Commander Big Date
Elegance at 100, Mido and the Commander Big Date
Swatch’s accessible brand enters 2018 swinging with an impressive collection of timepieces made to celebrate the brand’s 100th Anniversary.
By Josh Shanks
Contributor
Founded by Georges Schaeren in 1918, for over 100 years Mido has been producing a wide and varied range of accessible, elegant, and quality Swiss Made watches. The brand name Mido originates from the Spanish term “Yo Mido”, which translated means “I measure”.
To celebrate their centennial anniversary, Mido has released the Commander Big Date. This collection draws on the success of the original Commander series and celebrates the date of their founding with a, you guessed it, BIG date window. This large date aperture is placed at 6 o’clock on the dial and is quite stunning. Here’s a rundown.
A date window that gives Glashütte a run for their money
Date windows of this magnitude aren’t typically seen on a watch at this price point ($950). In order to further improve the feature, Mido polished and sandblasted the date window aperture, which lends to refined proportions and a stunning visual effect.
Powered by a Mido Automatic Caliber 80 movement, the Commander Big Date offers a horological design prowess seldom seen at this price point. The Caliber 80 subsequently features 80hrs of power reserve, which is a fitting tribute to its name.
It’s all about the finishing
Across the board, the Commander Big Date has impressive design cues. The rounded 42mm case features a satin finish and polished bezel. The two-tone model adds a touch of class with rose PVD on the bezel, crown, and bracelet. An anthracite dial variant has textures that adds an elegance and maturity that will impress even the snobbish watch nerd. The watch is also water resistant to a depth of 50m or 165 feet.
When looking through the sapphire case back, you’ll discover a well finished movement. Geneva striping is viewable on the main plate and rotor. Like all Swatch Group brands, Mido has access to ETA’s library of calibers. In this case, they’ve opted for an ETA C07.651 base movement which has the designation Caliber 80. This movement is classified as an Elaboré grade movement which some purist may call a low-range to moderate caliber. However, the movement packs a punch and reliability that you’ve come to expect from Swatch and ETA.
Mido’s attention to detail includes the selection of three distinctly different, yet gorgeous dial options. Led by a starburst satin-finished dial, with Super-LumiNova indexes. Anthracite and silver dials are also available. As you’ll see in the images, these dials provide a legibility and elegance seldom seen at this price point.
Summary
The Mido Commander Big Date pack a serious punch for a sub-$1k dress watch. These pieces are available now in three color/dial combos as noted above and come fitted to matching stainless steel bracelets with folding clasps. In my opinion, Mido delivered a well-rounded (quite literally) collection to celebrate their 100th anniversary.
The Mido Commander Big Date is priced at $950 and available via Mido’s e-commerce website and brick and mortar retailers.
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