Tissot Visodate: A Clear View of Time, Past and Present

A brief history of Tissot

Tissot has a long and storied history. The company was founded in 1853 by Charles-Félicien Tissot and his son Charles-Émile in Le Locle, Switzerland. Ever since then, they have stuck to their motto, ‘Innovators by Tradition’, embracing a pioneering spirit and is responsible for numerous horological advancements such producing a pocket watch on a large scale, creating a pocket watch with two time zones, creating the first anti-magnetic watch and pioneering new materials to be incorporated into their time pieces such as plastic, stone, wood and mother-of-pearl.

At its core, their are committed to producing quality Swiss watchmaking at accessible prices, making it available to the broader audience. Today, Tissot is part of the Swatch Group, the largest Swiss watch brands by volume.

The Tissot Visodate

Conceptualised in the 1950s, a period of intense technological advancement, the Tissot line of watches were part of this era to celebrate innovation and centenary as a watch brand in 1953. The name itself – ‘Viso’ (see/view) and ‘Date’ highlights its key feature of having both a day and date complication side by side. The Visodate speaks truly to the design language of the era, classic, elegant, with clean dials, either in silver or black, dauphine hands, applied hour markers and nearly framed date and day window with a cursive and stylish Tissot logo.

In the early 2010s, Tissot revived the Visodate as part of its popular ‘Heritage’ collection, updating it with modern technology but retaining the spirit of the original. Some of the key features of the modern reissue include:

1. Vintage Tissot script logo on the dial, crown and often on the rotor movement, immediately connecting to its mid-century roots.
2. Day-date display window at the 3 o’clock, which is a direct nod to the functionality of the 1950’s version
3. Domed sapphire crystal to evoke the warm, vintage feel of the acrylic crystals used on the original watches while offering higher scratch resistance with vintage aesthetics.
4. Clean hands and dial, with applied indices and sleek hands to maintain excellent legibility and classic style.
5. Exhibition case back allowing a view of the ETA 2936-2 automatic movement.

Why I bought this watch

This watch was my first Swiss-made watch that I bought for myself. I remember buying it a couple of years after I started working at my first full-time job upon graduation. I recently received my first full-year performance bonus from my job and decided to treat myself to something fancy. Before that, I never owned a mechanical watch. I believe this watch cost around S$800-S$900 back in 2016. I have had this watch for 9 years now. Although I no longer wore it, it still works perfectly fine and I will never sell this watch. There is a lot of sentimental value attached to this watch and it also marked several significant milestones in my life. First full-time job, first bonus, and just starting out in my career.