New Gear Drop: The Tissot PRX Finally Gets Mother-of-Pearl Right in 40mm
Most “affordable Swiss automatic” conversations start and end with the Tissot PRX. The steel-bracelet, integrated-lug sports watch already punches above its price — and Tissot just quietly fixed the one real complaint about the mother-of-pearl version.
The new 40mm PRX Powermatic 80 Mother-of-Pearl brings the waffle-textured MOP dial — previously exclusive to the smaller 35mm case — to the larger, more office-ready 40mm size. And it does something genuinely unusual for the watch industry: it doesn’t charge extra for it.
The Real Numbers
- Case: 40mm stainless steel, sapphire crystal on both sides
- Dial: White mother-of-pearl with the signature waffle pattern
- Movement: Tissot Powermatic 80 automatic, 80-hour power reserve, Nivachron hairspring
- Water resistance: 100m
- Bracelet: Integrated steel bracelet, quick-change system
- Price: $850, same as the standard non-MOP dial
That last point is the real story. On the 35mm PRX, the mother-of-pearl dial carries an $85 premium over a standard dial. On this new 40mm version, Tissot dropped that premium entirely — same SRP either way. That’s not how MOP dials usually work.
Why It Earns Desk Space
An 80-hour power reserve means it survives a full weekend off your wrist without needing a reset Monday morning — a genuinely practical detail for anyone who doesn’t wear the same watch every day. The integrated bracelet reads dressier than a sport watch and more versatile than a dress watch, which is exactly the gap “professional but not stuffy” gear needs to fill.
The Take
At $850 for a Swiss automatic with a genuinely interesting dial and zero premium for the finish, this is one of the more straightforward recommendations in the category right now. Worth trying on before you rule it out as “just another PRX.”
