It’s been a while since I talked Tissot (been a while since I talked anything, really – I’ll try harder, though the web site went fritzed and it took me ages to rebuilt it). Looking back over the last few years of collecting, there has been a lot of Seiko action but Tissot is probably #2. As well as the 3-register chrono previously discussed on Tissot PR516 Chronograph another related variant got my attention; the Seastar 2-register.
The PR516 was a slightly later evolution; it had the reference 40528 and used the 3-register Lemania 1873 chronograph movement (which Tissot marked “873”), a sister of the Omega 861 as found in the Speedmaster (see Video: Looking at Lemanias). In contrast, the Seastar pictured here is a bit earlier (1969/70), has a notably thinner case and features a rare Lemania 1277 2-register movement, which Tissot marked “870”.
It’s a 2-register predecessor to the 1873, predating it by about 10 years though has the same cam/shuttle arrangement rather than a column wheel. The bridge looks a lot like the Omega cal 321 used in the original 1957 Speedmaster until 1968.
Anyway, enough looking under the covers – what about the outside? Well, it shows running seconds at 9 o’clock and the chronograph counts seconds and shows minutes on the 3 o’clock subregister. It also has a marker for 5 minutes so could be used as a “yacht timer” but frankly it’s so small, I’d be amazed if anyone could read it accurately –
As mentioned already, the case shape is very similar to others in the family – the PR516 chronograph, even the automatics and alarm watches of the same family all had similar cases – see “Bought for the Bracelet”- part I. It even uses the same, excellent-quality “president” style bracelet as the others, marked 608. The steel outer bezel is like a slightly shrunken version fitted to an Omega Speedmaster, too – it even has a “Dot Over Ninety”! But the case thickness is quite different – compare the PR516 / 40528 on the left to the Seastar / 40508 on the right…
This makes it wear very well as the PR516 can sometimes feel like a bit of a lump given its thickness relative to its diameter. Anyway… as is the way with these things, more similar watches came along later. To be continued…