Tissot was formed in 1853 in Le Locle, Switzerland which makes this year its 160th in existence, like many brands of late they have chosen to celebrate their anniversary with the re-issue of a vintage model. The model is the Tissot Heritage Navigator, a world-time watch that was originally released in 1953 on the occasion of Tissot’s centennial.
They have updated this model to become the Tissot Heritage Navigator 160th Anniversary.
Tissot Heritage Navigator 160th Anniversary – Case
Of these updates the most noticeable is the increase in size from the 36mm of the original to 43mm. Made from 316L stainless steel the case has an exhibition back through which you can see the Cotes De Genève decorated gold rotor of the movement as well as a good view of the rest of the 2893-3 movement through the large sapphire glass although in general the movement is minimally decorated.
Tissot Heritage Navigator 160th Anniversary – Caseback
The case design apart from its size is faithful to the original model with wide straight lugs and a wide bezel. The sides are finished with a vertical brushing and the topside of the case and bezel has polished finishing. The case is very simple which is for the best since this is quite a visually busy watch. The rear of the watch is slightly more decorative with filligrees engraved around the edge, refined lettering and the numbered edition and is water resistant to 30 meters.
Tissot Heritage Navigator 160th Anniversary – Dial
The non-rotating bezel is a functional part of the dial and features 12-hour markings to make it easy to read the main time as well as 24-hour major world time zone markings for reading the worldtime on the dial. Since worldtimer watches are quite visually complex the increased size of the case helps make the dial more legible. The country`s time zone is represented by the nations capital for example Tokyo for Japan and so on and features 25 world capitals.
Tissot Heritage Navigator 160th Anniversary – Dial
The dauphine style hour and minute hands are made of blue steel with a line of lume and they compliment the blue used in the central time zone disk as well as contrasting nicely against the sliver dial for good legibility.
Tissot Heritage Navigator 160th Anniversary – Movement
The ETA 2893-3 worldtimer movement is automatic with hand-winding featuring a 46 hour power reserve, 21 jewels and runs at a frequency of 28,800 bph. Typically for a highend Tissot movement it is COSC (Contrôle official Suisse des Chronomètres) certified and so can be referred to as a chronometer.
Tissot Heritage Navigator 160th Anniversary – Price & Conclusion
Like the original this new anniversary Heritage Navigator model is also available in gold in a limited edition of 333 numbered pieces as well as the steel version. The 18k gold version is priced at $8,250 while the steel version retails for $1,650. This new version of Tissot`s classic travel watch is sure to capture the interest of both collectors and also appeal to frequent travellers looking for an elegant and functional watch.
More resources about the Tissot Heritage Navigator 160th Anniversary on Hodinkee & Worn&Wound.
