INTRODUCING: The perfect date night, Mido Baroncelli Big Date Limited Edition

Nick Kenyon

The unending pursuit by watch companies of the most commercially successful blue dial watch with integrated steel bracelet has left a lot of empty space for other expressions of a blue dial wristwatch. With their latest expression of the Big Date, Mido have grasped this empty space with both hands, producing a watch that has a deep blue dial, but is encased in a rose gold tone case, and strapped to the wrist with a matching midnight blue leather strap. It isn’t a watch that has already been done to death, and to add to the refreshing take, the aptly named Mido Baroncelli Big Date Limited Edition offers a date display that is far more balanced than we are used to seeing on a dress watch.

Starting with the dial, the starburst blue dial is brushed to radiate from the large (and ever so slightly stepped) date aperture, rather than the typical and more symmetrical point where the hands are mounted. What it loses in horizontal symmetry, it gains in the way it draws the eye towards the date window and emphasises the lateral symmetry that is lost whenever the date window is placed at 3 o’clock on the dial. This small visual device is executed well, and returns a sense of balance to the dial that you only realise was missing now that you’ve seen the date window placed at 6 o’clock. There is minimal text on the dial, other than Mido’s logo, a reminder that all watches produced by the brand feature automatic mechanical movements, and a nod to the limited nature of the watch. It is a genuinely interesting decision from Mido, who price their watches at the more affordable end of the spectrum, and also refuse to use quartz movements in their watches, unlike their Swatch Group peers such as Rado and Tissot. The deep blue dial is only interrupted by the set of dauphine hands and Roman numeral hour markers, all of which are in the same PVD-treated rose gold tone as the case and crown.

The generously proportioned 40mm steel case delivers a legibility to the time as well as the date thanks to ample dial real estate, however it might wear slightly too large for those with smaller wrists due to the elegantly shaped lugs. The bezel features three steps down to the lugs, delivering a neo-classical flair that is in keeping with the stepped date window, and is unobtrusive thanks to the angle it steps away at. Powering the Mido Baroncelli Big Date Limited Edition is the automatic winding Mido Caliber 80, based on the ETA C07.651, which Mido have privileged access to as they are part of the Swatch Group, and offers a very healthy 80 hours of power reserve.

Mido Baroncelli Big Date Limited Edition price and availability

The Mido Baroncelli Big Date Limited Edition has an Australian RRP of $1575, and is limited to 2020 pieces.