Mido’s new Commander Gradient offers great specs at an even greater price

At the higher tiers of watch collecting, value-for-money may not necessarily be the driving force behind a purchase. At the mid and lower price bands however, the quality vs price factor is absolutely something that most will look at before considering a watch. The reason I bring this up is that I just had the opportunity to look at the new Mido Commander Gradient and this watch has value for money written all over it. I mean, a Swiss Made watch with a transparent gradient dial and a movement with 80 hours of power reserve, all at a price of under MYR 4,000 (or approximately under USD 1,000), that’s a steal. The only real question is, do you like how it looks?

It is well documented that the Mido Commander collection was designed based on the architectural elements of the Eiffel Tower. More specifically, the design borrows the tower’s iron lattice design for the indices and hands. Thus, considering this gigantic structure is highly immovable, we found it quite odd that they decided to pair the watch with a sports car for the images you see here.

Disregarding this, however, the watch on its own is quite a modern and dynamic piece. For the first time in Mido, they have decided to give it a transparent dial and add on a gradient that becomes opaque towards the edges. Even so, the white date ring is clearly visible beneath the dial with a small aperture at 3 o’clock to indicate the current date. This combined with the shiny indexes that sit partially embedded within the chapter ring makes it quite a handsome piece indeed.

Through the dial opening on the front, and also the transparent caseback, the Caliber 80 can be seen. This fantastic movement has been making its rounds through the Swatch Group brands. It offers an incredible 80 hours of power reserve which is more than double of the standard ETA 2824 workhorse movement. Just for clarity, this Caliber 80 is not the one with the silicon hairspring but for the more casual enthusiast, this really won’t matter as much considering the attractive pricetag on this timepiece.

The Mido Commander Gradient will be available in several variants including this one with a black PVD treatment and a fabric strap, or a gold PVD coating, or in stainless steel without any coating. There is also a choice for a brown gradient dial or a green one pictured below.

Case: Stainless steel / stainless steel with black PVD / stainless steel with gold PVD
Case size: 40mm
Crystal: Domed sapphire crystal
Movement: Mido Caliber 80, automatic
Water Resistance: 50m
Price: MYR 3,930 (black PVD with fabric strap)