The fact that the all plastic Tissot is no longer around could be a combination of poor performance and durability, but hopefully, also lack of public acceptance! Or is the modern Swatch the latter day iteration of the Tissot plastic watch? The plastic movement might have been the harbinger of the modern disposable plastic Swatch.

This image from Dr. Roland Ranfft's movement archive.


http://www.ranfft.de/bidfun/katb/2uswk/Tissot_2250-1.jpg

 

I love my Zeniths and Omegas. And I love my Sistem51 though I don't wear it as much as the others. It's a fun watch and a starting point for younger folks to wear a mechanical watch. That's what it is. Sometimes we let ourselves get too serious in the technical stuff?

 

Materials science has advanced quite a bit since that Tissot movement was developed. It's nearly 50 years!

Tom

 

Funny how some people show some kind of completely unsupported material-snobbery?? Would it be better if the parts had been made of an expensive material with the same, good, properties?

 

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/...evolutionary_new_timepiece_on_the_market.html

I think Swatch believes this will be the "gateway drug" for newbies buying their first mechanical watch. My "gateway drug" was my grandfather's 1940's Movado.....and that's where the slippery slope began.

 

Shazam!!!! Abso-friggin-lootely correct.

Statement: "I don't like American made cars." Reply: "Buy Japanese then."

Statement: "Italian loafers don't last as long as a $500 pair of shoes should." Reply: "Buy British Oxford lace-ups then."

In the realm of mechanical watches, there are much bigger fish to fry than the plastic escapement in the System51.

Neither do I. I think Swatch is laughing all the way to the bank.

 

Fixed that for you.

Tom

 

So, don't buy a watch with a plastic escapement? I am fairly certain anyone reading this thread will be unlikely to! So a few hundred aficionados boycotting this stuff is hardly the answer to assuring it doesn't succeed! The problem is that the great "unwashed" who don't read this thread are the ones who may just be the demographic who might buy this stuff. And they number in the...........well, millions! So, if you have no objection to plastic escapement components, jump on the Swatch/Tissot bandwagon and really promote this stuff. Maybe un-repairable watches is the answer to not enough watchmakers? Seems that's the way it's headed.

 

I have a few Swatch Irony watches that I like. I had to check out what these look like. Seriously, these are the butt ugly watches we're talking about. Not much chance of me buying one.

 

As I read through I was just tempted to quote every single line AL ( Archer ) wrote. Easier to say it this way:

@Archer, thank you. What you said!!!!

Regarding that email just as with the previous one it is just an emotional rant, which is a pitty because he does make some good points but they get lost on the tsunami of Grand statements and personal feelings. Would be much easier to just make a review of the movement and leave the rest for bar chat. The more expert you become the more objective open minded and Un biased you can afford to be..

Anyway.

 

Is this a forum for expressing personal opinions, or is it not?

 

Well one person reading this thread already has one...

I have zero objections to a Swatch with a plastic escapement that I will never own or service. I also have no objections to cheap cars I'll never buy, to TV shows I never watch, or to music I never listen to (although I do wish I could get my dentist to stop the awful country music when I'm in there - listening to that is more painful than having an actual root canal)...

While I'm certainly not promoting these escapements, I'm also not running around saying the sky is falling and Swiss watchmaking as we know it is doomed because of them. They are completely inconsequential to me personally. If by some chance one of the Tissot watches came in to my shop I'm sure I could service it - as noted it's just a Lemania 5100 with a plastic escapement and a few other tweaks.

Cheers, Al

 

Of course it is. That's why I expressed mine.

 

Likewise!

 

And it is not his opinion I disagree with, as I said he makes some good points. I just think it's an ineffective and not accurate representation and as others have stated not quite the "end of days" scenario presented. I rather see a few of these swatches around than another 2 or 3 tone invicta.

 

But will it get them to buy Swatch Brands? Ask any Y generation or Millennial to name a "luxury" watch brand.

I asked my two boys (17 & 19) this question. In fact I asked them to even name more that one "high end" or "luxury" watch.

Of course you already know what they said. And on top of that they could only name one watch brand. Freaking ridiculous.

 

As I said before, the large mechanical Swatch chronos also use the "plastic" lever and escape wheel.

One wonders whether Swatch found that the source of "stoppage", for lack of a better term, is the escapement, and that the watch will run longer and more consistently with the self-lubricating nylon or Delrin or whichever escapement.

Tom

 

Only because you didn't teach them!

See, watches are commodities now... and commodities that are disappearing with the "pocket watch resurgence" or in other words, "my phone knows what time it is."

Are you really outraged?

Tom

 

Yes, yes I am. The heathens,using a phone to tell time is sacrilege ! !

 

I guess someone has to be. You're the one! The special one!

When is your next slide rule class?

Tom