The New, Compact and Slim Mido Ocean Star 39

With its Ocean Star collection, Swatch Group-owned brand Mido has long demonstrated its ability to combine cool designs, great quality, proper diving credentials and fair prices. Take a look at the Ocean Star 600 Chronometer or the Decompression Timer 1961, you’ll see what I mean… It should be remembered that the Ocean Star collection is a long-lasting one, as it celebrates its 80th anniversary this year. For the occasion, Mido releases a brand new model. Slim, compact, with originality in the design and seriousness in the mechanics, the Mido Ocean Star 39 has a lot to offer on paper. So let’s see if it lives up to the expectations in the metal.

With this new watch, which isn’t derived from an existing model such as the Ocean Star Tribute or the Ocean Star 200C, Mido makes some strong statements. It is said to be its most versatile dive watch and one of the thinnest models in the category. Well, I guess that for once, the good people from the brand were right in claiming this loud and clear. What we’re looking at with this Ocean Star 39 is a compact, slim and classic dive watch with close-to-perfection proportions. While the 39mm diameter is already encouraging, it’s the thickness that really does it for me… 10.5mm in height, caseback and crystal included. For a 200m water-resistant dive watch, that is certainly not bad at all (specifically in an accessible price range). Even the highly attractive Black Bay 54 has to surrender here, with its 11.2mm thickness.

The rest is equally pleasing. The lug-to-lug has been measured at a very reasonable 46mm, bringing comfort and style on the wrist – and it also means that it’s a watch that can be worn on dry land without feeling out of place (see, that’s the versatility Mido talks about). The design is typical of a recreational dive watch, with a symmetrical case and no crown guards. The steel surfaces are mostly brushed finished, with some polished accents to add some style. The Mido Ocean Star 39 comes with a unidirectional bezel with an aluminium insert, a screw-down crown, a solid caseback secured by screws and anti-reflective coating on its sapphire crystal. Basically, all you’ll ever need.

Now, let’s talk about the colours and textures. And I know some will be slightly disappointed not to see a classic black version with a flat, matte dial – the essence of a dive watch, if you will. Instead, Mido has decided to be original and to offer a textured dial, a gradient effect and even a two-tone effect for the bezel (which felt odd at first, as something you’d expect from a GMT watch). The dial is embossed with an undulating motif in relief, highlighted by a striking gradient effect, ranging from black to navy blue – and the same pattern is used for the bezel. A detail that I personally liked is how the markers are slightly recessed into the texture of the dial, giving depth to the display.

Overall, the texture is rather present but does not disturb the legibility of the dial, which retains great contrast with its white lumed plots and large faceted hands with multiple textures. There’s a date window at 3 o’clock, which will cause debates (I don’t mind it in this context). The Mido Ocean Star 39 is released in two other versions; a more classic black/grey model and a rather polarizing version with a sand-coloured dial and PVD gold accents on the markers, bezel and hands.

As standard, the Ocean Star 39 is offered on a satin-finished steel bracelet with nice polished accents on the mid-links. It is closed by a folding clasp with a diving extension and also integrates a quick-interchangeability system (possibly to use rubber straps in the future).

One of the reasons why Mido was able to bring such thinness in a dive watch is the movement. While most of the models created by the brand now rely on the Caliber 80 (a.k.a Powermatic 80, an evolution of the ETA 2824), this new Ocean Star 39 comes with an unprecedented movement for the brand (but not for the group), the Mido Caliber 72, also known as the ETA A31.111. The latter is an evolution of the slimmer ETA 2892 and is used with some minor differences by Longines. It runs at a frequency of 3.5Hz (25,200 vibrations/hour) and stores a comfortable 72-hour power reserve. It also has an anti-magnetic Nivachron balance spring.

All in all, Mido has created a rather impressive watch for the money with its Ocean Star 39. Sure, the gradient and patterned dial is a bit polarizing and some could expect a more classic edition, but overall it adds personality and fun to a watch with great specs and great proportions. And it comes at an equally great price, EUR 1,190 or USD 1,100. Not bad Mido, not bad at all!

For more details, please visit www.midowatches.com.