INTRODUCING: Strong looks and value – the Mido Multifort GMT

Felix Scholz

Mido is a name that might not be too familiar to our Australian readers, as the Swatch Group brand has had the most minimal of minimal presences on our shores until recently. But as it so happens, they’re celebrating their 100th anniversary this year, and they’re doing it with a strong collection of watches, like this new GMT addition to their venerable Multifort line.

The Mido Multifort GMT — offered in either steel with a black dial, or rose gold PVD with a blue dial — is a good-looking unit, 42mm across on a classically styled 22mm three-link bracelet on the black dial, or faux croc on the blue. The case is a dual crown affair, for fans of the Super Compressor style, with the lower handling the time setting for home and local times, while the upper looks after the sloped internal bezel which is marked with 24-hour indication in the familiar night/day colour scheme.

The dial is really very pretty, with Mido’s characteristic and clever use of Geneva stripes (typically a movement decoration) as a dial decoration. It works really well, adding just the right amount of pizzazz. Speaking of movements, the top grade ETA 2893-2 movement (Caliber 1193 in Mido parlance) is visible through a sapphire caseback, and the whole package is resistant to 100 metres. And even though I think this practical traveller’s watch could do with a lick of lume, and the GMT hand could be a few fractions longer, it’s a very solid package that offers a useful complication in a package that has a bit more personality than many similarly priced competitors. And speaking of price — it’s solid.

Mido Multifort GMT Australian pricing

Mido Multifort GMT, steel on bracelet, $1625; rose gold PVD on leather, $1675.