Tissot Rock Watch

Tissot has a sterling history of producing high-quality and innovative watches that spans more than 170 years. Based in the town of Le Locle, in the Swiss Jura Mountains, the Swiss luxury brand was founded by the father-and-son team of Charles-Félicien Tissot and Charles-Émile Tissot in 1853. 

In the early days, Tissot focused on producing pocket watches with high-precision movements, many of which were ornately decorated and popular with women, including French actress Sarah Bernhardt and, later, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium and famed singer Carmen Miranda. Its watches housed in domed tonneau cases, such as the Porto of the 1910s — a distinctive Art Nouveau design — foreshadowed the venturesome forms of Art Deco jewelry and landed well ahead of the shaped watch trend, and its anti-magnetic watch beat the world’s best known brands to the punch, too.

While Vacheron Constantin is credited with developing early technology for anti-magnetic timepieces — which protected movements from disruptive magnetic fields — it was Tissot that introduced the Antimagnétique, which is believed to be the world’s first anti-magnetic wristwatch. 

The sleek Art Deco-styled accessory made its way to market in 1930 — the same year that saw Tissot merging with Omega to establish the Swiss Society for the Horology Industry — decades before Rolex debuted its Milgauss, which was designed specifically for scientists toiling in the immediate vicinity of strong magnetic fields. IWC, Omega and Jaeger-LeCoultre would introduce their own antimagnetic timepieces in the years that followed, but Tissot was ahead of the game. In keeping with its slogan “Innovators by Tradition,” Tissot introduced the Navigator in 1951, a mass-produced self-winding watch that displayed 24 time zones on its sophisticated oversized dial.

In 1983, Tissot became part of the Swatch Group. Since then, Tissot’s enduring commitment to quality and style has led to even more milestones — the Tissot T-Touch, the first watch to incorporate touch-screen technology, debuted in 1999. In 2011, Tissot took first prize in the International Timing Competition with the Tissot Le Locle watch, which scored a 764 out of 1,000 for accuracy — leaving the next competitor in the dust with 488 points. 

Tissot watches continue to be status symbols and have been embraced by the likes of George Clooney and Justin Bieber as well as Angelina Jolie, who sported Tissot watches in both Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Tomb Raiders. 

Find vintage Tissot wristwatches and pocket watches on 1stDibs.

Can you pull off a vintage pocket watch? Of course you can. With a suit and a waistcoat, a pocket watch can be a refreshing alternative to a wristwatch.

The earliest pocket watches were luxury items, and, owing to cost, they weren’t commonplace until the 19th century. Artfully crafted pocket watches were a symbol of wealth, and manufacturers such as Vacheron Constantin and Patek Philippe became known for theirs. (Today, they’re among the most sought after by collectors and enthusiasts.)

At the onset, pocket watches resembled small round table clocks, and pulling your small round table clock — perhaps of the silver variety — out of your breast pocket in front of someone else demonstrated unequivocally that you cared about punctuality. For collectors, pocket watches are big, and that means a larger canvas provided for functions without crowding the dial. For example, the Marius Lecoultre pocket watch — made circa 1890 — does everything but uncork your wine.

In the late 1800s, the open-face pocket watch became a staple on the American railroad. It was a requirement for railway workers to wear a pocket watch, as the timepieces were responsible for keeping conductors on schedule. This was a boon to the watchmaking industry, with companies like Hamilton, the Elgin National Watch Company and the Waltham Watch Company producing high-grade and workingman’s watches.

By the 1930s, wristwatches comprised the bulk of watch manufacturing in America, superseding the pocket watch. Suddenly, if you wanted to know the time, you merely glanced at your wrist. But given their vintage charm and our general appetite for good design, pocket watches are a piece of statement-making jewelry and today can prove complementary to your formal attire in a manner that is stylish and unconventional.

Let time take its course — browse a vast selection of antique and vintage pocket watches available on 1stDibs designed by legendary brands such as IWC, Cartier and more.