Brands  /  Tissot

Tissot

Founded 1853  ·  Switzerland
Group
Swatch Group.
Headquarters
Le Locle, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
Founded
1853, by Charles-Félicien Tissot and his son Charles-Émile in Le Locle.
Known for
PRX, Seastar, T-Touch (1999, the first tactile watch), Gentleman, Visodate, Le Locle.
Scale
About 2,480,000 watches and CHF 720 million in 2025, 10th among Swiss brands. Estimate: Morgan Stanley / LuxeConsult, February 2026; no brand-level figures are published.

Lineage and calibres

  1. 1853

    Charles-Félicien Tissot and his son Charles-Émile founded Tissot in Le Locle, where the company remains.

  2. 1880

    Tissot registered its first logo after Switzerland’s first brand-protection law came into force.

  3. 1930

    Tissot merged with Omega to form the cornerstone of SSIH (Société suisse pour l’industrie horlogère), a predecessor of the Swatch Group.

  4. 1930s

    Tissot introduced the Antimagnétique, which it describes as the world’s first non-magnetic wristwatch.

  5. 1965

    Tissot launched the PR 516, its first men’s sports watch.

  6. 1971

    Tissot developed a movement made almost entirely of injection-moulded plastic, sold as the Astrolon, with 52 parts instead of about 90.Calibre

  7. 1999

    Tissot launched the T-Touch, its first tactile watch, and registered its current logo with the line ‘Swiss watches since 1853’.

  8. 2003

    Tissot created the Le Locle collection for its 150th anniversary, inspired by the town’s church clock.

  9. 2013

    Tissot introduced the Powermatic 80, an automatic movement derived from the ETA 2824 with a power reserve of up to 80 hours.Calibre

Contributions to horology

  1. 1930s

    Antimagnétique wristwatch

    Tissot says its Antimagnétique was the world’s first non-magnetic wristwatch; it notes that in 1938 its technicians ordered a chrono-electromagnet to test watches’ resistance to magnetic fields.On this site: The first antimagnetic wristwatch

  2. 1971

    Plastic mechanical movement (Astrolon)

    Tissot developed a mechanical movement made almost entirely of injection-moulded plastic, cutting the part count from about 90 to 52; Museums Victoria notes it predated the Swatch by about 14 years but was not commercially successful.

  3. 1999

    T-Touch tactile watch

    Tissot says the T-Touch was the first tactile watch, with functions operated by touching the crystal. In 2014 the T-Touch Expert Solar became, by Tissot’s account, the first solar-powered tactile watch.On this site: Quartz

  4. 2013

    Powermatic 80

    Developed with ETA from the 2824 calibre, the Powermatic 80 lowered the frequency from 4 Hz to 3 Hz and used a longer mainspring to reach up to 80 hours of power reserve, against a conventional 42 hours; later versions use a Nivachron titanium-alloy balance spring.On this site: Automatic winding

Popular Models

In the collection as of October 2026.

Tissot PRX 40 Powermatic 80, blue dial, steel integrated bracelet
Ref.T137.407.11.041.00

PRX 40 Powermatic 80

A 40 mm steel watch with integrated bracelet and blue dial; Powermatic 80 movement.

Photograph: Tissot

Tissot Telemeter 1938, white dial with two sub-dials and telemeter scale, brown leather strap
Ref.T142.462.16.032.00

Telemeter 1938

A 42 mm steel chronograph with a white telemeter dial; Valjoux A05.231 automatic.

ChronographPhotograph: Tissot

SourcesTissot, History · Museums Victoria, Tissot Astrolon wristwatch, c. 1973 · Swatch Group history · Tissot, Powermatic 80

Recorded here

Milestones from Tissot