I am interested in dive watches, one that I hadn’t previously considered is the Mido Oceanstar. I had previously checked out a Mido watch when I was passing through Singapore’s Changi Airport. This was more of a dress style and I decided against the purchase. It had a gold PVD [Physical Vapour Depositation] case, that is not the style I generally prefer. I had a gold plated Timex as a kid, I am not the flashy type and prefer a stainless steel watch and bracelet as they are more rugged, I do have a gold Omega Seamaster that pretty much lives in my safe and barely sees light of day that is only brought out for special occasions.

The Reference M026.608.11.041.01 is a 600 metre certified dive watch, this is pretty heavy-duty dive watch, the de facto standard was 200 metres water resistance, this was subsequently bumped up to 300 metres. A Rolex Submariner, Omega Diver 300, TAG Heuer Aquaracer and Oris Aquis all meet 300 metres water resistance, so Mido are looking to double the prevailing industry standard. An interesting concept, does this make the Oceanstar more desirable than a Submariner or Seamaster? Probably not.

The base ETA C07.821 movement [designated Mido Calibe 80] is a 25 jewel COSC certified chronometer with an 80 hour power reserve. The silicon hairspring offers anti-magnetism properties so there are no issues accidentally magnetising this watch. So this is a solid movement? Yeah, this a a base ETA movement upgraded up to a Powermatic 80 specification with a frequency of 21,600 vph and an 80 hour power reserve so yes, this is a solid movement.

This is not really gold, it is a gold lookalike, this is PVD-treated stainless steel and not a precious metal. So what is PVD? Physical vapour deposition is a vacuum process that utilises titanium nitride that is more durable than gold plating, is corrosion resistant and up to 10 times thicker than gold plating at a fraction of the cost. So I lost interest in Mido pretty quick and really haven’t revisited the brand until the Oceanstar 600 came along and took my interest.