Here's a review I wrote about my 3 register

Sep 27, 2010,08:31 AM
 

a 1970s Tissot Seastar Chronograph I found earlier this year. Lemania 1281 (Tissot 871) 17 jewel hand-wound movement.

More information on the movement here: www.ranfft.de 3

These are very affordable collectibles. Watch is 34mm across, but quite thick - the case & screwdown caseback, not including the raised acrylic crystal is 11mm. This one is one of the harder ones to find - a 3 register. Mine appears all original except for the crystal.

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

This has been a bit of a hard watch to get a history on.
The newer Seastar 1000 utilizes a ETA 2824-2 movement.

The late Chuck Maddox posted a response to a query in 2005 on the Chronocentric forum:

"I recently took delivery of a very interesting Tissot Seastar with a Lemania 1281 on the original tissot go-fast PRS bracelet.

I am looking for more information on the model and I noticed that Chuck had some images of a similar watch hidden away in one of his folders. But otherwise not much written up about it."

Chuck replied:

"I too would like to know more about this movement. Thus far I really haven't learned much about this movement.
It seems that the 1281 was a "Missing Link" or Hybrid between the earlier Lemania c.2310 (most frequently found in the Omega c.321) and later c.873 (most frequently found in the Omega c.861) families of movements. By "Missing Link" I mean of the three major differences between these movements (Column Wheel/Lever Cam, Screwed/Smooth Balance, "Arched"/"Trapezoid" bridge), this movement only retains the Arched Bridge of the earlier movement, with the other elements looking forward to the c.873 (c.861) family.

It appears that Tissot was chosen to provide real world experiences with the new changes, and Tissot seemed to sell watches with this movement for a couple of years before switching over to the new standard c.873 as shown by it's use in the later T-12 and PR-516 models."

Below are images he posted of examples of the 3 register Seastars (the last image is a 2 register Seastar for comparison [from another source])

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket This message has been edited by mrsnak on 2010-09-27 08:32:35

  login to reply

Comments: view entire thread

 

got my second chronograph after visiting my watchmaker today...

 
 By: FanFrancisco : September 25th, 2010-09:04
... today, i went to visit to my watchmaker and asked him to repair one of my watches. as usual, asked him any interesting watch he have, then he showed me this Tissot Seastar Chronograph powered with Lemania Cal.1277. he opened the caseback of the watch ...  

That's a nice chronograph...

 
 By: grumio : September 25th, 2010-16:06
I really like the look of the new chrono Stefan, particularly the colouring on the sub-registers. It also looks like the same people may have also made the bezel on both watches - look at the fonts, and the raised dot over the 90 on the Tissot. I had a lo... 

appreciate your response, grumio....

 
 By: FanFrancisco : September 27th, 2010-07:42
grumio, many thanks for responding... i also have the same observation as you do. from the movement layout, Lemania Cal. 1277 looks like in between Omega Cal. 321 and 861. however it is of course closer to Omega Cal.320 which also have 2 registers. stefan

You discovered a undervalued cousin to the Seamaster chronographs

 
 By: Bill Sohne : September 27th, 2010-07:52
Hi Stefan The Tissot Seastar line of chronographs is a great entry level way of getting into the world of Lemania based chronographs. Also the Cal.1277 was a transitional movement (made for a short period of time) between the Omega 320/321 and the Omega 8... 

indeed, it is Excellent GEM....

 
 By: FanFrancisco : September 30th, 2010-09:36
... it is amazing chrono movement, it is still running very strong, the chrono function is excellent. i find the size of this movement is smaller others and it is thinner. agree with you, Bill, it is excellent gem, after having this for a week, i am alrea... 

Here's a review I wrote about my 3 register

 
 By: mrsnak : September 27th, 2010-08:31
a 1970s Tissot Seastar Chronograph I found earlier this year. Lemania 1281 (Tissot 871) 17 jewel hand-wound movement. More information on the movement here: www.ranfft.de 3 These are very affordable collectibles. Watch is 34mm across, but quite thick - th...  

your two Tissots look terrific to me...

 
 By: FanFrancisco : September 30th, 2010-09:41
... 3 register chrono has special charm than 2 register one. ... the most impressive thing to me is their stunning movement, i really think it is even nicer if there is see-through caseback. thanks for the excellent review... i am now falling in love with... 

Thanks, Stefan

 
 By: mrsnak : October 6th, 2010-17:31
These are underrated watches at the moment. My 3 register sat for sale on a well-known forum sales area for about 2 months before I discovered it! I couldn't believe it was selling for so good a price in the condition it was in and no one had even made an...