Mathey-Tissot: history, models and value

Founded

1886

Founder(s)

Edmond Mathey-Tissot

Headquarters

Geneva and Fribourg

Owner / group

Independent (owned by Alberto Frigerio)

Mathey-Tissot: origins and founding

Edmond Mathey-Tissot founded the company in 1886 in Les Ponts-de-Martel, a village in the Neuchâtel Jura. The firm, registered as E. Mathey-Tissot & Co., started with complicated pocket watches, above all repeaters that chime the time. Despite the name, it is not related to the Tissot brand from Le Locle.

Founders and family

Edmond Mathey married into the Tissot family, which explains the double name. His descendants ran the business for decades; the last family member retired in 1975.

Mathey-Tissot history and milestones

One of the first large orders came during the Second Boer War, when repeater watches were ordered for a British regiment in South Africa. In 1914 the company's observatory chronometers received "Class A" ratings at the Kew Observatory trials in England, and it won a Grand Prix at the Swiss National Exhibition the same year.

In World War I, Mathey-Tissot chronographs were used by the US Army Corps of Engineers, and General Pershing gave its watches to his staff. The firm kept supplying American and British forces around World War II. In the 1950s and 1960s it was one of the original makers of the French military Type XX pilot's chronograph.

Mathey-Tissot also worked behind the scenes. Archive documents show it made movements or complete watches for well-known houses, including Breguet, Vacheron Constantin, Heuer and IWC. In 1969 and 1970 Elvis Presley ordered a few dozen customized automatic watches with his name on the bezel as gifts for friends and staff.

From the 1990s the brand lost visibility. Alberto Frigerio became CEO in 1994 and bought the company in 2013. For years the range leaned heavily on designs inspired by other famous watches, before the brand began to revisit its own past.

Famous Mathey-Tissot models

• Repeater pocket watches from the late 19th and early 20th century.
• Type XX chronographs made for the French military, now collected as military watches.
• Elvis Presley watches, gold-tone automatics with "Elvis Presley" on the bezel.
• Coin watches, a mechanical movement hidden inside a split coin.
• Modern Type XX and Mergulhador reissues, based on the military chronograph and a 1970s diver.

Movements and technique

In its early decades the company made its own complicated calibres: quarter and minute repeaters, chronographs with flyback functions, and calendar watches. Today it no longer makes its own movements. Current watches use bought-in mechanical and quartz movements.

Mathey-Tissot today

Mathey-Tissot is an independent company owned by Alberto Frigerio, with addresses in Geneva and Fribourg. It sells a large range of nearly 500 references, mostly in the entry to mid price segment, with recent reissues drawing on its military past.

Mathey-Tissot prices on the pre-owned market

Values vary a lot. Most modern quartz and automatic Mathey-Tissot watches resell well below their retail price. The pieces collectors look for are older: vintage Type XX chronographs with military history, early repeater pocket watches in good working order, and genuine Elvis Presley watches, especially with the original certificate. For these, provenance, originality of dial and hands, and service condition matter more than the brand name alone.

How to recognise a genuine Mathey-Tissot

Check that the dial reads "Mathey-Tissot" and is not a plain "Tissot" or a mix of parts. Vintage pieces should show a movement and case that match the period; repeaters must actually chime. Military Type XX watches and Elvis pieces are the most likely to be faked or assembled from parts, so ask for papers, service records or a provenance trail. More general checks are in our guide on how to spot a fake watch.

What is your Mathey-Tissot worth?

Upload a few clear photos of the dial, caseback and movement and you get a free watch value estimate in minutes. If you need a signed document for an estate, a divorce or insurance, you can order a written watch appraisal.

← All Swiss watch brands A–Z