The Adventure Life with Steve Casimiro Gear Review: Tissot T-Touch Expert Watch

Text by West Coast Editor Steve Casimiro

Photograph by Joshua Scott

Reviewed: Tissot T-Touch Expert, $1,095

For a while it seemed as though anyone with an adventurous streak was doomed to an eternity of wrist-top robots—watches that looked more like PDAs than the sleek timepieces so coveted in the corporate world. But thankfully that trend has started to reverse. One of my favorite ringleaders is Tissot, whose watches employ a clever touch-screen system to bypass the usual barrage of buttons. Take the company’s latest creation, the T-Touch Expert. On the surface, it looks like any other bit of boardroom bling: crystal face, titanium bracelet, minimal flair. Start tapping around, though, and you’ll pull up a virtual farmer’s almanac. That’s because the face is radially sliced into six invisible sections (picture a pizza), plus one in the center, with hidden, heat-sensitive electrodes in each. Say you want to check the weather. Push the “T” button to activate touch mode, then press the face where noon should be, and bingo, up comes the forecasted atmospheric pressure. Disoriented? Tap the bottom of the face and the minute hand will swing to true north. Display time could be longer—after 15 to 30 seconds the Expert reverts to its timekeeping duties—but it’s enough for a good look. Other features include altimeter, thermometer, and chronograph. And, oh yeah, one last perk: zero envy for the suit-and-tie club.