastar comes in an automatic model, for about a hundred bucks more. The movement is virtually identical to the one found in Tag Heuer watches, for about a fourth of the price of a Tag.

Case and Band

For those accustomed to Japanese watches like Seiko, the case and band of the Tissot Seastar are hefty. It looks good on any man with an average sized wrist, but not on very skinny wrists. The size of the face is almost 41 millimeters, which is slightly less than a Rolex Submariner's face. The case is 10 millimeters deep, offering an nice masculine profile on the wrist. The band features a deployment clasp, which keeps the watch from opening by accident, and also a wetsuit extension. This allows the watch band to be extended about a 1/3 of an inch to fit over a standard 6 millimeter wetsuit.

In terms of weight it is not light, but does not feel uncomfortable on the wrist. Weight of the Tissot Seastar quartz is  150 grams and for the automatic model it is 180 grams.

Care And Feeding

From personal experience I can testify that the Tissot Seastar quartz series does not require any maintenance, except for a new battery every couple of years. The analog series requires a trip to a qualified watchmaker every couple of years for lubrication and cleaning. I know from personal experience that spray on sunscreen is not a friend of this, or any other watch with baked on black enamel. When applying sunscreen, don't spray it on the face of the watch or it will eventually cause the finish to fade. Other than that this watch is an incredible value for the money. I like the Tissot watch series so much, in fact, that I just ordered a dress chronometer, the Tissot PRS 200 two tone model. I'll post a review here on Hubpages after I have worn it for a few months.