Swatch Group’s Affordable Sleeper Dive Watch Adds Another Luxury Look to Its Roster

The Swatch Group is home to some of the best dive watches in the business, from the Omega Seamaster and Blancpain Fifty Fathoms to the Glashütte Original SeaQ and Longines Legend Diver, the conglomerate’s divers can go toe-to-toe with any brand.

One Swatch Group diver that doesn’t get nearly the attention it deserves is the Mido Ocean Star: a line of attractive, well-built and highly capable mechanical dive watches with real history for a price that’s almost too good to believe.

Mido already offers a ton of compelling versions of the Ocean Star, but the brand’s latest stands out for how well it emulates far more expensive divers from both inside and outside its parent company.

Mido

Neat-o Mido

Like sister brand Omega with its Seamaster, Mido currently offers several distinct lines of its Ocean Star. There’s the compact Ocean Star 36.5, the versatile Ocean Star 39, the spec’d-out Ocean Star 600 Chronometer, the travel-ready Ocean Star GMT and Worldtimer, the retro Ocean Star Tribute and the colorful Ocean Star Decompression Timer.

Lastly, there’s the Ocean Star 200, which can be considered the standard version of the diver, and the Ocean Star 200C, which is the same as the 200 but with a scratch-resistant ceramic bezel insert rather than an aluminum one (that’s where the “C” comes from) and a unique dial design.

The watch we’re discussing today is an Ocean Star 200C, and it brings a new color to the line with its dark red ceramic bezel. The red bezel is paired with a matte black, wave-textured dial and hands and indices that feature a rose gold PVD coating.

Mido

This combination of a dark red bezel, matte black dial and gilt hands and indices is said to be inspired by a sunset, and it does give the watch a “tropical” aged vibe.

But it also, whether intentional or not, reminds me a lot of two far more expensive dive watches. One is the classic Tudor Black Bay, which combines those same three aforementioned elements in a watch that starts at $4975.

The other is far pricier: the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M in Bronze Gold that debuted last year. It, too, has heavy tropical vibes with a dark red bezel, matte black dial and gold hands and indices, but since its case is made of Bronze Gold — a proprietary Omega gold alloy — it starts at a whopping $15,700 on a rubber strap.

Mido

Pricing and availability

The Mido, meanwhile, is priced at just $1,250, which gets you a 42.5mm stainless steel case with a screw-down crown and 200m of water resistance, an AR-coated sapphire crystal, Super-Luminova on the hands, indices and bezel pip, and an ETA Powermatic 80 automatic movement with an impressive 80-hour power reserve.

The Swiss-made watch is paired with a quick-release brown leather strap with contrast stitching and a pin buckle, and while many take issue with dive watches on leather straps, I think the combination looks really good here.

Obviously, you’re not getting Tudor or Omega quality for Mido money. But the Ocean Star is a damn good diver, and if you like the look of this one, I don’t know that you can do any better for the price. The new Ocean Star 200C reference M042.430.16.051.00 is non-limited and is available now from Mido retailers.

Mido

Mido Ocean Star 200C Red

Specs

Case Size	42.5mm
Movement	Mido Caliber 80 automatic (ETA)
Water Resistance	200m

• $1,250 at Mido

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