Tissot has just announced an all-new model, with an all-new movement, the Powermatic 80. It will not be officially launched until Baselworld 2013, but we received a test model ahead of time for a hands-on preview. The Powermatic 80 is equipped with ETA’s newest movement, caliber C07.111, which is an evolution of the ETA 2824. At 80-hours, the power reserve is approximately twice as long as the caliber 2824.

To achieve such an impressive power reserve, ETA engineers made of a number of improvements. They were able to save energy by reducing the operating frequency from 4 to 3Hz (28,800 vph to 21,600 vph). Additionally, the use of a high-performance synthetic material (likely silicon) for the escapement also allows friction to be reduced, thus wasting less power. Furthermore, a reduction of the diameter of the barrel arbors core made it possible to lengthen the mainspring, thereby allowing for an increased power reserve.

The Powermatic 80 comes in a 41 mm by 9.75 mm thick stainless steel case. A sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment protects the dial. A see-through caseback allows a view into the Swiss-made self-winding movement. The dial is silver on the version shown, with a frosted finish in the center and a finely finished inner chapter ring, reminiscent of frosted dials seen on Breguet watches. The real Breguet dials are of course produced by hand, whereas the Tissot dials are all machine-made, still, this a nice touch by Tissot in our opinion. The silver indexes are applied and slope slightly towards the center of the dial. Hours, minutes and seconds are displayed by silver central hands, with no lume. The date is indicated in an aperture at 3 o’clock. The case is polished, with an engraved checkered motif on the case flanks, a detail that seems like it could have been left out, in our opinion.

On the wrist, the Powermatic 80 is very comfortable, we really liked it on the brown leather strap. This is a great new addition to Tissot’s high-quality collection of affordable Swiss watches, and the 80-hour power reserve is a very convenient and practical feature that will be great to see on other models in the future as well.

Water-resistant to 50 meters. Leather strap with push-button butterfly clasp. Leather strap with push-button butterfly clasp or a metal bracelet with a clasp. There a twenty different variations, including bi-color gold-accented versions feature gold plated PVD coating. Some models are COSC certified.

Retail is $850 (as shown), up to $995.