A dab of posts having to do with Mido appear here on Omega Forum. Where does the Mido watch fall in the pecking order of brands? Were they considered on the "low-end of high-grade?" They'll never capture the imaginations of watch aficionados like any of several of the brands we know and love but the single example kept around here is a good, serviceable watch.

We've experienced low 70s afternoon temperatures here and had a fine day. By Monday morning it's suppose to be low 20s with snow and icing and a Monday high of 27F. Nothing like Texas weather. I took some late afternoon photos of it out-of-doors. They're amateurish but that's the way it is here. It looks better in person than in the photos.



I've used it for weekend casual when hanging around the house but not undertaking heavy chores and it also works for office wear with jeans for Friday casual. It comes off looking pretty good when worn with a belt and shoes to match the hue of the strap. I've never worn it more than about 2-3 consecutive days but it keeps excellent time over such a period. I don't frequently get it out but am always more impressed with it when it's worn than I'm prepared to be.


Would anyone be able to date this watch with any certainty?

Are there other Forum members who have vintage Midos? It would be nice to see what's out there in Forumland showing the brand in its different models and styles. Do the watchmakers among us have any thoughts about the brand?

 

I've got a couple of the early bumpers (from '44ish). They wear nice and I've never had a problem with them breaking. small 30-34mm and quite thick for a bumper movement (certainly way thicker than my bumper connie).

I think Mido is another of those mid-range Swiss manufactures that couldn't keep up with the rest of the industry and fell back on copying everybody else after the late 50's.

some of their stuff from the time of the Great Extinction is only ordinary at best and I think they took to Quartz like Dennis takes to Cheese Steak.

 

They are, in my view, generally underrated and undervalued in the vintage collector communities. They made excellent watches through the '50s, often featuring really attractive dials, and housed in particularly good screw-back cases (much better than average). However, as they tended to be small by today's standards (i.e. 28-34mm), their values are generally relatively low outside of Asia (where there is strong demand).

There are also notable exceptions, such as the Multicenterchrono model. Here are a few of mine.

 

The Multi-Centerchrono, despite the awkwardness of the name, is a terrific watch, containing a unique Valjoux VZ variant (Mido cal 1300) with both the sweep-second and minute-counter chrono hands on a central pinion. Very readable despite the modest (34-35mm) size.



The early bumpers are little jewels. But little.



Someday I'll round the Mido collection out with one of these:



http://www.lacotedesmontres.com/Enchere-No_1485.htm

 

There are some real beautiesPurchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network to be had

 

MMMD That Multi-Centrechrono looks incredible.

 

Love the hands!
Is that a dent or a reflection on the bezel at 09:30?

 

Just a reflection.

 

I'll take that 34-35mm in a heartbeat!

 

I dig your style, Tony C!

 

Thank you cr – mighty kind of you to say.

 

The Multi-Centre before recent reassembly. The strangest thing about the watch is that it hacks - not a feature I would expect in a watch without a running second hand.

 

Nice to see a breakdown of the excellent cal. 1300 movement! And it presents an opportunity to point out two interesting (to my mind, at least) nuances.

First, notice the size of the balance? BIG! Which, of course, means greater potential accuracy. And which also leads me to a subtle connection. The cal. 1300 is based on the Valjoux VZ caliber, which may sound familiar to some readers. Though designed as a chronograph caliber, the VZ was also used as a base for some of the finest hand-wind time only movements ever produced. They are best known to vintage Audemars Piguet collectors as cal. VZSS and (center-second) VZSSc. The same base was also used by Patek Philippe in their early (30mm) Observatory entrants as well as a few complicated models.

I own several AP versions, as well as two rare Gübelin examples. You should be able to see the close similarities between the above Mido and one of my Gübelin movements pictured below.

Regards,

Tony C.

 

Thanks for those pearls, Tony. Terrific Gübelin jubilee model! May we see the flip side?

 

You are welcome, and thank you! One of 200 produced.

 

I recently acquired this Vintage military mido multifort super automatic. Anti-magnetic, bumper automatic, 17 jewels with 3 adjustments. I was told is probably from between 1940 to 1950's. I haven't been unable to find any reference online though, about this particular one. Not sure what the RM stands for. Any idea? Anyone has one of these or has encounter one of these? Also I was told by an antique enthusiast it wasn't a very valuable vintage because it's mido and because I don't have the original strap. Can that be true? Sorry if I sound extremely silly. I'm not an expert.

 

Exposed springs?

How agricultural.






That copper 2 tone is beautiful!