No, no, it’s not the 20th anniversary of Mido Watches. Rather, this year marks 20 years since they introduced their “Inspired by Architecture” watches. Which means, to be perfectly fair, the name of this watch is the Mido Ocean Star Inspired by Architecture 20th Anniversary Limited Edition. Doesn’t quite roll off the tongue, so we’re sticking with Mido Ocean Star 20th Anniversary for this article.
The big question, then, is what piece of architecture is this watch honoring? It’s the Europa Point Lighthouse, found in the Straight of Gibraltar. How do you capture a lighthouse in a watch? Well, for one, you engrave the lighthouse in the caseback, as well as a medallion that is in the presentation box.
A bit more subtly, the Mido Ocean Star 20th Anniversary works with color. The dial, bezel, and strap are all done in blue (sort of like the Ocean Star GMT we reviewed) calling to mind the waters. The 12 o’clock indice is the most clever, done in red and white really evoking the lighthouse. Red also pops up on the seconds hand, and the stitching of the strap.
Past those touches, this is very much the Mido Ocean Star 80, through and through. This means it has the sublime Caliber 80 movement inside with it’s 80-hour power reserve, and a clean and legible dial that gives you the day and date, along with the time, all wrapped in a 200m WR-rated case.
For this release, 1,841 pieces of the Mido Ocean Star 20th Anniversary are being offered (the lighthouse was built in 1841) at a pre-order price of CHF 1,070 (approximately $1,115), about a 10% premium over the non-limited edition Ocean Star. Check out the LE (as well as the other models in the line) over at midowatches.com
Tech Specs from Mido
- Movement: Automatic Mido Caliber 80 (ETA C07.621 base), 11½’’’, Ø25.60 mm, height: 5.22 mm, 25 jewels, 21,600 vph. Finely decorated Elaboré-grade movement, oscillating weight decorated with Geneva stripes and the Mido logo. Functions: HMSD + day. Adjusted in 3 different positions for high accuracy. Up to 80 hours of power reserve.
- Case: Satin-finished and polished stainless steel, unidirectional rotating bezel with blue aluminium ring and silver-coloured markings, white Super-LumiNova® dot at 12 o’clock, Ø42.5 mm, 2 pieces, sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective treatment on both sides, screwed case back and crown. Case back decorated with the Europa Point lighthouse. Limited edition xxxx/1841, water-resistant up to a pressure of 20 bar (200 m/660 ft).
- Strap: Blue fabric with rolled edges and red stitching, pin buckle in satin-finished and polished stainless steel.
- Dial: Blue, ‘Velvet’ finish, polished applied indexes with white Super-LumiNova®, day and date at 3 o’clock.
- Hands: Diamond-cut hour and minute hands with central grooves and white Super-LumiNova®, seconds hand with red varnished tip and white Super-LumiNova®.
