Tissot Quietly Drops a New Contender for Best Automatic Watch Under $1,000

For years now, the PRX has been on every short list of the best entry-level automatic watches, but the remainder of Tissot’s catalog has gone mostly overlooked.

A series of updates and revamps from late 2025 into 2026 has quietly made Tissot one of the top destinations for affordable automatic watches and the best option from Switzerland. But a reimagining of one of the brand’s most iconic designs tops even the lauded PRX.

Tissot

As it turns out, the new Classic Dream and the updated Ballade were just appetizers for Tissot’s real daily-wearing masterpiece. If you find the former a little too simple and the latter a bit ostentatious, the new Visodate strikes a perfect all-purpose balance.

Introduced in 1954, the Visodate was one of the brand’s first production models with a date window. It has undergone several redesigns over its long and storied history, with the most recent featuring a dial that went almost the full width of the case.

Tissot

The newest generation of the Visodate offers a completely new look, encompassing the case, dial, bracelet and movement. But it is heavily influenced by the 1960s and draws on Tissot’s own archive.

It is more wearable, both physically and visually, than the previous generation, and offers a more established look that will never go out of style.

Making the case

As the name suggests, the new Visodate 39mm trims one millimeter off of its prior case size, but the measurement doesn’t tell the whole story.

Tissot

The new case shape follows archival examples from the 1960s, featuring a fixed bezel and straight lugs. It presents more conventional proportions, making the 39mm width feel noticeably smaller than the previous 40mm design.

The bezel is polished, while the lugs are brushed with polished chamfered edges. An onion-shaped crown is signed with the brand’s “T” logo.

What’s old is new

Tissot ditched the entire dial design of the previous Visodate, which I can’t complain about. It now features a flat center with vertical brushing and a sloped outer portion with circular brushing, creating strong textural depth.

The sloped rim contains applied stick hour markers with lume dot accents. A framed and beveled date window replaces the 3:00 hour marker.

Tissot

Notably, the day complication of the previous generation is gone, resulting in a cleaner and more balanced dial.

A sizable rehaut frames the dial with a printed 60-minute ruler-style track. It is capped with an anti-reflective box sapphire crystal.

One of my favorite details is that the tip of the obelisk hour hand runs along the rim of the circle at the dial’s center. It is joined by an obelisk minute hand and a needle seconds hand.

Powered up

Tissot equipped the new Visodate 39mm with the Swatch Group’s Powermatic 80 automatic movement, which features a Nivachron balance spring and provides a substantial 80-hour power reserve.

Tissot

It features a Tissot-branded rotor with radial brushing, visible through a sapphire crystal exhibition caseback. However, despite it being a screw-on, the watch only offers 50m water resistance.

Availability and pricing

Tissot debuts the newest generation of the Visodate with three dial options. The black and blue dials each come on a stainless steel beads-of-rice bracelet, which is another significant upgrade from the previous version.

There is also a silver dial with gold-toned hands and indices equipped with an embossed brown leather pin buckle strap.

The Visodate 39mm is available now from Tissot for $950 on a steel bracelet and $850 on a leather strap, making it the newest contender for the title of best automatic watch under $1,000.

Tissot

Tissot Visodate 39mm

Specs

Case Size	39mm
Movement	Tissot-branded Powermatic 80 automatic
Water Resistance	50m

• $950 at Tissot

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