Needless to say we are experiencing rough times at the moment, but as I know that some of you are still hunting, I thought that I would provide some attractive "prey". I have been a Mido collector for many years, and their vintage watches have, in my view, been widely underrated in the market, due at least in part to the vast majority of them being 34mm or smaller. The exceptions have been the highly sought-after Multicenterchrono chronographs, the odd diver, and the model that I am offering today – the Datometer. Like similar mid-century models offered by some other manufacturers, the date function is provided by a fourth central hand and outer register. I, and plenty of other collectors, find this approach to the date complication to be more attractive and elegant than date windows, and Mido executed it particularly well. They produced both black and light dials, and I find these lighter ones to be the most attractive, especially as the white, even-date boxes 'pop', and really give life to the dial. These measure in at 34mm (excluding the crown), which was about the largest of the Mido from this period. They are also fairly substantial on the wrist due to the thicker case required to house the bumper automatic movement. I would say that this example is in good to very good condition overall, and believe it to be all original with the possible exception of the crystal. The dial is very attractive, though as you can see in the photos, there is a small discoloration in the upper right. It was almost undoubtedly due to a careless watchmaker dropping a bit of oil on it, which then spread. It is noticeable, but I do not find it to be particularly off-putting, and the much larger portion of the dial is in excellent condition. The hands are also in excellent condition, including the eccentric "snake" hand for the date, with it's blue enamel 'fork' (which frames the date) at the tip. The case...well, look at my avatar! It is an "FB" case, commonly known as a "Borgel" case, though more accurately a "Taubert" case. These were among the very best cases made by any manufacturer during the early and mid-century, and Patek Philippe even used them. This particular example is unpolished, and the sharp, uncommon lugs are nicely designed. The case back does show a couple of deeper scratches from an opening tool, but they are much less obvious when seen from a normal distance with the naked eye. The screw-back operates very smoothly, which is typical of Taubert. If anyone is confused by the lack of the "FB" signature on the inside of the case back, note that the "Brit. Pat." was also substituted by Mido on some of the Taubert cases. There is no doubt that this is one, and another sign is the matching numbers between the lugs and last four digits of the serial number inside the case back. The bumper automatic caliber is a 917A, and is in good condition. Mido produced many of the 917 series, and they are of good quality. This one is operating reasonably well, though I have no idea when the last date service was, and would strongly recommend on for regular wear. Given the current climate, I will price this very fairly at $575 including tracked, regular shipping from my home in Lisbon, Portugal. For an additional $60, I will ship EMS (express), which I would frankly recommend under the circumstances. PLEASE NOTE: due to the logistics issues relating to COVID-19, it will likely take longer for parcels to arrive, and especially when regular service is used. So if you choose to purchase this watch, please be patient! Feel free to ask any questions!
Nice. Interesting to me how the 1st of the month is between 12-1 o’clock not centered at the top of the dial
Sold in a flash! I guess it was a bargain... Thanks to the new owner, and the Mods who do such a good job with the OMForum.
Yeah, that’s cool! I think it’s in order that the cool and squiggly date hand can spend less of it’s time (during 5 of 12 months) obstructing the view of the beautiful Mido signature at ‘12’...