The Swatch Group’s Mido has been aggressive as of late, releasing a slew of thoughtful and fairly affordable watches – watches like the Multifort Chronometer and the Commander Big Date. That’s good news for all of us because god knows we need more affordable watches to get more people excited about the hobby. Just in time for the holidays, Mido has just announced a new dive watch with a lot of features that will get fans of dive watches excited. Meet the new Mido Ocean Star Diver 600.
The Mido Ocean Star Diver 600 is the company’s first ever 600m dive watch. Moreover, while not officially certified, it is made to comply with ISO 6425 dive watch standards. If you know anything about dive watches, you’d know that there aren’t actually that many dive watches that fulfill the ISO 6425 requirements. Not that it necessarily means that other dive watches are inferior, but it’s nice to know that Mido has designed it with exacting standards in mind.
The Mido Ocean Star Diver 600 comes in two versions: one with a blue dial and blue bezel with a stainless steel case and bracelet, the other with a black dial and black bezel with a black PVD stainless steel case and a black rubber strap. Both variants feature a hefty 43.5mm stainless steel case with a thickness of 14.05mm with a mix of satin and mirror polish finishing. The chunky unidirectional bezel is also satin and mirror polished and features a ceramic bezel insert with large engraved numerals filled with a special type of luminescent material called Super-LumiNova Grade X, which lasts longer than your standard Super-LumiNova. At 9 o’clock, there’s a small incision in the case that drains excess water and prevents corrosion to the bezel mechanism. Finally, at 3 o’clock, you have a large screw-down crown that is signed with the Mido logo.
The dial is lacquered and has a clean and fuss-free layout. The large, applied hour indices are filled with Super-LumiNova as are the broad hour and minute hands, which are diamond-cut and satin-finished. The arrow-tipped second hand is also filled with Super-LumiNova. The entire dial is very legible and it looks like it will be equally legible in low light situations too. There’s also very little in the way of text. At 12 o’clock, you have the Mido logo and “automatic” text; and at 6 o’clock you have the name “Ocean Star Diver,” depth rating, and “Chronometer Si” wording. My only misgiving about the dial is the date window at 3 o’clock. It seems a tad too small compared to the expansiveness of the dial.
This is a COSC-certified chronometer and it also has silicon components in its movement. The movement within is the Mido caliber 80 Si, which is based on the ETA C07.821. This movement also sees action in other watches within the Swatch Group. It has a silicon balance spring, ELINFLEX mainspring, beats at 3Hz, and has a power reserve of 80 hours. The finish is industrial but it does have blued screws and a rotor decorated with Côtes de Genève and the Mido logo. Unfortunately, you can’t see the movement because the Ocean Star Diver 600 has a solid case back. If it’s any consolation, the case back features a polished starfish in relief, which is a symbol of Mido’s Ocean Star collection.
The Mido Ocean Star Diver 600 is a handsome diver with features that will delight dive watch enthusiasts – features like the ceramic bezel with engraved markings, 600m water resistant rating, and a COSC-certified movement with a silicon balance spring and a long power reserve. Apart from the size of the date window mentioned above, I really like the styling of the Ocean Star Diver 600. In short, the Mido Ocean Star Diver 600 has a fuss-free styling and a very capable movement – everything you want from a solid dive watch. The Mido Ocean Star Diver 600 is priced at $1,700 in both black and blue. Learn more at midowatches.com
