Mido Commander watches

The Mido Commander is a line Mido first released in 1959 and has made continuously since. The original Commander used a one-piece case. Mido was founded in Biel/Bienne in 1918 by Georges Schaeren and is part of the Swatch Group.

The design takes its cue from the Eiffel Tower: on the Commander Gradient, the round case and slim bezel recall the tower's arches, and the rectangular hands and indexes its iron lattice; the Big Date carries the same reference. The Gradient has a transparent dial that shades from smoky to clear, more opaque towards the edge, so the movement shows from the front. That movement is Mido's automatic Calibre 80, with up to 80 hours of power reserve, under a faceted, domed sapphire crystal, and the case is water resistant to 50 m. The rose-gold Gradient is steel with rose-gold-toned PVD, on leather.

The Commander 1959, Commander Shade and Commander Colours carry the retro look: 37 mm wide and 10.5 mm thick, under an acrylic crystal. The Colours (M8429.4.N8.13) is limited to 300 pieces, and the Commander 1959 Lady (M7169.3.72.13) is a 23.5 mm version. The other Commanders are larger and use sapphire crystals: the Commander Chronometer and Gradient at 40 mm, the Big Date and Icône at 42 mm, and the Commander Chronograph at 42.5 mm and 14.9 mm thick. The Icône is the slimmer of the two 42 mm models, at 11.4 mm against the Big Date's 12 mm. The Big Date, Gradient, Icône and Shade also come with PVD-coated cases.