Hands-On The Large & In Charge Mido Ocean Star GMT

Mido’s a brand I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for. In Mexico, South America and some Asian countries, it’s a best-seller, but in Australia, it’s virtually unheard of, which is perhaps part of the reason it’s always appealed to me. However, Mido’s biggest selling point is its exceptional value for money. Mido does that rare thing - make a quality, if unflashy, product at a very reasonable price point - which has its own appeal in Australia, where watch buyers tend to be canny, thrifty and well-read.

The Ocean Star GMT is a great example of what makes Mido such a great brand. A dual time-capable dive watch with a true GMT movement for just over A$2k, this take on Mido’s versatile Ocean Star formula (which received a significant update at its entry level earlier this year with a new Ocean Star 200) impressed me after spending the best part of a month on my wrist.

Specifically, this reference is the most recent addition to the Ocean Star GMT collection, and represents the most affordable in the range as of publishing, retailing for A$2,125 on a fabric strap. This colourway, which offers black and white tones with small pops of colour from the GMT and seconds hands, is versatile and inoffensive.

Let’s start with the case construction: beefy yet not artless, a large bezel with a ceramic insert frames a deep, angled 24-hour chapter ring, terminated by large, rectangular lume-filled plots. This is an extremely legible watch, with generous smatterings of Super-LumiNova across its skeletonised hands and indices being both practical and contemporary in their appearance. The white-on-black date wheel is a good touch, too.

The bezel has a great action: I wish its knurling was slightly more prominent (perhaps a bit sharper?) to aid rotation, but once you’ve got a grip on it, it feels great. I particularly like how the crown guards smoothly emanate from the case, like the case itself is hugging the crown. It’s a simple, elegant design. And this is a proper diver, with 200 metres of water resistance.

While many dive watches, particularly at this price point, feel quite slabby, the Mido Ocean Star GMT wears unexpectedly nicely. The very subtly curved lugs help it feel planted on the wrist despite its heft, while the polished edges give it a premium look.

Mido designate the movement powering the Ocean Star GMT as simply the Mido Calibre 80, which is a slightly confusing designation considering that three-hander Ocean Stars are also described as using this movement. In truth, the Ocean Star GMT is powered by the ETA C07.661, itself derived from the ETA 2824-2, and is essentially a GMT version of the Swatch Group’s ubiquitous Powermatic 80 movement, offering an 80-hour power reserve at a 3 Hz beat rate.

The Powermatic 80 in all its guises has been a known quantity for over a decade now, and while much has been made of its laser regulation, it’s pretty hard to beat such a lengthy power reserve at this price point. This is also a true GMT movement, meaning it has an independently adjustable hour hand, like the Rolex GMT-Master II. This is a useful and premium touch that adds to an overall impression of quality.

There’s really only one criticism I can levy at the Ocean Star GMT, and that’s its size. At 44mm in diameter, it’s a pretty big watch. And it wears as big as it sounds: there’s no trick lugs or shapely design that makes it wear “smaller than that number sounds”, as watch journalists like to say. Nope, it’s just a big ol’ sports watch. On my 19cm wrist, 44mm is quite manageable, but on smaller wrists, it’s quite an imposing piece.

Actually, I find critiquing a watch for being a bit too big to be slightly facile. I think we forget as watch aficionados - who, generally speaking, prefer a smaller case size these days - that many consumers actually quite like a bigger watch. It’s a selling point. Especially for this sort of watch, a no-nonsense GMT diver… No one would give Panerai a hard time for making big watches, because the point of a Panerai is to be big, right? Maybe I’m digressing a bit.

I will admit, however, that I’d personally prefer a slightly smaller watch, but again, horses for courses. There is a smaller, slightly more retro-styled version of the Ocean Star GMT that’s 40.5mm if 44mm is just insurmountable for you, by the way.

While there are plenty of GMT watches based on dive watch platforms, many of them compromise water resistance in order to facilitate the additional complication. Take the Baltic Aquascaphe GMT: while competitively priced at A$1,810 on rubber, is only 100 metres water resistance versus the standard Aquascaphe’s 200m, whereas the Mido retains that 200m rating. It’s also a “caller” GMT rather than a true GMT.

Within the Swatch Group stable, you’ve got the Tissot Seastar 1000 GMT, which is more water-resistant than the Mido at 300 metres and significantly more affordable at A$820 on a bracelet, but has a quartz movement rather than a mechanical one, hence the significant price delta. Citizen doesn’t offer a mechanical GMT diver - actually, they don’t even offer a quartz GMT diver. The closest you’ll get is something like the A$999 Promaster Land BJ7155-05X, which is 200m water-resistant, but isn’t actually a dive watch: it’s got a fixed bezel, and it’s an Eco-Drive.

In truth, there really aren’t many true mechanical competitors for the Ocean Star GMT at this sub-A$2.5k price point. The Doxa SUB 250T GMT and Zodiac Super Sea Wolf GMT are both above A$3k in price, don’t have ceramic bezel inserts, have worse power reserves and are also caller GMTs, for example.

The closest competition to the Mido Ocean Star GMT likely comes from the Seiko Prospex SPB381, which offers a similar aesthetic with a ceramic bezel insert, sapphire crystal, 3-day power reserve, 200m water resistance and additionally a bracelet for A$2,500, but it too is a caller GMT. However, it’s slightly smaller than the Mido at 42mm in diameter and 12.9mm thick.

Alternatively, there’s also the Certina DS Action GMT Powermatic 80, also from within the Swatch Group and powered by the same movement but 41mm in diameter… But Certina isn’t sold in Australia, and it has a GMT bezel rather than a diving bezel.

Truthfully, when the Mido Ocean Star GMT arrived on my desk for review, I was initially somewhat unenthused. It seemed to be a perfectly adequate watch, sure, but it didn’t blow me away. But this is a watch that is more than the sum of its parts… Or maybe, it’s a watch that really is the sum of its parts, but that sum is impressive.

You can damn a watch with faint praise by spending too much time talking about it as a value proposition, but truly, where else will you get a Swiss-made, 200m water-resistant GMT dive watch, with a ceramic bezel insert and 80-hour true GMT movement that also looks grown-up?

Brand: Mido
Model: Ocean Star GMT
Reference Number: M026.629.17.051.01
Diameter: 44mm
Thickness: 13.4mm
Case Material: Stainless steel, ceramic bezel insert
Dial Colour: Black
Indexes: Applied
Lume: Super-LumiNova hands, indexes and bezel pip
Water Resistance: 200 meters
Strap/Bracelet: Black woven textile, stainless steel pin buckle, 22mm lug width

Calibre: Mido Calibre 80 (ETA C07.661)
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, GMT
Diameter: 25.6mm
Power Reserve: 80 hours
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 21,600 VpH (3 Hz)
Jewels: 25
Chronometer Certified: No

Price: A$2,125
Availability: Now
Limited Edition: No

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