Tissot Unveils the New Telemeter 1938
Eighty-four years ago, in the Swiss ski resort of Villars-sur-Ollon, Tissot’s history as a sports timekeeping began, when in 1938 Vital Thiébaud used his Tissot Telemeter a mono-pusher chronograph during a ski race.
Today Tissot pays tribute to its classic chronograph with the launch of the Telemeter 1938 reissue in the form of two variants. One variant features a black dial and gilt indexes, an almost faithful reproduction of the original, and a second variant features a white-silver dial, blue hands, and black and red accents.
On the outside, the new Telemeter 1938 now comes in a 42mm diameter stainless steel case with an alternating polished and brushed finish, elongated lugs, a wide crown with a fluted edge and two oval pushers-bottoms, and sapphire crystal front and back.
The dial, which retains the original layout, comes with condensed Arabic hour markers, two horizontal registers with a railroad track – a 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock and a running seconds at 6 o’clock, a spiralling tachymeter scale on the centre in red for timing speed, a minutes scale in black and an outer telemeter scale in blue for measuring the distance between an event you see first and hear second, and three central hands.
Inside there is a complete renovation, housing the Valjoux A05.231 automatic movement that comes with the durable Nivachron balance Spring and offers up to 68 hours of power reserve.
Finally, the chronograph is offered with the brown Italian leather strap, which has been specially treated to develop a beautiful patina effect with age.
The new Tissot Telemeter 1938 will soon be available in the brand’s official boutiques and authorized retailers, with prices starting at €1,995.
Our Opinion
The new Telemeter 1938, which is in fact a good surprise from Tissot, represents one of the golden models of the brand and which, like many others, is almost forgotten in history.
We especially liked the permanence of the dial layout and the black variant that reminds us of the original, we didn’t like the size of the case so much, which combined with the long lugs makes the watch almost impossible to wear for those with a smaller or medium wrist. We would also like it better if it came with a mono-pusher classic, but we understand the difficulty of including a modern movement that offers other advantages.
Read more here.
Tissot, Telemeter 1938, T142.462.16.032.00 (white-silver dial) or T142.462.16.052.00 (black dial). White-silver or black dial, stainless steel case, 42 mm diameter, sapphire crystal, 30 meters water resistance, brown Italian leather strap. Caliber Valjoux A05.231, self-winding movement, hour, minutes, small seconds, chronograph, 28,800 Vph, 68 hours of power reserve. Price € 1,995.
