Mido Celebrates the 75th Anniversary of its Ocean Star Collection in Bilbao, Spain

[Luxury Timepieces]

Mido headed to Bilbao in Spain to celebrate the 75th anniversary of its iconic Ocean Star collection. The destination was a natural choice to celebrate this key date in the brand’s history as the Spanish city is both by the ocean and globally renowned for its love of architecture, with its extremely famous Guggenheim Museum. It also hosted the grand final of the 2019 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, for which Mido is the Official Performance Partner.

On 13 and 14 September 2019, the brand’s guests were treated to an exceptional immersive experience in the Ocean Star world. The schedule included the launch of the brand-new Ocean Star Tribute, which took place at a memorable evening event in the elegant seaside setting of the Real Club Marítimo del Abra in Getxo.
It also featured the powerful sensations of cliff diving at a breathtaking competition highlighting both accuracy and the Ocean Star Diver 600, where the bravest visitors were granted access to the 27-metre-high diving platform! Guests were also treated to a typical tour of the Basque city and a visit to the legendary Guggenheim Museum, one of the most extraordinary contemporary buildings in the world.

Franz Linder, President of Mido added: “For 75 years, the Ocean Star collection has been synonymous with water-resistance. Constantly searching for new innovations, Mido has always developed new and sometimes avant-garde technologies in order to offer reliable and water-resistant watches. What better place than the city of Bilbao, which is by the ocean and renowned for its monumental Guggenheim Museum, to pay homage both to this aquatic collection and to Mido’s philosophy, ‘inspired by architecture’?”

The event provided a chance to demonstrate that Mido continually innovates in water-resistance technologies. Already in the 1930s, it invented the groundbreaking Aquadura system, a legacy that is now being perpetuated by the Ocean Star Diver 600, which is water-resistant up to a pressure of 60 bar (600 m/1,968 ft) and fitted with a helium valve. The emblematic Ocean Star starfish is the most dazzling symbol of this today.

Since 1944 – the year in which its name was registered – Ocean Star has been synonymous with reliability and water-resistance. Already in the 1930s, Mido won renown with the development of the Aquadura system, a cork crown gasket designed to ensure its timepieces were completely water-resistant. Since this invention, which was groundbreaking at the time, Mido has continued to innovate in this field and remain a benchmark in waterproof watches. In the 1950s, it created the Superwatertest, a device designed to check the water-resistance of its watches. As a result of its reputation in water-resistance technology, the brand began to focus its communications on the aquatic world in the 1980s. This new, assertive positioning took the form of two slogans: “King of waterproof” and “The watch of the captain”. The models launched in the 2000s marked a new standard for Mido. Since this date, the entire Ocean Star collection has been water-resistant up to a pressure of at least 20 bar (200 m/660 ft).

The historical starfish emblem became the symbol of superior water-resistance and high reliability, decorating the case back of each model. Today, these two qualities have been taken to their pinnacle in the Ocean Star Diver 600, an extraordinary diving watch that is water-resistant up to a pressure of 60 bar (600 m/1,968 ft). Featuring cutting-edge water-resistance technology, this timepiece is fitted with a helium valve that releases excess water contained in the case to prevent the rotating ceramic bezel from becoming corroded. At the heart of this exceptional model lies a distillation of watchmaking innovations: the Caliber 80, a COSC-certified chronometer movement with a silicon balance-spring, offers exceptional autonomy of up to 80 hours of power reserve as well as extraordinary accuracy and shock-resistance.

Since the 1930s, Mido has been renowned for the ultra-high performance of its timepieces’ water-resistance system. Dedicated to the undersea landscape, its Ocean Star collection is the most dazzling symbol of this technology. Launched in 1944, this family epitomises the brand’s watchmaking know-how and is now celebrating its 75th anniversary with the launch of the Ocean Star Tribute. These two superb models make multiple nods to the diver’s watches of the 1960s. In Mediterranean blue or deep black, their sublime dials are protected by a box sapphire crystal and enhanced by a rotating bezel in the same colour. Their round, 40.5 mm-diameter cases and their supple, ultra-comfortable steel multi-link bracelets give them the magnificent retro look that was responsible for the success of the original models. These two Ocean Star Tributes are fitted with the Caliber 80, a cutting-edge automatic movement which provides them with a power reserve of up to 80 hours. In a final touch sure to delight lovers of detail, a starfish, the historical emblem of the Ocean Star, decorates the case back.

Built to withstand any storm, the Europa Point lighthouse watches over the Strait of Gibraltar. Its powerful beam of light is an essential point of reference for sailors approaching the shores of the Iberian Peninsula. Created in 1944, the Ocean Star collection evokes the safety and reliability of this robust, slender monument, the symbol of a structure guiding mankind in its conquest of the seas.

Seventy-five years after its first Ocean Star, Mido is launching a special edition series in homage to this iconic collection known since the 1940s for its unfailing water-resistance. These two new Ocean Star Tributes are a magnificent contemporary reinterpretation of the diver’s watches created in the 1960s. The size of their cases (40.5 mm in diameter), the ultra-resistant box sapphire crystals protecting their dials – in Mediterranean blue or deep black – and their steel multi-link bracelets give them the superb retro look that was responsible for the success of the original models. The robust round case in polished steel is enhanced by a unidirectional rotating bezel with an aluminium ring in blue or black depending on the model. Several touches of Super-LumiNova® on the bezel, hour-markers and hands ensure perfect readability whatever the diving conditions. The hour and minute hands are flat diamond-cut, while the seconds hand is varnished in orange, the Mido colour. An aperture at 3 o’clock indicates the day and date. The case back has a magnificent surprise in store: it is decorated with a polished starfish in relief, the historical symbol of Ocean Star.

While this retro design is an emphatic tribute to the brand’s glorious past, the automatic movement that powers both of these Ocean Star Tributes makes these timepieces resolutely contemporary. Indeed, they house the Caliber 80, a next-generation automatic movement which offers a power reserve of up to 80 hours.

Supple and extremely comfortable, their steel multi-link bracelets are fitted with a folding clasp with diving extension to allow the wearer to precisely fit the timepiece to his wrist. Water-resistant up to a pressure of 20 bar (200 m / 660 ft), these two models come with an additional strap – in blue technical fabric or textile-look black leather.

Each of these special editions is presented in a bespoke case with its additional strap.

The Mido Ocean Star Tribute is available in Malaysia priced at:

M026.830.11.041.00 [Recommended Selling Price: MYR 4180]
M026.830.11.051.00 [Recommended Selling Price: MYR 4180]

For more info, head over to http://www.midowatches.com

Images and video courtesy of Mido.