Tissot Launches the First Quartz PRX Chronograph of the Modern Collection

The new 41mm chronograph runs on an ETA quartz calibre, reads to a tenth of a second and costs a quarter of what the automatic in the same family does.

The watch the PRX descends from arrived in 1978 as part of Tissot's Seastar line, with a slim case, an integrated bracelet, brushed steel surfaces and a quartz movement. When the brand revived that design in 2021, the chronograph in the family came only as a mechanical. The reference Tissot put on sale in September returns the chronograph to the kind of movement the case was born with: 41mm across, offered with blue, black and silver vertically brushed dials, and priced at USD 525 on the brand's American site.

The G10.212 calibre

Inside is the ETA G10.212, listed on Tissot's spec sheet as a PowerDrive quartz chronograph. The counters sit at three positions, with tenths of a second at 3, running seconds at 6 and a thirty-minute totaliser at 9, and the date appears at 4. A mechanical chronograph at this price does not reach tenths: a balance beating at four hertz advances eight times per second, so it cannot divide the second into more than eight parts, and reading tenths calls for a second, faster gear train. The calibre adds two timing functions, ADD, which chains successive intervals into a single count, and SPLIT, which freezes the display while the mechanism keeps counting underneath, which is the job of a rattrapante.

How the automatic differs

The collection's automatic chronograph costs USD 2,150, runs on the Valjoux A05.H31, measures 42mm by 14.54mm thick, weighs 184 grams, has a sapphire caseback and an anti-reflective treatment on the crystal, and its counter runs to twelve hours. The quartz measures 41 by 11.65, weighs 151 grams, closes with a solid steel back and its counter stops at thirty minutes. The case for paying that difference rests on servicing: the A05.H31 is stripped, cleaned, lubricated and reassembled with parts ETA supplies, in an operation any authorised workshop treats as routine, so its working life depends on the overhauls it gets. A quartz module, when something other than the battery fails, is replaced whole and depends on the maker continuing to produce it.

Pricing in Mexico and Spain

n Mexico, Tissot sells all three quartz chronograph dials at 10,490 pesos and the automatic chronograph at 43,550. In Spain, the figures are 495 and 2,045 euros. The ratio between the two holds between 4.1 and 4.2 across the three markets checked, which indicates that import duties and distributor margin apply as a percentage to both prices, so the choice between them reads the same way in Mexico City, Madrid and New York. What changes by country is access to the sales channel: Tissot runs an online store with list prices for Mexico and Spain, and none for Colombia, Argentina, Chile or Peru, where the purchase goes through the authorised distributor and counter pricing is set locally.

Other options in the range

Within the PRX itself, the 40mm three-hand quartz costs USD 450, 8,690 pesos or 395 euros, which puts the chronograph complication at USD 75, 1,800 pesos or 100 euros over the base model, a sum that in mechanical watchmaking buys no complication at all. The 40mm with the automatic Powermatic 80 calibre costs USD 850, 16,250 pesos or 775 euros, and it is the comparable reference within the same case for anyone after a mechanical movement: USD 325, 5,760 pesos or 280 euros apart, against the USD 1,625 that separate the quartz from the automatic chronograph.

Where it sits in the collection

At its list price it has a sapphire crystal, 100 metres of water resistance, an integrated quick-release bracelet, a two-year warranty from a Swiss brand and timing resolution that mechanical watchmaking reaches only on pieces costing several thousand dollars, all inside the slimmer of the collection's two chronograph cases. Against it, the counter stops at thirty minutes and longer measurements fall outside it, and the solid caseback hides the calibre, something Tissot does offer on the automatic. For the buyer who wants a movement on view and a mechanism that can be serviced for decades, this is not the watch. For the one who came to the PRX for its design and wanted a chronograph inside that case, the automatic was the only option until September.

Technical Specs

Model	Tissot PRX Chronograph 41 mm, cuarzo
References	T137.417.11.031.00 (plateada), T137.417.11.041.00 (azul), T137.417.11.051.00 (negra)
Case	Acero inoxidable 316L, 41 mm de diámetro, 11.65 mm de grosor, asas de 13 mm, 151 g, fondo macizo
Crystal	Sapphire
Water resistance	100 metres (10 bar)
Caliber	ETA G10.212 PowerDrive, cuarzo, pila de 1.55 V con indicador de fin de vida
Functions	Horas, minutos, fecha a las 4, cronógrafo con contador de décimas a las 3, segundero a las 6 y treinta minutos a las 9, funciones ADD y SPLIT
Esferas	Cepillado vertical en azul, negro y plateado, índices y agujas con Super-LumiNova
Bracelet	Acero, integrado, cambio rápido, cierre de mariposa con pulsadores
Price	525 USD, 10,490 MXN, 495 EUR