Tissot Stakes Its Claim as the Best Affordable Everyday Watch with an Update to Its Rolex-Coded Classic

Before Tissot launched the PRX in 2021, the brand’s most buzzed-about watch was the Gentleman, which was widely lauded as the best watch one could buy for under $1,000 when it debuted in 2019.

It established a new standard for value in an everyday watch, combining classic, versatile, Rolex Oyster Perpetual-inspired looks with a robust 100m of water resistance, sapphire crystals front and back and the then-novel Powermatic 80 automatic movement offering 80 hours of power reserve and equipped with an amagnetic silicon hairspring; all for just $775 at launch.

There really was only ever one knock against the Gentleman, and that was its size. At 40mm, the watch wasn’t exactly oversized, but it wore larger than its dimensions would indicate, and many simply found it too big.

Now, seven years on, Tissot has finally given us a new Gentleman in a case size more befitting its GADA (Go Anywhere, Do Anything) nature.

Tissot

Great at 38

The new Tissot Gentleman 38mm is largely the same watch as before, with a few key differences … including one downgrade.

First, let’s go over what’s unchanged. The general design of the watch is unchanged. It still reads very Rolex-y with a polished bezel, polished center links on its Oyster-style bracelet and an Oyster-like case with straight lugs that curve down generously. There are still sapphire crystals front and back, and the water resistance, thankfully, is still a hefty 100m.

The dial is also mostly unchanged. The lume-filled handset and applied indices are the same and look just as sharp as when they debuted seven years ago. The framed date window remains at 3:00. And the dial features the same brilliant sunburst pattern, available in four shades on the 38mm version: blue, green, black and silver. The only difference on the dial is the omission of the word “Silicium” under “Powermatic 80” at 6:00; more on that later.

Tissot

Outside of the smaller 38mm case, which is a hair thicker than before at 11.53mm rather than 11.5mm, the other upgrade here is found on the bracelet. It’s still secured with a signed, twin-trigger butterfly clasp, but it’s now equipped with quick-release spring bars to make strap changes easier.

The movement has also changed, and this is the only update I don’t like. Tissot has swapped out the Powermatic 80 Silicium found in the original Gentleman for a basic Powermatic 80 movement here. Both are automatics with 80-hour power reserves, but the basic movement features a Nivachron hairspring rather than the silicon one found in the Silicium movement, and it lacks the decorated rotor.

The silicon hairspring is a higher-end component offering superior magnetic resistance and increased durability. Its presence in the 40mm Gentleman was arguably the watch’s greatest value proposition, as it slotted its movement above the PRX’s basic Powermatic 80 and put it more in line with those of its higher-end Swatch Group sister brands like Longines.

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Availability and pricing

For most people, the switch from a silicon to a Nivachron hairspring will not matter one iota, and some may even view it as a good thing. That’s because Nivachron is still an anti-magnetic material, and the switch to a cheaper hairspring material has knocked $100 off the price of the Gentleman 38mm.

The new model retails for just $850, while the 40mm Gentleman currently goes for $950. That makes it awfully compelling as potentially the best automatic watch you can get for under $1,000, and should once again get people talking about the Tissot Gentleman.

Tissot

Tissot Gentleman 38mm

Specs

Case Size	38mm
Movement	Tissot Cal. Powermatic 80 automatic (ETA)
Water Resistance	100m

• $850 at Tissot

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