Ingersoll Vs Tissot – American or Swiss Luxury?

In this article, we are going to be doing a rather brief, yet thorough comparison between Ingersoll Vs Tissot brands’ watches. These are two brands you may or may not be familiar with, depending on your knowledge of the industry.

Ingersoll is an American made watch brand, while Tissot, is a Swiss made brand. Now, you might want to instantly point out Tissot as the winner because of its Swiss heritage. However, it may not be quite as simple as that.

Yes, Swiss watches are known for being the highest in quality as far as industry standards are concerned. However, Tissot is an entry level Swiss luxury watch.

This means that while the brand does meet Swiss standards, Tissot is not at the level of some of the bigger names in Swiss watchmaking. This also, of course, means that they are going to be far less expensive and more affordable for the average consumer.

That puts Tissot on a more level playing field with Ingersoll, as Ingersoll is the American equivalent of an entry level luxury brand. So, which brand is actually better?

We can look at a few major factors in order to determine this. They are the build quality, the designs, and the pricing. Whichever brand better balances these factors is bound to be a winner for sure! But before we get off into that, let’s introduce the brands.


About the Brands


Ingersoll

Ingersoll was formed by two brothers in 1882 as a mail order business originally. However, by 1892, they started making and selling watches. They are one of the oldest American watch manufacturers still operating to this day.

Ingersoll is credited for having manufactured one of the cheapest watches. This watch was called the “Yankee”, and it was released in 1896. It retailed at $1, making it one of the most affordable watches a person could get at that time.

The company became wildly popular over the years, but ended up going bankrupt due to the recession that hit the nation after World War I. From there, the company changed hands a couple of times, being bought out by what is now known as Timex. Currently they are owned by Zeon Watches corporation.

Tissot

Like many well known Swiss brands, Tissot began as a small family owned business. Formed in 1853, the company didn’t really start gaining worldwide recognition until around the 1920’s and 30’s. Their high quality, lower priced Swiss watches soon became a hit.

Tissot is also an innovative company. They brought a couple of firsts to the market. One of these, was the introduction of the world’s first antimagnetic watch in 1930. Another, was the world’s first multifunctional tactile watch, released in 1999.

As of today, Tissot has been featured as the official timekeeper of numerous sports championships such as hockey, cycling, and fencing.


Now that we know a little bit more about these brands, we can start comparing their watches to each other, starting with the build quality.


Ingersoll Vs Tissot: Build Quality

ingersoll vs tissot build

Ingersoll

The Ingersoll brand makes both quartz and mechanical automatic watches. Their watches are manufactured in China. Watch cases are made of stainless steel, and dial windows are mineral crystal.

Water resistance in Ingersoll watches various by model, and ranges from 30 meters to 50 meters of resistance overall.

Tissot

Tissot manufactures mechanical automatic watches, quartz watches, digital, and smartwatches. A lot of their mechanical watches utilize their Powermatic 80 movement. Aside from that, the cases of Tissot’s watches are majority made of stainless steel.

There are some models with gold plated cases, and others with titanium cases as well. The dial windows are sapphire crystal. And lastly, water resistance among their models ranges from 30 meters of resistance, to as high as 600 meters in some of their diving watches.

Verdict on Build Quality

The Swiss brand comes out ahead by far when it comes to build quality. Tissot watches have superior construction with sapphire dial windows, and better overall water resistance on average.

Next, we will take a look at the design and style differences.


Ingersoll Vs Tissot: Design & Style

ingersoll vs tissot style

Ingersoll

Stylistically, Ingersoll hits the mark. They have varied designs from classic, minimalist, to chronograph, sport, skeleton case, and even tourbillon.

Ingersoll has much to offer in terms of style. Nothing too flashy, but some of the designs are very intricately and well crafted pieces.

Tissot

Tissot has a mix of traditional and contemporary Swiss luxury styles. They have a nice selection of both old and new takes on similar designs.

You will find chronographs, diving watches, casual, and sport among Tissot’s collections. Their smartwatches especially provide a more modern feel to luxury styles.

Verdict on Design & Style

Both brands have a lot to offer when it comes to style, however, Ingersoll has some truly standout timepieces, all things considered. Their skeleton case watches, and tourbillon models are especially exquisite.

The last thing to look at, is the pricing between the two brands.


Ingersoll Vs Tissot: Pricing

ingersoll vs tissot price

When it comes to price, luxury watches can get pretty expensive. Fortunately, for the most part, neither Tissot nor Ingersoll are priced extraordinarily high.

Of course, each brand will have their cheaper, and more expensive models. However, for the most part, prices will be similar, with both brands averaging mid tier pricing.

Check Ingersoll Watch Prices on Amazon

Check Tissot Watch Prices on Amazon

Now that we’ve covered all our bases, what is the final conclusion on which brand is better?


Final Conclusion

So, between Ingersoll and Tissot, which one can we say is definitively better? Well, both brands are priced similarly, but for that price, Tissot has the more refined and better crafted watches. This is no surprise considering their Swiss heritage.

However, Ingersoll watches have some very nice and interesting design choices, so they shouldn’t be counted out entirely. At the end of the day, it’s up to you to decide what you really like!

And that concludes today’s comparison. If you liked it and found it informative, we have many more brand comparisons that can be found here

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