The Tissot PR100

I enjoy wearing a reasonable quality watch on my wrist; as such, I prefer the timepiece built by the Swiss as their quality is unsurpassed.

So one choice of timepiece is the Tissot PR100 from the T-classic range - this was my preferred dress watch. Whilst I have a number of dive watches that make excellent timepieces, I feel they lack the elegant simplicity that the PR100 offers, the PR is particularly robust.

Tissot as a watchmaker has been around for a long time, dating back to 1853 with their facilities in Le Locle. What Tissot isn't is a high end timepiece manufacturer such as Rolex, Breitling, Omega, Rado or Tag Heuer; they however produce quality merchandise at a reasonable cost.

Tissot and Omega merged in 1930 to form the Société Suisse pour l’Industrie Horlogère with Tissot concentrating on the medium price ranges leaving Omega free to pursue the luxury market segment.

However, the company was under extreme pressure caused by the dual economic pressures of recession and stagflation in the late 1970s coupled with the heavy competition factor brought about by the Asian quartz movements.

Recent sponsorship of the timekeeping duties for the Australian Football League has seen the brand gain plenty of exposure in the Australian marketplace. Tissot sponsors a range of sports including the NBA, Tour de France and Moto GP among others.

Tissot is a brand falling within the Swatch Group mid-range timepieces along with Certina, Balmain, Hamilton, Mido and Calvin Klein. The high range consists of Rado, Longines and Union Glashütte with the prestige brands of Omega, Blancpain and Breguet and the entry-level Swatch filling out the range.