POWERMATIC & SILICON: A DYNAMIC DUO

The Locle-located brand has integrated a definite ‘must’ into its Powermatic 80: silicon, an element that boasts cardinal qualities and that now features in Tissot’s T-Classic Ballade collection.

The silicon balance-spring, which Breguet introduced into its watch collections in 2006 and led other Swatch Group Prestige range brands to follow suit (Blancpain, Omega and Jaquet Droz), has now become indispensable. This element brings clear advantages to watchmaking through its lightness, its lifespan and its great resistance to shock, corrosion, magnetic fields and warping. Tissot, the Swatch Group’s high-volume brand, now benefits from this major technological breakthrough and incorporates a silicon balance-spring in its Powermatic 80 calibre which drives the Ballade collection.

Ballade – a name that adds a touch of romanticism and conjures up lyrical poems from the Middle Ages – proposes timepieces for both ladies and gents. The 32 or 41 mm-diameter “bare” steel cases or including PVD-coated yellow or rose gold bezels host the Powermatic 80 calibre that now embraces a silicon balance-spring. This self-winding mechanical movement, developed several years ago hand-in-hand with ETA and chronometer-certified by the COSC (the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute), powers the time functions and the calendar. But, it’s this engine’s autonomy that stands out and wows: 80 hours!

The Ballade model’s black dial alternates the different textures concentrically. The centre is decorated with a disc carved with a motif that is a mix between the Clous de Paris and a honeycomb structure and is reproduced on the bezel. The disc is encircled by a grained-finished ring that features the chapter ring embellished with silvered applique indexes and Arabic numerals; then, a black ring, close to the flange, hosts the minute tracker printed in white. This dial’s heart clasps two Dauphine hands indicating the hours and minutes and a direct-drive ticking away the seconds. The date is displayed in a silver-bevelled aperture at 3 o’clock.

Tissot’s small Ballade model embraces the same set-up and decoration but is proposed with a white mother-of-pearl dial centre.

Price not indicated

By Sharmila Bertin