No 211 & 222 - Tissot Visodate

Sometimes I just got to throw in a dresswatch just to mix it up a little. Toolwatches in all honors but there are certain occasions when a toolwatch just doesn’t do it. Oh, did that come as a shocker to you? No but it’s actually true.

I was very positively surprised by the Visodate. It looked great. Perhaps a little too big for my taste with its 40mm to function as a proper dresswatch but I guess it's all about getting used to the size. As a daily wearer to the office it was great. The price was also another great thing. Anyone could afford it without having to eat noodles for the rest of the month. And judging from the quality of the movement (standard ETA 2836-2) this piece could last you a lifetime if just serviced properly.

The first one I had was the steel version with white dial which I got in early January 2014. Super easy to match with whatever shirts and jackets I put on. The second one, which I got in early April 2014, was the gold-plated version with black dial and that one was a little more complicated to match. Being gold it stood out in a different way compared to the steel version. Between the two of them I preferred the steel version with its cleaner look.

#211 - The Tissot Visodate, ref. T019.430.16.031.01.

#222 - The gold-plated version, ref. T019.430.36.051.01.

When one of my best friends, Daniel, turned thirty my friends and I all chipped in and gave him a Visodate. He wasn’t really a watch guy but he became unexpectedly fond of it and has been wearing it every day for the last two and a half years. Everybody needs a nice watch and if they don’t agree with you just find a suitable opportunity when you can force it upon them (birthdays are perfect) and they will eventually realize they'd been wrong. It works every time!

This was another post that could have been divided into two separate but I chose to bundle them together instead. Sometimes it feels right and sometimes it doesn't.

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.

No 129 - Tissot Seastar 660

I remember the first time I saw a Tissot Seastar diver. It was the last of April, quite a special day when you come from the university town of Uppsala, and I have no idea of what year it was. I just remember I saw this guy hanging around with our crowd among thousands of drunk students and he was wearing a big dive watch on a black rubber strap that I didn't recognized. It turned out to be a Tissot. I thought it looked quite cool and I didn’t even know back then that Tissot made that kind of watches. I mostly associated them with dress watches. Several years later back in 2012 I came across a for sale ad from a person selling a whole bunch of dive watches. Among them were a Citizen Aqualand with an analog depth meter and this Tissot Seastar. The dial of the Tissot was a little worn around the edges but the watch was in an overall decent condition so the guy gave me a good price if I agreed to buy both of them which I did. I later did some research about the Seastar's and discovered that the one I had seen earlier on that guy’s wrist had been a 300m automatic version (The Seastar 1000) while the one I’d just bought was the 200m quartz version (The Seastar 660). 

Back at work a colleague of mine, who also had an interest in watches (just not as severe as my obsession), really liked the Tissot and I let him have it for the same price I'd paid for it. He still wears it today and have had it serviced with a new dial. I had it for such a short time that I never took a picture of it but I asked him the other day if I could take a photo of it for my blog which he was totally fine with. Thank you Pontus!

#129 - The Tissot Seastar 660.

I used to keep an eye open for a used Seastar 300m. I think they’re quite cool but the greenish lume makes me a little sick. It’s not likely I would pick one up today unless it’s a true catch. I recently saw one with a blue dial which was quite cheap but it was too much of a wreck for me wanting to fix it.

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.