Mido makes affordable Swiss automatics: 289 of our 298 models are automatic, many with the 80-hour Caliber 80. Ocean Star, Multifort, Baroncelli and Commander, from an authorised dealer in Italy.
Mido is the Swiss brand that does one thing and does it very well: affordable mechanical watches. Of the 298 Mido watches in our catalogue, 289 are automatic — there is exactly one quartz model — with sapphire crystal and, on most references, the Caliber 80 and its roughly 80 hours of power reserve. It belongs to the Swatch Group, alongside Longines and Tissot, and sits a step below on price: two Mido out of three cost between €800 and €1,200.
The diver: 200 m water resistance and a unidirectional bezel, up to 600 m on the Diver versions. In 36.5, 39 and 42.5 mm, and as a GMT. €784–€1,551.
The historic line, born in 1934 and inspired by the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The most varied: chronographs, the vintage-flavoured Patrimony, 8 One Crown and Two Crowns, and the TV Big Date family with its television case. €672–€2,152.
Mido’s dress watch and our widest Mido collection: slim cases, clean dials, men’s and women’s. Born in 1976 and drawn from the Rennes Opera House — the applied index at 12 and the date window at 6 echo its façade. €728–€2,392.
Since 1959, inspired by the Eiffel Tower: a lugless case and a concentric dial, in Datoday and Gradient versions. Recognisable at a glance. €592–€1,912.
Curves and roundness taken from London’s Royal Albert Hall: sunray guilloché dials and soft proportions. The cheapest way into Mido mechanics. €672–€992.
The women’s collection, born in 2019 from the lotus silhouette of Singapore’s ArtScience Museum: smaller cases, worked and mother-of-pearl dials, automatic even in the small diameters. €952–€1,160.
This is what makes Mido recognisable, and almost nobody tells it in full. Since 2002 every collection has started from a building — not as a slogan: a detail of the building ends up on the dial or in the case.
| Collection | Inspiration | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|
| Multifort | Sydney Harbour Bridge | The vertical Côtes de Genève on the dial echo the bridge’s suspension cables. |
| Commander | Eiffel Tower | The lugless case and the concentric dial finishing. |
| Baroncelli | Rennes Opera House | The applied index at 12 and the date window at 6 recall its façade. |
| Belluna | Royal Albert Hall, London | Curves, roundness and a sunray guilloché dial. |
| Rainflower | ArtScience Museum, Singapore | The building’s lotus silhouette, engraved on the dials. |
| Ocean Star | The sea | The one that does not come from a building: unidirectional bezel and diver construction. |
The name itself comes from the Spanish yo mido, “I measure”. Mido was founded in 1918 by Georges Schaeren, and its obsession with sealing goes back to the Aquadura system of the 1930s.
Mido has the most compact range we carry: from about €430 to €2,392, with half the watches around €960 and two out of three between €800 and €1,200. Three things worth knowing before ordering from Europe:
For water and everyday wear, the Ocean Star 200 — the most searched Mido anywhere — or the Ocean Star 39 if your wrist is slimmer; the buying guide is here. For travel, the Ocean Star GMT: a true diver with a second time zone, a combination rarely found at this price. For the office, a Baroncelli, slim enough to sit under a cuff, or the Multifort Patrimony if you prefer a 1940s flavour. For a design piece, the Commander with its lugless case, or the Multifort TV Big Date, whose rubber straps swap in a minute. For women, the Rainflower and the small-diameter Baroncelli — automatic movements under 34 mm, which is not a given at this price. Browse them all under men’s watches and women’s watches.
Nearly every Mido runs an automatic movement built on an ETA base developed for the brand inside the Swatch Group. The most common is the Caliber 80: about 80 hours of power reserve, so it is still running when you pick it up on Monday morning. The Caliber 60, found on some references, stops around 60 hours. Recent versions use the Nivachron hairspring, which copes better with the magnetic fields of ordinary life. Sapphire crystal is fitted to over 230 references in our Mido catalogue.
Around 118 original Mido references in rubber, leather and steel — including bracelets and the half-links used to size them, which are hard to find anywhere else. They are, in fact, what we sell most of. See straps and bracelets; if you are unsure of the size, send us the reference of your watch (the code beginning with M).
Every watch ships with its original box, documentation and official Mido warranty. Behind the shop there is a real workshop in Genoa: full services, original parts, polishing and water-resistance testing. Jewellers since 1950 — about us — and there is more on why Mido is an underrated brand here.
In our catalogue Mido watches run from about €430 to just under €2,400, and the range is unusually concentrated: two out of three sit between €800 and €1,200, with the middle around €960. That narrow band is the whole point of the brand.
Mido is part of the Swatch Group, alongside Longines and Tissot, and it makes one thing extremely well: affordable Swiss automatics. In our catalogue 289 of 298 Mido watches are automatic — there is exactly one quartz model. Under a thousand euro you get a Swiss mechanical movement, sapphire crystal and often the Caliber 80 with roughly 80 hours of power reserve.
Yes. Shipping to the US and Canada is a flat €22.50, insured and tracked, in 3–5 business days. Prices are shown in euro and include Italian VAT, which is removed at checkout on orders shipped outside the EU. Import duties and taxes due on arrival are the buyer’s responsibility — we say so here rather than at the last step.
Sister brands again, and the real difference is the movement. Tissot has a wider range and starts lower, but with many quartz models; Mido is almost entirely automatic — 289 references out of 298 — and puts the whole budget into mechanics rather than variety. For a Swiss automatic under €1,200, Mido is the more direct answer; for choice of styles, Tissot has more.
The Ocean Star 200 is water resistant to 200 m with a unidirectional bezel: fine for swimming, snorkelling and recreational diving, built to the ISO 6425 standard that defines what may be called a diver’s watch. The Ocean Star Diver 600 goes to 600 m and is built as a professional tool. The Ocean Star 39 keeps the diver construction in a smaller case for everyday wear. Full detail in our Ocean Star buying guide.
Power reserve. The Caliber 80 runs about 80 hours, the Caliber 60 about 60. Both are ETA bases developed for Mido within the Swatch Group, both automatic. In practice the 80 matters if you rotate between watches. The calibre is listed on every product page.
Yes — about 118 original Mido references in rubber, leather and steel, including the bracelets and half-links for the Multifort TV Big Date. They are, in fact, the Mido items we sell most of. See straps and bracelets. If you are unsure of the size, send us the reference of your watch.
Sister brands, different positions. Mido sits a step below on price — the middle of the range around €960 against about €2,600 for Longines — and puts everything into automatic movements and design. Longines adds column-wheel chronographs, more COSC certification and a far wider women’s range. Under €1,200, Mido is usually the better answer.
Roughly every 4-5 years, sooner if you swim with it. A full service strips the movement, replaces the gaskets and regulates the timing. Our own workshop in Genoa does this, and re-tests water resistance every time the case is opened.
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