Tissot watches: history, innovations and best models
Tissot watches: history, innovations and best models
Tissot watches was founded in 1853 by Charles-Félicien Tissot and his son Charles-Emile in Le Locle, in the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel and today produces various types of mechanical watches (e.g., automatic with long-lasting Powermatic 80 movement ), quartz and with T-Touch technology.
Initially, the Tissot watch brand was mainly involved in the distribution of watch accessories, exported mostly to the United States and Russia, where Charles-Emile had based and married. With the October Revolution ongoing and thus the Russian market being affected, the company turned its business into watch manufacturing; Charles-Félicien Tissot was a gold case maker, and his son was a watchmaker. The first Tissot-branded watches were pocket and pendant watches, a kind of product the brand is still renowned for; it is, in fact, one of the very few watch brands in the world to boast such an extensive offering.
A Tissot watch was soon associated with a women's watch. The brand was among the forerunners of watches for her, being a pendant or a wristwatch. As we scroll through the brand's history, we discover how Tissot watches have pioneered the industry's evolution since its foundation; in the late nineteenth century, the brand used to manufacture fine pendant watches in precious materials.
We can't forget the French actress Sarah Bernhardt buying a luxurious pendant watch during her visit to the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1900. From the beginning of the twentieth century, Tissot began producing wristwatches for her and producing their signature pendant luxury watches. In 1921, Queen Elizabeth of Bavaria placed a particular order, and in 1947, the famed singer Carmen Miranda fell in love with a luxurious Tissot jewel-watch embellished with diamonds.
Again, Tissot soon showed its creative foothold, both technical and aesthetic, along the way by extending its production to sports, quartz, and unisex watches like the Tissot Two Timer, for example.
The link between Tissot and the men's wristwatch is closely connected to sport and motorsport. The brand is currently the official sponsor of the MotoGP world championship while the relationship between brand and car drivers began in 1958 when Harry Zweifel sent Tissot an autographed photo on which he wrote: "Meine Tissot ist an jedem Rennen dabei" ("My Tissot is by my side in every race" ). Tissot has partnered with countless motorsport brands and times, among which I would pick the partnership with Alpine, whose outcome is a co-branded collection. Among the most popular models are today the Powermatic 80 and the Tissot T Touch.
Tissot prides itself by being one of the most prolific brands ever in the industry. Tissot introduced the first antimagnetic watch in 1930, the first plastic watch, the IDEA 2001 Astrolon, the first wood watch, namely the Wood Watch, and, finally, the Rock Watch, the first-ever stone-made watch.
Also, in 1999 it launched the Tissot T-Touch, the first watch ever featuring tactile technology, its latest evolution being the recently released Solar Connect.
Among the current collections, let me highlight the Heritage collections, which includes the stunning Chrono 1973, and the TissotVisodate, rather than the Tissot T-Touch Expert Solar collection or, finally, the very popular Tissot Seastar.
Tissot watches cover a wide price range; they start at 180 Euros with the Tissot Classic Dream and go up to 4,530 Euros if you're looking for a Tissot Sculpture Line Mechanical Power Reserve 18K Gold. For additional information, please visit www.tissotwatches.com.