Mido Watches Review
If you’re not familiar with Mido watches, you might want to take a closer look. The company was founded in Switzerland in 1918, though the name is Spanish in origin, as “mido” is Spanish for “measure.”
Mido watches have long been at the forefront of innovation, having established a number of industry firsts over their century of doing business.
Today, the company is part of the Swatch group, and offer well-crafted but relatively affordable Swiss-made mechanical watches that offer a good alternative to the better known, but more expensive Swiss brands.
Read on for the full Mido watches review.
Build Quality
Movements
Innovation
Styling and Features
Care and Maintenance
Warranty
Prices
Where to Buy
Summary
Mido Watches Build Quality
The build quality is quite good, with cases made from surgical-grade 316L stainless steel. A few of their cases are PVD coated, but as far as we know, they’re all steel.
The watch faces are protected by scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, with bands and straps offered in leather or stainless.
Water resistance varies by model, but their diving collection, the Ocean Star series, offers up to 600 meters of water resistance along with a helium escape valve.
A number of models feature a screw-down crown and exceptional shock resistance.
These are well-crafted timepieces that should offer a lifetime of service.
You’ll have a choice of either quartz electronic movements or automatic (self-winding) mechanical movements. These are sourced from ETA, a well-known Swiss manufacturer of watch movements.
A few Mido watches are listed on the company Website as having Mido movements, though these are apparently modified ETA movements.
Many watchmaking companies purchase movements from third parties as opposed to designing and building their own movements in-house. This allows them to offer reliable timepieces at a more affordable price, as development costs for watch movements can be considerable.
Click here to shop for Mido watches at Amazon. (new window)
There’s a long history of innovation with Mido watches. They introduced self-winding movements in 1934, and about the same time, they introduced watches that had unbreakable mainsprings.
A central-read chronograph was released a few years later. In 1967, Mido produced what was then the world’s thinnest ladies’ watch.
That innovation continues today and Mido watches can be purchased with a wide variety of complications in addition to time-only models.
While there are a number of chronographs in the company’s product line, you’ll also find models with moon phases, date complications, and day/date complications.
Mido Watches Styling and Features
The styling is fairly diverse, with more than 100 available models for men and women in seven different collections:
- Baronelli
- Belluna
- Multifort
- Commander
- Ocean Star
- All Dial
- Dorada
It’s nice to see a wide variety of case sizes; many manufacturers today are pushing extra-large cases with many makers only producing watches that exceed 40mm in case size.
Watches are available with case sizes in the 25mm-29mm, 30mm-34mm, 35mm-39mm, 40mm-44mm and 45mm-49mm size. They certainly have the larger cases if you want them, but smaller options are available for women, men with smaller wrists, and people who simply prefer a smaller watch.
Colors are rather austere, favoring the gold, silver, white and black that are common to most brands. You won’t find a whole lot of outrageous colors, nor will you find cases in shapes other than round.
Cases are all stainless or PVD-coated stainless; there are no models with gold, platinum or titanium cases, nor are there models with embedded gemstones.
This is part of what keeps the pricing affordable.
Still, with more than 100 models available and a plethora of available options, one should have to look too hard to find something appealing in the product line.
Mido Watches Care and Maintenance
You’ll find either quartz electronic and automatic mechanical movements in these watches. If you own a watch with a quartz movement, you’ll need to have the battery replaced every three years or so.
If you own a Mido watch with a mechanical movement, the company recommends that you return the watch to them every few years for servicing.
This will consist of opening the watch and examining it for worn or damaged parts and replacing them, if necessary. Then the watch will be cleaned and returned to you, good as new.
As with all timepieces, you should store your timepieces away from strong magnetic fields and keep them away from extremes of temperature.
With proper care, your watch should run well for years to come.
The warranty offered is the industry standard of two years. This will protect you from defects in materials and craftsmanship for 24 months from the date of purchase.
As these watches are made with well-tested, highly reliable movements, defects are likely quite rare.
As Swiss designer watches go, you’ll find that Mido watches, while not inexpensive, are relatively affordable.
Prices range from a low of about $300 to a high of about $5000 or so. The quartz models are the least expensive, while the automatic models and those with additional complications are near the top of the price range.
The median price is about $1500 or so. While they’re not inexpensive by any means, they’re far more affordable than other Swiss watch brands.
You can find them for sale at a number of brick and mortar retailers, particularly at specialty watch shops. You’ll be less likely to find them at department stores.
You can buy through the company’s official Website, and you’ll also find them for sale at a number of online retailers.
Online stores often present the best opportunity to buy discount Mido watches, so you may wish to check online first.
Mido Watches Summary
If you’re looking for a Swiss watch with good build quality and traditional styling, you may wish to give Mido watches a look.
They offer relatively affordable pricing and a large selection of models from which to choose. They have a good selection of chronographs and a rugged line of diving watches that should meet the needs of just about anyone.
You’ll find a number of models for both men and women and a good range of case sizes, particularly suitable to buyers who prefer smaller watches.
If you want a good Swiss watch at a price that won’t leave you broke, Mido watches may be worth a look.
Click here to shop for Mido watches at Amazon. (new window)