Tissot PRS 516 Powermatic 80 Review – Racing gears and sporty zest

Tags: Presentation | Tissot | Men's | Classic | Traditional

13.4.2022 | 5 MIN

It's pretty lively over at Tissot, and from experience we know that the Swiss giant never shies away from interesting new releases. Since the spotlight is currently mostly on the main stars of the collection, PRX and Seastar, a march newbie could just slip under our radar – PRS 516 Powermatic 80. Why is it worthy of some attention?

PRS 516 as the last century's legacy of motosport

We have not yet talked about the PRS 516 line here, which sure is a pity. The abbreviation PRS stands for "Particularly Robust and Sporty", but you could come across their alias "Pretty Ridiculously Good Looking" on some of the internet forums (especially with the older pieces like PR 516 GL). In my opinion, the second option suits the watch better,  because you would call a watch "particularly robust" in a slightly different period of time... Like in the 1960s, when watches generally had a smaller constitution.

When the Tissot PR 516 sport line was launched in 1965, it was a more robust watch at the time. Tissot got inspired by car racing, which he soon began to sponsor. The watch was distinctive mainly due to the perforated bracelet, which was meant to resemble the design of the steering wheel of racing cars. Interestingly enough, it is said that it was a very first occurence on the worlwide scale and the trend was later taken over by many other brands.

New Tissot PRS 516 Powermatic 80 – Black finish and sporty sex-appeal

The current watch also got the "Sporty" added to its name and along with that, a modern sporty zest and, of course, a lot of details with which the nostalgic Tissot recalls the famous era of motosport of the 60s and 70s.

We probably won't see the famous perforated bracelet again, but design-wise, the watch remains true to the original concept, at least by perforating the leather strap, which not only adds to the sporty sex appeal, but also shows that you don't have to be afraid to go into action with it. Your skin will nicely vent under the strap.

"That leather strap will just fall apart faster with all the rougher handling and sweat." – someone might say. But Tissot thought of that as well, therefore the lining is synthetically strengthened and the upper layer of the strap is made out of cowhide. Of course, the strap will not be immortal anyway, but thanks to the Quick Release system, you can easily replace it at home according to your taste and depending on the occasion. The space between the pins is then universal 20 mm.

The butterfly clasp with buttons allows for more comfortable fastening and isn't so hard on the leather strap.

But let's get to a more substantial detail of this watch, which is clearly a characteristic feature of this collection – a see-through case back with a racing steering wheel motif. Under the steering wheel construction, we can then find the movement of the Powermatic 80 and the decorated rotor, which is quite an impressive visual effect. The back of the watch, including the perforated steering wheel, then has a grounded finish with a black PVD coating.

The Powermatic 80 from the Swiss company ETA is a movement currently used across Swatch Group brands. Tissot itself took part in its development and research in 2011 and altogether they managed to push the boundaries of both performance and accuracy of conventional automatic movements. The biggest advantage is up to twice the power reserve of 80 hours and an accuracy of ± 5 s per day. Other watch brands also offer movements with comparable properties, but at a higher price.

But let's look at the front of the watch as well. The mentioned sanding method ingeniously transitions to a wider bezel and a case in black PVD, which nicely seconds the black dial. The dial is then slightly matt, which makes the contrasting white digits beautifully stand out. The watch is therefore perfectly legible.

The whole visual then ingeniously disrupts the sporty fashion in the form of a red seconds hand with a T-end and a thin red line between the case and the case back, for which, however, I do not have the "evidence" photographic material, so you will have to believe me. ;)

The luminescence on the hands and indices also ensures that excellent readability. It is Super-Luminova, which can shine for hours after being exposed to a light source.

The watch looks very nicely balanced, contrasting, distinctive, neither of which being over the top. Definitely sporty, but in no way do they lack the Tissot fashion and sense of elegance. However, if it's truly a robust watch, that I will leave up to you. The steel case is well-made, but the smaller size 42 mm (smaller for a sport watch) and the thickness of 12,3 mm shows that these PRSs could easily slip under the sleeve of a suit jacket (should you wish to rebel a little against social conventions).

The practicality of PRS 516

Sports watches from Tissot will always excel in a certain level of practicality. The great readability of the dial has already been established (even from a relatively large distance and without glasses, a blind person such as myself can comfortably read the time), as well as a useful power reserve of the Powermatic 80 (which you will appreaciate on weekends, for example – you put the watch away on Friday and they are good to go on Monday, nice).

However, I did not mention the glass, which is of course sapphire (therefore practically non-scratchable) and has an inner anti-reflective layer on top. This will prevent glare to which the sapphire is prone, which futher increases the legibility, if it's even possible...

The depth of the dial and the inconspicuous embossing around its curcumference is also quite appealing.

And if you're always forgetful (or just a mentally busy individual) and sometimes you're not even sure what is today's date or what day of the week it actually is, then the Tissot PRS 516 will be your practical guide, as it has the complications of the date and day of the week. And since this is a mechanical watch, remember that it is important not to change the date if the hands are in the top half of the dial (simple slide the hands down before setting the date).

And the last point is the durability. We never had to doubt that at Tissot. The only thing the watch is not built for is diving, but swimming in shallow waters sure is a piece of cake (the strap probably won't like it very much, but it is what it is).

The new PRSs 516 are not a particularly bombastic novelty, but I must say, they're not bad at all. You can recognise Tissot's precision in every (in)significant detail and if the watch also fits your taste, you simply hit a jackpot there.

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