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Mido Ocean Star 200 Review: Does the Refresh Improve an Already Solid Dive Watch?
When Mido refreshed the Ocean Star 200 collection back in June, I described it as one of the most compelling Swiss dive watch releases of the summer. After spending a few weeks with three of the new references, I don’t see much reason to walk that back.
Seiko Reworks the Iconic Samurai Dive Watch in Yellow and Orange
I’ve spent years politely nodding at the Seiko Samurai before moving on to something else. The angular case has never grabbed me, and outside of a rare exception or two, the collection has always sat in someone else’s corner rather than mine. My co-founder Kaz had a lovely aqua-blue limited edition a while back, and I’ve kept a soft spot for the rare titanium orange original from the mid-2000s, but the modern Samurai and I have mostly kept our distance. That’s what makes this week strange. Two new dials stopped me cold: the yellow HBB003 and the orange HBB004.
This All-Black Mido Is a Stealthy Take on the ’70s Integrated Sports Watch
So, I’m liking this … a lot. Playing in the integrated sports watch space is a good way to get picked apart. The proportions have to be right, the case transitions have to flow, and the dial needs some restraint, or the whole thing reads as a knockoff. Some brands land it. Plenty don’t. Mido has spent some time recently proving it belongs in the conversation, and its latest release takes that formula fully monochrome with the Mido Multifort 8 One Crown Black PVD.
This Blacked-Out Luminox Military Watch Keeps a Secret Until Dark
Every few months, Luminox reaches for a number with a story attached and builds a limited edition around it. The earlier Guardian edition ran to 961 pieces. This time it’s 775, a nod to 1775 and the founding of the U.S. Navy. The formula holds steady from release to release: a blacked-out dial, the familiar 45mm case, and a run capped at whatever the anniversary math lands on. The newest watch to follow that template is the Luminox Navy SEAL 3500 Semper Fortis.
A Rare Swiss Army Dive Watch Returns in the Doxa Sub Army 200T
There’s a specific kind of marketing that asks you to pay for wear you didn’t put in yourself. Distressed denim built that whole.. thing. Now it looks like the idea has crept into dive watches, where a raw steel case and a bezel designed to fade get sold as features instead of the natural result of a hard life. I’ve owned a modern Doxa Army, so I came into this one hoping to like it. Instead I keep circling the same question about the Doxa Sub Army 200T for Hodinkee Limited Edition.
