Tissot Ballade COSC Review: A Datejust Alternative Under $1,200

In terms of enthusiast buzz, the Tissot Ballade, an elegant, unisex model first introduced in the 1990s, is far from the most prominent watch in the Swiss brand’s rather sprawling collection. In recent years, the surprise-hit PRX collection —which revived a mostly forgotten 1970s watch that happened to be just in tune with the 2020s zeitgeist — has garnered the lion’s share of attention, along with some notable variations on the racing-inspired PR-516. Last year, however, Tissot apparently was reminded of what it had on its hands with the Ballade — a Swiss-made, modestly sporty dress watch that offered a vibe similar to that of the famous and much pricier Rolex Datejust for a fraction of the latter model’s price tag — and the brand responded accordingly, raising the line's profile with the recently launched Ballade COSC models.

[toc-section heading="Tissot Ballade History"]

Tissot introduced the Ballade in 1994. It was intended from the beginning as an "everyday" dress watch, in styles and sizings geared toward both men and women. The men’s versions had a 36mm steel case, some with gold-tone accents, a knurled bezel, and — on later models, as pictured below — a silver-toned dial with a satiny smooth outer ring and guilloché-finished inner circle. Other defining characteristics included Dauphine hands, applied Arabic numerals and hour indexes, and a period-popular H-link bracelet. As the mechanical watch was only just starting to emerge from its hibernation during this transitional period, the movement inside most of these early models was quartz, though Tissot also outfitted some of them with the reliable workhorse ETA 2824 automatic (more on that historically significant movement here). Tissot supported the release with a major ad campaign the following year, drilling down on the model’s “timeless elegance” and worldwide appeal as a go-to “day to night” timepiece. 

In 1997, Tissot upgraded the quartz movement inside the core Ballade collection to the ETA-made “autoquartz” movement, which was designed to deliver the accuracy of quartz via a more traditional, self-winding mechanical system rather than a battery. In the movement, which ETA made and used sparingly in Tissot watches up until 2006, an oscillating weight, powered by the motion of a wearer’s arm, drove a micro-generator that charged an energy storage unit that moved the watch’s hands. It was an environmentally friendly invention that in some ways presaged other “hybrid” movements like Seiko’s Spring Drive, which has proven to have much more staying power. The Ballade Automatic collection, launched in 2016, brought the fully mechanical Powermatic 80 movement to the Ballade for the first time. Developed by ETA, first used by Tissot, and eventually adopted by other brands including Rado, Mido, and Hamilton (all of which are part of the Swatch Group, along with ETA itself), the Powermatic 80 is prized for its lengthy power reserve (80 hours) and antimagnetic balance spring. 

For the Ballade’s 30th anniversary in 2024, Tissot released a revamped version of the model that featured a classical knurled bezel, a sunburst-finished dial with applied Roman numerals (as opposed to the combo of Roman numerals and indexes on the older model above), and a five-link steel bracelet (calling to mind, of course, the famed Jubilee bracelet on the Rolex Datejust), available in two sizes (40mm and 34mm) and outfitted with Swiss quartz movements. For the segment of the audience seeking an affordable Datejust alternative, this newest version probably came as close to hitting that mark as any before it. However, the use of a quartz movement, rather than an automatic, was surely a sticking point, and an impediment to purchase, for many hardcore enthusiasts. Last year, Tissot finally answered those fans’ pleas with the release of the Tissot Ballade COSC, which for the first time in the relaunched collection features chronometer-certified Powermatic movements, in two case sizes and a variety of colorways.

[toc-section heading="Tissot Ballade Review"]

Tissot Ballade Case and Bracelet

Starting with the more “masculine” version of the Ballade COSC, the stainless steel case measures 39mm in diameter and 10.98mm in thickness. (The quartz version is  slightly larger, at 40mm, but thinner, at 8.25mm, so the difference in wearability is not drastic.) It’s got a combination of brushed and polished finishes and frames the dial with that now-familiar fluted bezel ring. The sapphire crystal secured by that bezel has a double-antireflective treatment in the service of legibility. The push-pull crown is topped with a Tissot “T” emblem, and the case offers a water resistance of 100 meters, which is appropriate for a watch that straddles the line between sporty and dressy. 

The ladies’ versions of the Ballade COSC offer more of a size contrast to its quartz predecessor — 30mm in diameter compared to 34mm — though it’s nearly as thick as the 39mm version, at 10.55mm. (This is, of course, a necessary consequence of the presence of a movement with a rotor.) While smaller, the case is nonetheless just as water-resistant as its big brother, rated to 100 meters, or 330 feet. Both the smaller and larger models are mounted on a five-link steel bracelet that bears a hard-to-miss resemblance to Rolex's storied Jubilee and, as a bonus, is easily interchangeable without tools. 

Tissot Ballade Dial and Hands

The differences between the current Ballade COSC and the 1990s versions that inspired it are fairly substantial, though the new version never strays far from that original Datejust-like (Datejustian? Datejustesque?) charm. The smooth sunburst finishing on the 2024 quartz versions gives way here to a more pronounced, textured sunburst guilloché that adds a more energetic look, for lack of a better description, to the overall watch. It is also, needless to say, strikingly different from the vertical lined guilloché of the earliest Ballade dials. 

The hands are baton-shaped rather than Dauphine in style, and the date window, which was somewhat oddly placed on an angle between 3 and 4 o’clock on the originals, is now situated in a more common 3 o’clock window, here in an elegantly faceted frame. Surrounding the dial are a series of applied, elegantly formed Roman numerals that add to the dial’s, shall we say, Presidential look (Rolex fans know what I’m talking about). The hands and indexes are coated with Super-LumiNova for nighttime legibility, another factor playing into the watch’s “day-to-night” identity as not quite dress, not quite sport, but an amalgam of both styles. 

The Powermatic Movement

Two case sizes, at least in the instance of these new Ballade models, means two separate automatic movements. Inside the 39mm men’s models beats the now-ubiquitous Powermatic 80 caliber, which is, in fact, based on the venerable ETA 2824 that inhabited some of the early models. The modern movement, which is visible behind a sapphire window in the caseback, is in just about every respect an upgrade from its now mostly retired predecessor. The movement not only holds the 80 hours of power reserve that gives it its name, and incorporates precision-aiding elements like an antimagnetic, temperature-resistant Nivarox balance spring, but it also boasts an official chronometer certification from the independent Swiss testing agency, COSC (Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres.) To achieve this respected, international standard of precision, the movement is tested over 15 consecutive days for seven specific criteria, including average daily rate, variation across positions, and recovery after temperature shifts. Movements that achieve the certification maintain an average daily rate between -4 and +6 seconds after testing in five different positions and three temperature environments. “Certified Chronometer” is proudly engraved on the oscillating mass of the COSC-certified Powermatic 80 caliber inside the 39mm Ballade. 

The smaller Powermatic 48 movement inside the 30mm Ballade has a shorter running autonomy — 48 hours rather than 80 — but is no less impressive in its COSC-certified chronometric performance. Based on the ETA 2671 rather than the 2824, it is smaller in diameter (19.4mm as compared to the 25.6mm size of the Powermatic 80) and thus ideally suited to this smaller case size. Both Powermatic movements have a frequency of 21,600 vph, reduced from their base calibers’ rate of 28,800 vph in the service of power consumption. 

[toc-section heading="Final Thoughts and Pricing"]

As hinted at by the photos in this article, Tissot offers a plethora of variations on the Tissot Ballade COSC, in both its 39mm and 30mm iterations. The former family includes three models in stainless steel cases, with dial options in silver, deep blue, or sunburst green; and a fourth with a bicolor case-and-bracelet treatment, in steel and yellow-gold PVD, accompanied by a silver sunburst dial. The more feminine 30mm models include two all-steel versions with either a silver or light blue sunburst dial, and a two-tone steel-and-rose-gold-PVD edition with a silver dial. Both the 30mm and 39mm Ballade COSC models are priced at $1,100 in steel and $1,225 in two-tone steel/rose gold PVD. And it should go without saying (but you know it won’t) that these prices will strike many as quite enticing, especially those staring down an $8,000 - $9,000 outlay for a steel Datejust. For more detail, visit www.tissot.com