Tissot PRX Quartz Chronograph

The Tissot PRX Quartz Chronograph is $525. It fills a hole that has sat in the PRX catalogue since the series relaunched: a chronograph without the price and bulk of the mechanical PRX Chronograph. The case is 41mm wide and 11.6mm thick, a millimeter narrower and nearly three millimeters slimmer than its automatic sibling, in full 316L stainless steel.

The movement is the ETA G10.212, the same quartz chronograph caliber used in the Omega MoonSwatch, with a 2 o'clock 1/10-second subdial and a 38-month battery life. This is the frank part of the story. The PRX costs roughly double the MoonSwatch for the same movement. What the extra money buys is steel instead of bioceramic, a finished bracelet instead of a strap, and the PRX's integrated case design rather than a Speedmaster silhouette rendered in plastic.

The dial is the new element. Rather than the tapisserie pattern of the automatic PRX or a plain sunburst, Tissot has given this model a rippling, bark-like texture that catches light differently depending on angle. The subdials carry azurage rings and polished accents, and the hands are split brushed and polished batons. The layout is the familiar quartz chronograph arrangement, 2, 6, and 10 o'clock, with a date window at 4 o'clock.

Water resistance is rated at 100 meters, in line with the rest of the PRX three-hand range. The bracelet uses the same notched single-link design as other PRX models, with a butterfly clasp that has no micro-adjustment, which remains the one persistent inconvenience in an otherwise considered design.