Just for clarification purposes Omega does not own Tissot. Both fall under the Swatch Group corporate umbrella. The following watch companies are their subsidiaries:

Blancpain
Breguet
Omega SA
Harry Winston, Inc.
Glashütte Original
Tissot
Swatch
Flik Flak
Certina
Jaquet Droz
Leon Hatot
ETA SA
Longines
Rado
Hamilton Watch Company
Renata Batteries
Mido

So as you can see there are some DAMN heavy hitters under this corporate umbrella.
The subsidiary that probably has the biggest impact or should be the one of most focus is ETA. This is the company that soooooooo many companies utilize as their movement. Think of it in the racing world as a company that owns and supplies racers and racing companies/manufacturers with small & big block Chevy and small & big block Ford V8 engines. They even engrave “V8” on many of their movements because (this is my theory) they are aware of this fact.

I am tracking you now. Thanks for the clarification. You are right. Some big names in the time piece industry.

I've got it in the cart. Wondering if I should visit a local authorized dealer or just order online (Tissot).

It's a bit out of budget so I'm a little hesitant still.

I had a question: There are some reviews that mention something about no maintainability / no adjustability / no regulator. Is this watch going to degrade over time? What would be the typical life? It sounds accurate out of the box but it gives me pause if the watch will have a finite life (5 years? 10 years?) at which point a new purchase may be indicated (since maintenance here may be expensive). For this price, I need it to last at least 10 years without cost.

Stickman, our friend J is at a Tissot AD, is she not?

Konata, I don't know where you are geographically, but we may have a good connection for you if you're nearby.

Great question! This was my main concern before pulling the trigger on my first Seastar years ago. This issue is overhyped. Especially since you’re considering a Seiko which is also a “throw away” movement when it’s time for a service.

I did an internet search that said “can a Powermatic80 be regulated?”

The first hits will prob say something like this:



This is not entirely true. Correct it doesn’t have a regulator that you can easily adjust with a screwdriver and timegrapher like say on a Seiko or ETA 2824-2 (the previous Seastar movement). The Powermatic80 can however be regulated. It’s just not necessary because of how it is manufactured verses a Seiko where it is probably necessary to get peak performance.

By the time you have issues and need a new movement 4-5 years+ (10 years is easy if you rotate through a few autos and give em some down time (not too much) down time as you rotate through 2-3 watches which oh by the way pay for themselves in the service work you avoid by rotating through a few watches. This is not to say a powemaricn80 cannot last longer than 4-5 years. It’s beat rate is lower than its predecessor so wear and tear should be lower and longevity longer. It’s a new movement so no one can tell you definitively it’ll last 10 years when it hasn’t been around that long.

Consider this. The argument for 4-5 year maintenance is because going longer may cause unnecessary wear and tear on the movement causing more parts to need to be replaced. Huh!? They are not replacing parts on this movement anyway they are replacing the entire movement. Why does this matter if they are gonna toss it in the rubbish bin? I bet it’ll last longer than 4-5 years but you should at least budget for it to last at least 4-5 years. If it last longer (and I bet it will) then that’s a bonus.

Both Tissot and Seiko at this price point will just toss your movement into the garbage and put in a new movement when issues arise. The Powermatic80 could be disassembled, cleaned, reassembled, regulated (yes they can be regulated) and sent back to you but just like with every single Seiko in this price point it’s easier to just replace the movement. Don’t pay too much attention to this concern. It is IMO a total non issue as the Tissot movement by its manufacturing process is WAAAAAY more consistent and accurate than a Seiko and they will most likely not need to be regulated. This is my experience owning lots of these movements and their competitors movements over the years. You are fare more likely to get a great running Tissot Powermatic80 Seastar than any Seiko at this price point unless you pay for it to be regulated or you get lucky. I can say this with absolute confidence as I own A LOT of Seiko divers and more than a few Tissot/Mido watches with the newer Powermatic80 movement.

More info on the subject.

Can a Powermatic80 be regulated ?

Dude!!!!! Call the man!!! Call the man!!!!!

Call David Truong @ Mimi jewelry inc dot com, in Fountain Valley CA. Contact info is on his website. Or just Google mimis jewelry inc in Fountain Valley.

Or email him, David@mimisjewelryinc.com

Call the man! At least give him a shot at earning your business. You won't regret it.
.

vthoky, makes a good point. Our favorite dealer enabler is in fact a Tissot authorized dealer and she can probably make it worth your while if they have the model you like in stock. I believe they had one last time I was there but to be honest my focus was on negotiating on a limited release Seiko so it could be gone by now.

Konata88, it all depends on how far down the rabbit hole you want to go. If you want a sweet mechanical watch that will meet all your criteria in your OP the Tissot is your best bet. Seiko’s inconsistency and amazing aftermarket support has driven me to buy a timegrapher to fine tune my watches as well as basic watch making kit that I’ve been improving over time to the point that I’m assembling/ modding my own watches from OEM Seiko and aftermarket parts. It’s easily as addictive as firearms and building your first AR15 from a pile of parts.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
dealer enabler

True that!

I'm sure Dave could help konata, too, no doubt.
(I guess I was a little short-focused there, thinking about our local area.)

It’s not a bad idea for Konata88 to visit a local Seiko & Tissot authorized dealer. Vthoky and I are lucky that for us it’s a one stop shop. Seeing all that Seiko and Tissot have to offer in person is the best way to decide.

**edit to add** you can often negotiate with an AD to get at the bare minimum the sales tax knocked off. I’d be shocked if you couldn’t get that done with a Seastar or Seiko diver in the same price point. Depending on model, demand etc you can sometimes get a percentage knocked off of MSRP too. This is another benefit of visiting your local AD.

Awesome guys. Thanks for the info. Okay, sounds like Tissot is definitely still the one to beat.

While I like the Neptune/Triton, at these prices, seems like Tissot is the way to go. So the real alternatives, I think, are the Padi Solar (give up auto) or the Orient models that are on sale right now for $255-170. But if these are models that will lose 15-30 second per day, then that might rule them out. If they can be regulated easily to 10 seconds per day, then it might be worthy of consideration. I think 1 min per week is about all I could accept.

Assuming 10 sec / day is not realistic, then I'm down to the Tissot or the Solar Padi. I like the idea of the auto.

I'll check w/ the local AD. But if there is no discount, I might just buy online direct from Tissot. It's a chain jewelry store (or Macy's) so not expecting much. Of course, I will always check w/ Dave first but I don't remember Tissot being on his list (I remember Rolex, Ball, Luminox, Citizen, Casio).

I don't have the skills or the funds to make this a rabbit hole hobby. But I can appreciate craftsmanship and a good watch.

Once you get used to the watch, say by tracking it with a spreadsheet or a watch tracking app, you will see the trend and may be able to self regulate it by leaving it in different positions when you were sleeping.

The watch I’ve been wearing the most recently is probably a +/- 10 seconds per day watch. By keeping track and laying it in different positions I had kept it +/- one second for three months. Then I took it Whitewater kayaking and roller coaster riding last week and it lost about 30 seconds in a few days lol.

Even with that, over the 164 days I’ve been tracking it, it’s still averaging -0.3 seconds a day. So if you know your watch, accuracy is possible in some cases.

My Bulova Moon Pilot watch is running about one half second fast since the last time change in March. For a quartz watch that is not radio controlled it has awesome accuracy! It looks great too!

Huh. Interesting. How sensitive is it to position? Is it just 6 orientations? Or more spherical?

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
Huh. Interesting. How sensitive is it to position? Is it just 6 orientations? Or more spherical?

Depends on the watch and how much attention the movement gets from the watch company, but in general—when level (dial up or down) many will keep or gain time. Stood on their side, ie stem up or down, the increased friction will cause them to lose time.

So if you check at bedtime and it’s 5 seconds fast, laying it crown up might even it out by losing 5 seconds.

I’m nowhere near an expert on this, but there’s a fair bit of info on the web about it. Not all watches are the same, yadda yadda Tracking it is the biggest first step though.

Cool. Ok. Start with the 6 primary orientations first. Then fine tune from there.

Excited to get my first auto.

Posted by Konata88

quote:

Excited to get my first auto.

I’m excited for you. Owning an automatic watch is extremely satisfying. Having something mechanical that beats 21,600 BPH (or in many cases much higher than this) and can do this for years is truly one of humanity’s most greatest achievements from a mechanical standpoint. You often can feel the rotor swing as it winds the mainspring and powers your watch. I love how this is a subtle reminder that you are powering this watch and so long as you keep it on your wrist the watch will keep on going.

I was recently able to help my uncle fix his beloved Seiko SKX. Somehow his watch got magnetized and began to run a little fast after nearly 20 years of faithful problem free service. (He rotates through a few watches every week) He thought it needed it’s first service. My $8 demagnetizer did the trick and to his amazement it returned his SKX back to keeping exquisite time.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
Posted by Konata88

quote:

Excited to get my first auto.

I’m excited for you. Owning an automatic watch is extremely satisfying.

It's addictive, too!

I own the first Seiko. I've had it for about 2 years now and have no complaints. Just my 2 cents. I bought it from Macy's for about 200. On sale.

konata88, When we appreciate things and do good for others I believe it has a beautiful way of coming back to us. If this JDM Orient Kanno suits your fancy it’s yours. It has a Japanese kanji and English day wheel. It hasn’t gotten lots of wrist time (I don’t think it’s even broken in yet) maybe you can fix that? If you’re interested shoot me an email.

Wow! Email incoming.....