Mido Ocean Star Tribute M0268302105100 Automatic Mens Watch 80h Power Reserve

Product Information

The Mido Ocean Star Tribute is recognizable at first glance as a true diver’s watch. With its polished stainless steel case, reduced and easy-to-read dial and unidirectional rotating diver’s bezel, it has exactly the characteristics that watch lovers appreciate in classic timeless diver’s watches. “A reinterpretation […] of the diving watches from the 1960s,” Mido says. The watch glass, whose classic curvature is familiar from models from precisely this era, also gives the appearance. Ocean Star is one of the oldest and most successful models in the Mido catalog. The first Ocean Star debuted in 1944, making it one of the earliest water-resistant watches. Its single-shell (or "monocoque") stainless steel case and then-revolutionary cork sealing system made waves in the industry. Ocean Star Powerwind . Produced in the 1960s, this 35-mm stainless steel watch features the Ocean Star's characteristic single-shell case. This means that the dial has to be removed to service the automatic caliber 1117P1 below. When Georges Schaeren founded Mido in 1918, he had a brand philosophy in mind that combined functionality, innovation, and aesthetics. Despite hailing from the heart of the Swiss Jura mountains, the brand’s name actually comes from the Spanish phrase, “Yo mido”, which means “to measure”.

For the silver-blue variant, the watch uses titanium in both the case and link bracelet. Titanium is known to be much stronger than stainless steel without the added weight. It’s durable, hypoallergenic, and quite lightweight, adding much comfort to the wearer. But what’s particularly advantageous in using titanium instead of stainless steel for this dive watch is titanium’s resistance to seawater. This is definitely a watch that can take on the harsh conditions of the ocean. The Automatic Mido Calibre 80 Si is a COSC-certified chronometer. For those not familiar with the COSC, they basically put watch movements through extensive testing for a period of 15 days. If the movements meet the COSC’s high testing standards, then they are rewarded with chronometer certification. This indicates that the movement is highly accurate according to the COSC guidelines. Over the past couple of months, Mido seems to be on a bit of a winning streak with the new additions to their collection. Case in point is this dressy Multifort Patrimony that combines stellar vintage vibes with an affordable price tag. And it seems that their streak is not quite ready to end with another vintage-inspired beauty. This time, they go with the tried-and-tested 1960s inspired dive watch, with the new Mido Ocean Star Tribute.Scrolling the timeline of the brand’s history, we find out that the first-ever Mido Ocean Star appeared in 1944; a date that confirms how relevant has been and still is this collection. If we consider that the first– ever commercial diver‘ s watch, introduced by Blancpain, came over ten years later, this certifies that the Mido Ocean Star Tribute is not celebrating the 1944 Ocean Star, preferably one of the brand’s early divers and a collection that has today an exclusively semi-professional or professional foothold, as that’s the case with the Ocean Star Diver 600, for example.

Soon after the end of Baselworld 2019, the Swatch Group gathered press media and retailers in Zürich, where they revealed all the brands’ new products. Mido was among them, of course, and their latest collections are now gradually arriving at the brand’s dealers across Europe.m (20 bar, 656 ft). Prices for the Ocean Star Captain V in titanium sit between 990 and 1,100 USD. Stainless steel models generally cost slightly less at 880 to 1,000 USD. Two-tone editions are the exception, demanding around 1,200 USD. This dual-purpose attribute is the winning factor to most modern vintage diving watches, in my opinion. Eighty hours of power reserve are no news any longer and guarantee peace of mind you’ll never run out of charge, yet I am curious to find out whether engineers at ETA are working on getting a 100-hour power reserve out of their base movements, and so increase their competitive advantage further. The Tribute runs on a caliber 80 automatic movement, which has a maximum power reserve of 80 hours. That’s way more than the typical power reserve of other calibres. The watch is also water-resistant up to 200 metres, making it suitable for your diving needs. Readability is no problem, thanks to the scratch-resistant and anti-reflective sapphire crystal. Rounding out the case is the big box Sapphire crystal that sits atop the watch. It brings the height of the watch to 13.5mm. The rounded edges of the crystal obviously cause some distortion; however, I found the sapphire to be much clearer overall, and causing far less distortion of the dial from different angles than the Plexi crystal in the Lorier that I reviewed last year. You can almost read the watch looking at it totally horizontal, which I found harder to do with the big Plexi on the Hydra.

At first glance, you would not believe the first-class wearing comfort of the green bracelet. From the outside, the strap made of synthetic material looks and feels quite robust. But the impression is deceptive. On the underside, Mido has processed embossed calfskin, which makes the wearing comfort of the Mido Ocean Star Tribute first-class. Embossing such as the manufacturer’s lettering or the reference number of the bracelet (M604017778) further increase the value. Today, the Ocean Star has grown into a comprehensive collection of modern diving watches. Each timepiece has a unidirectional diving bezel, luminous hands and indices, sapphire crystal, and a screw-down crown. While most models are water-resistant to 200 m (20 bar, 656 ft), top models can dive down to The Mido Ocean Star GMT runs on a Mido Calibre 80 automatic movement. It’s water-resistant up to 200m, making it a perfect companion for your dives. The Ocean Star GMT is made of high-grade 316L stainless steel. It’s durable, anti-magnetic, and corrosion-resistant. The stainless steel also has a nice sleek finish that makes it a classy and timeless piece. For the watch crystal, Mido uses the ever scratch-resistant sapphire glass. Sapphire crystal is pretty sturdy, and with the added anti-reflective coating on both sides, it makes reading the dial even easier.The case is aesthetically almost the same as the current Ocean Star; it has nearly straight lugs with only a slight chamfer to break up any slab sidedness. The big difference here is the size of the watch. Coming in at 40.5mm, it’s about 1.5mm smaller than the standard Ocean Star and the lug to lug is 47mm. I find this to be the sweet spot for dive watches. I know most of them have gotten bigger, and with a 7.5 inch wrist, I personally don’t have a huge problem with that. But for me nothing beats a dive watch around the 40mm mark. It’s just the sweet spot for big wrists and small wrists alike. It adopts a Pantone that is substantially opaque, pretty sober, as you’d expect on a faithful re-edition; also, the blue successfully combines to the Mido signature orange central seconds hand whose mid-end tip is in the shape of a “ lollipop“. Both versions are listed as special versions, which usually means they are not limited in time nor numbers. Mido outfits most Ocean Star watches with an automatic caliber from ETA, a Swiss movement manufacturer. The caliber 80 with an No ceramic insert on the bezel is a choice that I approve, Mido would have otherwise opted for a neo-vintage re-issue, following the likes of what Rado did when they launched the new Captain Cook, to bring you an example. This option helps to keep the retail price as low as possible, too. A compact case curves into the lugs. Mido relies on classic 316L stainless steel for the material. The manufacturer justifies this among other things with the corrosion resistance of the material, the insensitivity to magnetic fields, compatibility on the skin and the very good durability. The case feels good and appears to be manufactured to a very high standard. In any case, it is in no way inferior to the more expensive models in the collection in terms of quality. The stainless steel surfaces are mostly highly polished, which gives the Ocean Star Tribute a very classy look.

The bracelet on this watch is a thing of beauty. That’s going to be a polarizing opinion, but for me there’s no doubt about it. While it pegs the bling meter to the max, the all-polished multi-link bracelet looks more inspired by a 1970’s disco ball than the “architecture” that Mido claims it takes inspiration from. It’s fully articulating and drapes over your wrist like a gold chain in Miami. While it’s not for everyone, I feel like it’s one of the most unique bracelets to come out of the recent storm of vintage dive watch releases. It very much reminds me of the Shark Mesh bracelets that adorned and still adorns Omega Ploprofs. Mido has certainly made a name for itself in the Swiss watchmaking world. And one of its best collections available today is the Mido Ocean Star series. This series offers beautifully designed dive watches of high quality. They’re functional, innovative, and stylish — true to the brand’s three pillars.Mido is a company with a rich history and a series of firsts in horology. They claim to be one of the first watches on the market with an automatic movement and an anti-magnetic case with the Mulitfort in the 1930’s. In 1944, they released the monocoque Ocean Star that used the cork Aquadura gasket system (that’s right cork) to create a water-resistant watch. This was released roughly 10 years before Blancpain released their first water-resistant watch.