The New & Appealing Gradient Blue Mido Ocean Star Tribute

Mido has been particularly active in the past few weeks, starting with the release recently of one of its coolest models ever, the Ocean Star Decompression Worldtimer, or the rather impressively equipped Multifort M Chronometer. Well, it’s not over yet, as the brand has discreetly presented a new edition of its vintage-inspired dive watch, the Ocean Star Tribute. Already available in an array of attractive colours – like this bold gradient red version, or this military-like green edition – the collection expands again with a colourful version, ready for this summer. Equipped with a gradient light blue dial, here’s the latest version of the Mido Ocean Star Tribute. 

This watch isn’t specifically new, and we’ve seen many variations in the past. But the latest model to join the collection is rather attractive, to say the least. Let’s have a short reminder first, shall we? The Ocean Star Tribute is part of a collection of fairly-priced, fully-equipped classic dive watches with very decent specifications. Nothing groundbreaking or surpassing the competition here, we’re talking about nicely sized 200m water-resistant models with classic designs. If you want something more robust and even more capable, the Ocean Star Diver 600 is the one you should look for.

With its timeless look, its 40.5mm diameter and its polished steel case with pointy crown guards, the Ocean Star Tribute is reviving the style of the 1960s, with a modern twist. Balanced, and nicely proportioned, it comes fully equipped with a box-shaped sapphire crystal for the charm, a thin uni-directional bezel with an aluminium insert and 60-minute scale, a screw-down crown and caseback and a 20-bar pressure resistance – more than enough for all recreational diving activities.

New for this year, the watch gets a light, summer-oriented colour scheme. In this new edition, the bezel is coloured in medium blue, while the dial has a gradient effect that ranges from sky blue in the centre to the same colour as the bezel on the edges. Also, the rectangular markers and hands are coated in white Super-LumiNova and contrast well with the coloured background. One important update, contrary to previous editions, this gradient blue model has a time-and-date display, and doesn’t feature the quite intrusive day-date window of previous releases. It surely a matter of preferences, but I personally think this date-only version is more balanced visually.

Inside the case, no surprises. Like the cool Decompression Timer 1961 or many other watches from the brand, this new dive watch comes equipped with Swatch Group’s new entry-level movement, the Powermatic 80. An evolution of the ETA 2824, it has a reworked kinetic chain with a slightly slower frequency of 3Hz, yet a much longer power reserve of 80 hours. Also, it features an anti-magnetic Nivachron hairspring. This automatic movement is hidden behind a closed caseback.

The new gradient blue Mido Ocean Star Tribute is delivered with a steel Milanese bracelet and a blue rubber strap. It is now available as part of the permanent collection, and priced at EUR 1,110. For more details, please visit www.midowatches.com.