Mido is a Swiss watch that sometimes gets labeled a ‘doctors’ watch.’ However, it is reliable, robust, and very well designed. But is Mido a luxury watch brand?
Mido is not a luxury watch brand but a middle-range brand, similar to Tissot and Hamilton. Mido watches are Swiss Made, with in-house movements. The watches are also made with premium materials. Mido’s watches are sold at $500 to $1,000, reflecting its position as a middle-range brand.
In this article, we will explore in further detail why Mido is a middle-range brand but not affordable or luxury. We also will answer some questions about Mido watches that many are asking.
We have covered many watch brands to determine if they are luxuries, such as Rotary, Certina, Movado, Oris, Timex, and Fossil. Click on the links to check out our review in more detail.
What Makes Mido A Middle Range Brand?
Mido can be seen as a middle-range brand when we review the brand from these areas, which are commonly used to judge if a watch brand is luxury or not.
- Materials
- Assembly
- In-House Movements and Technology
- Design
- Homages
- Fakes
- Brand Image
- Prices
READ MORE: What Makes A Watch Brand A Luxury Brand
| Characteristics | Luxury Watch Brands | Mido | Pass? |
| Materials | May use 904L steel, titanium, precious metals, gemstones | Diamonds, alligator leather, sapphire crystals | ✅ |
| Assembly | Mostly hand assembled | No such claims | ❌ |
| Movement | Almost all have in-house movement | In-house movements | ✅ |
| Proprietary Technology | Almost all have proprietary technology | None known | ❌ |
| Design | Often iconic, and sets trends. | No iconic designs known. | ❌ |
| Homages | Have homages made after their models | None known | ❌ |
| Fakes & Imitation | Suffers from fakes and imitation | Not widely counterfeited | ❌ |
| Brand Image | Prestige, exclusivity, class | Carries a ‘luxury, but affordable’ image. | ✅ |
| Prices | At least four-figure. | Has watches as low as $500 | ❌ |
Materials
Most Mido watches are made with usual watch materials such as stainless steel. However, some are made with premium materials such as diamonds, sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, and genuine alligator/crocodile leather straps.
Some watches also have PVD coating, a specialized coating better than conventional plating. PVD coating is more corrosion resistant and can last longer.
Mido does not seem to have watch models with casings made of gold alloys, which most luxury watchmakers offer. They offer a stainless steel casing with gold/rose gold/white gold PVD coating.
Assembly
Mido does not claim to apply a high degree of hand assembly on their watches, nor do they claim to produce their watches entirely in-house.
This is unlike luxury watch brands like Rolex, which claim to produce their watches entirely in-house.
However, the good thing about Mido is all their watches are Swiss Made.
By Swiss law, only watches that have the following characteristics can use the label ‘Swiss Made’:
- Have 60% of its production in Switzerland
- Uses a Swiss movement
- It is encased and regulated in Switzerland.
This means Mido is a proper Swiss watch, unlike some other brands such as Invicta or Festina. These brands like to talk about their Swiss heritage, but they make their watches in China or elsewhere.
In-House Movements and Technology
Mido’s watches use in-house movements. For example, many of their watches use the Mido Caliber 80 automatic movement.
However, when studied further, the Caliber 80 is actually taken from ETA 2824-2. Mido took the movement, slowed the beat frequency to 21,600, and increased the mainspring capacity.
As a result, the movement has a longer power reserve. However, the sweeping second hand will be less smooth since the beat frequency is low.
However, we still consider this an in-house movement since Mido and ETA belong to the Swatch Group. Within the watch group, there is a habit of modifying ETA movements to suit their individual brands.
Design
Mido claims to be inspired by architecture, by significant buildings built in the past and present times.
Their watches carry a classic, timeless feel to them. It is certainly not fashionable and trendy and does not try to compete with, say, Stührling or Bulova, for that matter.
Their Ocean Star collections are Mido’s signature collections, featuring beautiful dive and GMT watches. Mido also has dressy and formal models, and these models will match a suit very well.
ALSO READ: Types of Watches
However, the issue with Mido’s watches is the lack of design identity. It’s timeless and beautiful, but it does not have designs that make it recognizable, such as Panerai Luminor or Rolex Submariner.
Often you might have to get close and look at the watch closely to find out that it is a Mido.
Homages
Mido’s lack of design identity resulted in no known homages made for their watches.
Homages appear when a watch model is popular, has a unique design, and is so expensive that it is out of reach for most of the population. Making homages makes no sense unless these situations exist.
The Patek Philippe Nautilus, for example, has a one-of-a-kind design, is considered a “grail” watch, and costs more than an arm and a leg to purchase.
As a result, many homages appear, ranging from indirect homages like the Tissot PRX to nearly identical ones from Cadisen.
Because Mido has no models that meet all three criteria, no homages seem to be available for its models.
ALSO READ: What Are Homage Watches?
Fakes
Mido has not been widely counterfeited, according to online investigations. Still, it is prudent to exercise caution when purchasing watches online.
Counterfeiters usually concentrate on higher-priced watches, such as Panerai, Longines, or Oris, because creating counterfeit watches requires a significant effort.
Counterfeiters require the original watch to be extremely expensive to entice people to consider fake watches.
As a result, if they counterfeit Mido, they may not make a lot of money because original Mido watches aren’t that expensive, to begin with.
Brand Image
Mido has a premium brand image, where the watches are Swiss Made, with excellent quality. The moments used are in-house, and the materials used are suitable and premium and quality.
However, to equate it with luxury may be a step too far, as Mido never projected itself as an exclusive, elite, and prestigious brand.
Mido sponsors some events, such as the cliff diving championship, but does not generally compete with advertising space with top luxury brands such as Rolex, Omega, or Audemars Piguet.
Mido’s marketing and brand image could be similar to many middle-range brands such as Hamilton, Certina, and Tissot.
Prices
Mido’s positioning as a middle-range brand is well displayed by the prices of their watches.
On Mido’s website, most watches retail between $500 to $2,500, with many of them from $1,000.
Most affordable watch brands do not sell their watches above $1,000, which means Mido cannot be considered affordable.
But entry-level luxury watch brands such as Longines, Oris, or Tag Heuer tend to sell watches starting from $1,000. If they do have anything below $1,000, the number is small.
If we look at the prices of Mido’s watches, we cannot consider it an entry-level luxury watch brand either.
Is Tissot Better Than Mido?
Tissot and Mido are similar in quality and market segment. Both are considered middle-range, offering better quality watches than affordable brands. They are, however, not expensive enough to be entry-level luxury watches.
Both Mido and Tissot are part of the Swatch Group of watches. Within Swatch Group’s portfolio of watches, both Mido and Tissot are placed as ‘middle-range’ brands, together with Certina and Hamilton.
That means Swatch does not intend to make Tissot or Mido better than any other but keeps them similar in quality and market positioning.
Is Mido Worth Buying?
Mido is worth buying as its watches are robust and well made, with an in-house movement and excellent materials. All Mido watches are Swiss Made as well. The watches are also not too expensive.
One issue about luxury watches is that they also try to sell intangible things such as ‘prestige.’
Some watchmakers also tell you that you are a part of some historical moment, such as going to the moon, by buying their watches.
Mido’s watches do to a certain extent, but not to the point where the price of their watches is inflated so much it makes no sense.
Instead, Mido focuses on producing quality watches with a great and robust build and then sells them at a ‘logical’ price. The design is also simple and timeless.
This makes Mido worth buying and wearing for the long term.
Does Mido Make Quartz Watches?
Mido does have quartz watches, although they mainly offer automatic watches. The quartz watches from Mido use mainly ETA quartz movement and are generally priced below $1,000.
Mido’s famous models, such as the Ocean Star dive watches or the multiport sports watch, are usually sold with an automatic movement, but there are quartz versions.
These quartz models are probably the most affordable model in their respective collections.