Darren Ho 09 February 2023

The Mido Commander gets dressed up in formal blues.

Mido has a broad range of timepieces under the Commander name. The very first model appeared in 1959, and the brand has continued to produce the Commander timepiece for 64 years, uninterrupted. In the original model, the name ‘Ocean Star’ was printed on the sunray brushed dial, and the seastar symbol was stamped on the monocoque caseback. In addition, a day and date display, a popular complication during the mid-20th century, was presented at 3 o’clock on the 1959 model.

Today, the Ocean Star has been developed into a separate diving watch collection, and the Commander has become one of the brand’s most popular collections, with 46 models in the line. However, while the ‘Commander’ name might conjure visuals of a military-inspired field watch, its design is more business executive-centric, with applied indexes and a simple three-hand display.  

The modern Commander watch retains the ultra-thin bezel of the original and adds modern features like see-through dials, Super-LumiNova-coated elements, and the Mido Calibre 80. It also includes simple and practical complications such as the big date display, which it presents on the bottom of the dial under the ‘Commander’ name rather than the top, which most brands position it at.

The new Commander Big Date comes in a brushed stainless-steel case with a sunray-brushed navy-blue dial. It features applied indexes that are painted with Super-LumiNova, which is also used on the hour and minute hands. The large date display is in white, ensuring optimum legibility at a glance. The watch is paired with a fabric strap in matching navy blue with white stitching.

The Commander Big Date is water-resistant up to 50m and features a sapphire crystal, see-through caseback from which the self-winding Calibre 80 is visible. The movement has an impressive 80-hour power reserve and is designed based on the ETA C07.651 that’s commonly used across the Swatch Group. The movement also utilises a Nivachron hairspring, a titanium-based alloy that improves the watch’s performance and resistance to shocks and magnetic fields. If you recall, Nivachron was first introduced by the Swatch brand five years ago and has since been used across the Group.

The Mido Commander Big Date in navy blue is priced at S$1,360 and is available from all authorised retailers today.

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Darren Ho

Editor

Darren has been writing about, and admiring the craft of watchmaking for over a dozen years. He considers himself lucky to live in a golden age of horology, and firmly believes that the most difficult watches to design are the simplest and the most intriguing to discover.