I am pretty interested in what Tissot has to offer by way of product and quality. With Tissot, you get a reasonable product at a decent price. I became interested in Tissot when I purchased a PR100 with a quartz movement. I did not wear that for long until I went back to mechanical movements and is now with my father.

The Powermatic 80 is an interesting rework of the workhorse ETA 2824-2 automatic movement modified to Tissot specifications. As the Swatch Group owns movement manufacturer ETA, they supply base mechanical movements to Tissot. The Powermatic 80 is more than just a 2824-2 with a Tissot winding rotor, they regulate the movement with a laser regulation at Tissot, so I am guessing watchmakers are not excited about this. This will be hard for them to regulate in their shops, I will be asking the question on my next visit to the watchmaker.

The Powermatic 80 has an 80 hour power reserve, a sizable increase on the standard 38 hour power reserve. This is achieved by a more efficient barrel design and a decrease in frequency from 4 Hz to 3 Hz, that is a reduction from 28,800 bph to 21,600 bph. The base Powermatic 80 has 23 jewels, there is a 25 jewel version so I need to check what I purchased, the Gentleman Automatic is a decent product. Not too fancy, but solid, it does not pop though.

So, what are the downsides to the Powermatic 80? Well, the regulation is apparently difficult to adjust, so watchmakers will not like it. There are apparently some plastic components in the movement, this is the downsides to a watch built to a price. There is some discussion that this was based on a Sistem51. Yet, I chose to purchase a Tisssot Gentleman with a Powermatic 80 centered around a base 2428-2 with a Silicium hairspring. It had to be at the right price, and I wasn’t for the price I paid – I have no complaints.