Some watches are chased. Others just appear.

The Tissot Two-Timer falls into the second category — a quirky, slightly forgotten analog-digital watch from Tissot’s experimental years. Not a luxury icon, not a hype piece, but one that quietly captures a very specific moment in watchmaking history — the quartz crisis.

This is the story of how I found one cheaply, listed as non-working and untested, discovered it was likely a donor watch, and eventually brought it back to life in a way I didn’t initially expect.

A Brief History of the Tissot Two-Timer

The Tissot Two-Timer dates back to the 1980s–early 1990s, a period when Swiss brands were experimenting heavily with analog-digital (ana-digi) designs.

Quartz had already shaken the industry, and brands like Tissot were trying to balance:

• Traditional analog timekeeping
• Emerging digital functions
• Sporty, futuristic design language

The Two-Timer typically combines:

• Central analog hands
• A digital LCD display
• Pushers for digital functions
• A bold, often playful case and dial layout

These watches weren’t meant to compete with mechanical prestige pieces. They were practical, modern, and a little weird — which is exactly why they’re interesting today.

The Hunt: Cheap, Untested, and a Bit of a Gamble

I picked up my Two-Timer from TradeMe listed as untested. At that price, it was a low-risk buy:

• If it worked.. great
• If it didn’t.. parts or learning experience

Externally, the watch looked promising. The case condition was actually very good, especially for something this age. Case and crystal is in good condition. The strap is original though shows signs of wear. The LCD though has completely gone dark.

First Inspection: A Donor in Disguise

Once I opened it up, things became clearer.

This watch had almost certainly been used as a donor at some point:

• Battery clamps were missing, meaning a battery couldn’t be secured properly
• Without those clamps, power delivery would be unreliable or impossible
• There are bunch of missing screws as well
• The strip conductor for power is missing.
• There is oxidation and corrosion on the case
• LCD completely dark
• That explained why it was sold untested maybe

At this point, it wasn’t just a “needs a battery” job — sourcing original clamps would be extremely difficult, if not impossible.

Normally, this is where a project stalls.

The Unplanned Solution: A Non-Runner from Germany

Instead of hunting individual parts, I took a different approach.

I found another Tissot Two-Timer on eBay Germany, listed as a non-runner. These older quartz watches are often misdiagnosed — many are declared dead simply because:

• The battery is flat
• The seller doesn’t want to deal with it

When it arrived, that’s exactly what happened. I installed a new battery, and the watch came to life immediately. The donor condition were:

• Working with a fresh battery
• The crystal broken
• Dial color actually matches the original and is in good condition
• Case is polished gold tone with dents and sratches
• Inside the case was dirty
• All the other parts seems complete

The Swap Attempt One: Temporary Swap

The solution was to move the movement from the working one to the other but I hit a problem with removing the hands which will allow me to remove the movement. My hand lever is not biting, I need a better hand levers.

While waiting for my new Horotec hand levers which I ordered online and will be shipping from Cousins UK.

I decided to clean up the donor and temporarily use the crystal, lugs and strap from the original so I have a working watch.

The result?

• Fully functioning analog hands
• Working digital display
• Mismatched case as lugs where brushed gold while the case is polished gold.

I wasn’t done and I wasn’t happy with it.

The Swap Attempt Two: One Watch Saves Another

With the new Horotec hand lever removal tool arrival after a couple of weeks of waiting I resumed the restoration. I was able to completely take apart the movement on both watches and complete the transfer.

• Removed the module
• Removed the hands
• Removed the gears and cleaned them in Shellite(Lighter fluid)
• Cleaned as best as I can the oxidation on the case
• Putting back the gears and making sure they line up to the pivots was very tricky as one of the gears is magnetized(don’t know the name of the part)
• Added medium viscosity oil on the jewels
• Cleaned the gaskets and put some gasket grease before putting it back

What I learned From This Restoration

• This wasn’t a clean restoration.
• It wasn’t a simple service.
• Putting back the gears requires a lot of patience
• Different models have different sizes for hands, they don’t necessarily match even though they look the same.
• I learned the different settings of the two-timer which was pretty cool
• And it definitely wasn’t predictable.

But that’s exactly what made it worthwhile.

The Two-Timer reminded me why I enjoy restoring watches:

• Learning how they were built
• Finding creative ways to save them rather than discarding them

In the end, one watch gave its life so another could keep ticking — and that feels very appropriate for a piece from such an experimental era.