Mido Commander: Another watch.....

Mido Commander Day-Date 8228

I blogged about Mido and its summarised history HERE. Here is another Mido Commander that is not Chronometer Certified. This is more a homage playing tribute to Rolex Day-Date President. Despite being a Rolex looks alike, the quality of a Mido can never be questioned. 

What is unique with this Mido Commander is its monocoque stainless steel body. I.e. The case back and the case is a single piece. Therefore to open this watch, you need to remove the glass and the dial first. This Mido Commander is measuring 36mm in diameter excluding its crown. Like Rolex, it has fluted bezel.

Its acrylic crystal has a "Mido" engraved at the center and has a magnifying lens for the 3 o'clock date window. The dial is silver grey in colour and without any fancy wordings just silver colour emblems of Mido and Commander wordings. At the six o'clock hour baton is a proud statement of Swiss Made. 

The Mido signed crown of this watch is semi concealed inside the case. It only protruded slightly out from the case. 

Although this stainless steel bracelet looks like Rolex President bracelet, it is breathe with own characteristic. 

The bracelet is very comfortable to wear and is easily adjustable by a small screw driver. Mido used small  and short folding clasp rather than a hidden clasp. 

The clasp is signed with the word Mido and it is not by engraving but by a more tedious machined embossing process.

The backcase is somewhat simple. It is engraved with the model number and the serial number as well as Mido and stainless steel. 

I have not opened up this watch. Therefore I can only speculate that this watch must be using the ETA 2834-2 automatic movement beating at 28,800 bph. From my research by googling around.... yeap most stated 2834. Below is a photo shown the finishing of Mido signed ETA 2834-2:

I suspected this watch is from late 1980's or early 1990's. To my dismay, I can't recall when or where I picked this one up. Maybe is time to appreciate what I already have rather than what I want to pursue.............

Mido Commander Chronometer

History of Mido (Abstracted from Mido website)

Founded in Switzerland in 1918 by George Schaeren, Mido is today based in the town of Le Locle, in the heart of the Swiss Jura mountains. The name Mido comes from the Spanish "Yo mido", I measure.

Mido′s philosophy is to combine timeless design with functionality rather than following fashion trends. True design outlives all fashion trends. Timelessness is the mark of true design. The objective is to create timepieces made of high quality materials, endowed with precise movements and offering outstanding water-resistance in order to last a long time.

Gold Mido Commander

Another gold toned watch for today.... This is a striking Mido Commander Chronometer from the 1970s in fair condition. The watch design reflects the creativity of the 1970's era. This is a gold plated Mido Commander with a 36 mm case without its crown. The crown is well concealed inside the case as the below photo showed. 

Browsing through the Mido website keeps me wondering whether this watch's incomparable design is synonymous with the marvelous architecture of Colosseum in Rome?

(Photo taken from Wikimedia.org)

I do not know whether you would agree with me that, this is all dial design. i.e. the whole surface of the watch is covered by the dial. This watch has a fancy gold dial signed 'Mido Commander' and marked 'Chronometer, Officially Certified, Swiss Made'. The outer chapter has raised and faceted gold hour markers which glint in the light. Date and day windows at 3 o'clock position.

This watch has a quickset day and date function. It also has the hacking feature. The day is in English and Roman Numbers.  Its hour and minute hand are baton shaped with lumed center.  

Original crown with MIDO signed. This watch has a mineral crystal. This watch case is lugless, the integrated gold bracelet just clinched to the case using screws. The bracelet is made of solid stainless steel and is a single center link design. 

The gold toned bracelet has a brushed finishing and the folding clasp is signed with the Mido wording. 

The backcase is screw down type. It is signed Mido and marked 'Stainless Steel, Switzerland' and there is a serial number though the engraving has worn off.

This Commander is powered by automatic ETA 2837 movement with 17 jewels. This is a high beat 36,000 bph movement. The more beats, the smoother the movement and the more accurate. This 2837 is a Chonometer certified movement that is based on the very robust 2824 family, but significantly upgraded. It has a power reserve of 40 hours.

Despite being a 40 odd years old design, this Commander is still as relevant as ever. Today, modern Mido still uses the same similar design of case, dial and bracelet, as well as maintaining the production of Mido Commander and Commander II.