Kaz and Mike finally get a chance to catch up after two consecutive weeks of interviews. It’s refreshing and the guys revisit a TBWS classic that the #watchfam seems to enjoy.

Mike is enjoying his time with the new Orion Calamity and Kaz shares his watch adventure stories from his visit to San Francisco. Things get weird… like dead pets in Amazon Fresh bags weird…

Finally, Kaz and Mike talk about Mido, the brand’s history, their marketing choices, and some of their most attractive models under $1,000.

Show Notes

Orion Calamity

Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight

Seiko Blue Lagoon Samurai

Tenderloin, San Francisco

Walt Disney Family Museum

Mido Timeline

Mido Ocean Star

Robi the Robot

Mido Commander Shade

Mido Multifort GMT

Baume & Mercier Clifton Baumatic

Mido Boutique

Seiko 7A28 Review

5 thoughts on “Ep. #77 – Watch Brands We Know Nothing About Part 3: Mido”

  1. So even though I’m a sucker who only owns one Mido, you’re only scratching the surface and I can probably only add so much.

    – The original Multifort was an attempt to one-up the original Rolex Oyster. Rolex managed to do waterproof + automatic together and Mido said “I see your waterproof/automatic and raise you a waterproof automatic antimagnetic watch!”

    – I really became a fan with the new logo and re-launch of the current Multiforts. The current models are all Powermatic 80s if they’re not 7750’s, so if you want smoother sweep the older models would have the 28xx ETA movements. You’ll probably have to buy used.

    -They’re pretty good at offering their stuff in multiple sizes, without moving to a more $$$ brand particularly known for doing that like say Longines, Oris or Tudor.

    – US AD’s can be a PITA to find. There aren’t many and the ones that exist have to have special Mido promotional stands and such to have a “Mido Zone.” I had to drive 3 hours to see a Multifort in person, and then the AD wouldn’t take even a penny off of list knowing they had no competition in a city of >5m or a 3 hour radius around it…

    – They don’t have brand ambassadors, but they’re going all-in with (for some reason) U.S. College Football. They launched a special edition honoring the largest NCAA team in the area about the same time they realized “oh crap, we have no ADs there!” — their marketing is super, super schizophrenic. They then granted one AD rights to sell the product. (yay!) They’re also the sleaziest place in town (boo!) so I might showroom there if I can get past the bouncer, the giant case of Invictas, “custom Rolexes” and blinged out crap, but I won’t buy from them on principle. I can only hope Mido improves their distribution, but Swatch screwed things up so badly with Certina in the US that I have doubts.

    They’re just nice little watches with distinctive aesthetics and often better-than-average Elabore grade or COSC grade movements all for a reasonable price. IMHO the price is a little high to have a “collection” of a bunch of them, but I could definitely see adding more than I have now.

    Reply
    • Dude this is so much incredibly insight info lol – I’m only now just able to actually process it and take it all in.

      Yea I recently noticed that about the college football thing – such an odd segment to target. And tbh the marketing strucutres of lots of brands hit hard by the quartz crisis are just in need of direction these days.

      It’s such a shame because the pieces really do seem incredible! I’m still smitten with that Ocean star in titanium – maybe I’ll pick one up this year…

      Thank you again for all this super helpful info, man – you’re the best for wanting to help us really dig into the topic of the brand’s past and future. I can see us honestly talking about them more and more as time progresses.

      -Kaz

      Reply

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