News

Tissot Unearths the RockWatch

The stone-cold '80s icon returns.

Tissot reissues the iconic RockWatch of 1985, now in a larger case but once again made of granite sourced from the Swiss Alps.

Although Tissot took a few liberties to suit modern tastes, such upsizing the case to 38 mm and adding monochromatic hands, the new RockWatch is impressive for its fidelity to the original, and retains all of the important details including its one-piece case and dial. Limited to 999 pieces, the RockWatch extends Tissot’s run of mining gems from its back catalogue.

Initial thoughts

Tissot has been digging through its archives for over a decade now. After excavating the enormously successful PRX in 2021, the colourful Sideral in 2023, and long-dormant Stylist last year, Tissot has finally hit bedrock.

Watch cases carved from stone predate even the balance spring, but remained extremely niche and were often quite expensive until Tissot’s original 1985 RockWatch. While originally launched in Alpine marble, the line expanded to include numerous other materials.

Historical RockWatches were produced in a variety of materials and featured red and yellow hands inspired by Alpine trail markers.

As with most modern reissues, the 38 mm RockWatch is significantly larger than the originals, which were offered in 23 mm, 30 mm, and 33 mm sizes. In addition, modern AR-coated sapphire stands in for the tempered glass crystal of the original. Though larger, the construction is consistent with that of the original with its monobloc case and dial, which are milled as a unit.

The original’s red and yellow hands, an allusion to Alpine trail markers, are absent which gives the watch a more serious look. Similarly, the strap is just a plain black, and not matched to the granite. But Tissot did well sticking with a commodity ETA quartz movement, which is both faithful to the original and keeps the pricing in check.

Even though Tissot sold 800,000 RockWatches from 1985 to 1994, this edition is limited to just 999 pieces. I suspect, if successful, we will see other RockWatches in short order, and I’d personally welcome a return of the stone ladder bracelets as well. In the meantime, the limitation helps support the price point of US$1,225, which is quite high for a novelty watch.

The RockWatch is delivered in a box with a granite-like texture to complement the watch.

Between a rock and a steel case back

The modern RockWatch’s case is made of solid granite from the Swiss Alps, just like the ’80s original. To source the material for this limited edition, Tissot upcycled granite spoil that was excavated during a recent Jungfrau Tunnel renovation. The larger chunks of granite were then milled into more manageable cylinders before being cut into watch-sized slices.

The construction of the new RockWatch is remarkably similar to that of the original, which was impressive for its time. A shallow recess milled into the front of each slice accommodates the hands and crystal, while a deeper recess milled into the back of the case houses a stainless steel container for the movement. The outside of the case is then ground into the final, pebble-like form, and a hole is drilled for the crown.

Milling the cavity for the stainless steel movement container.

Milling the exterior of the case to its final form.

The remaining layer of material between the two cavities forms the dial, which is drilled to accommodate the hand stack and signed using traditional pad printing.

The movement is secured within a stainless steel container, held in place with industrial adhesive. Inside is a three-hand quartz calibre from ETA’s entry level “Trendline” range. Given the lack of meaningful water resistance, which is an unavoidable consequence of the case construction, the choice of an inexpensive, replaceable quartz movement makes sense.

Like the original, six screws fix the case back – with its integral lugs – directly to the steel movement container. Given the inherent impracticality and collectibility of such an object, the proprietary lugs, which greatly limit third-party strap options, are less of a concern than they would be on a watch intended for daily wear and are a worthwhile concession to historical fidelity.