Yeah as we scoured the web for skeleton/cutaway dial watches after the Hamilton Jazzmaster, we found sister brand Mido had a different take. This time, it’s almost like a veil on the movement, which let’s you see a bit of the workings, but retains dial integrity.

This is an old watch, it was released in 2020, but bizarrely, it’s still listed as a Novelty on the Mido company website. Still, we missed it back then and currently we have an obsession with see-thru and skeleton dials…so there y’go.

See-thru dream? We want a Casio G-Shock that has a flickable ‘dissolve’ screen, so you can see all the wiring board n capacitor etc behind it – no reason really, just for banter.

Here’s the word from Mido on their Commander Gradient;

With the Commander Gradient Swiss watch, watchmaking mechanics become visible thanks to a transparent acrylic dial – a first in this iconic collection.

The components of the Caliber 80 can be admired on the dial side as well as on the rear thanks to a transparent case back. Adorned with an original gradated smoky effect, the dial becomes increasingly opaque around the edges while the date at 3 o’clock stands out perfectly.

Inside you have an 80-hour, ETA derived, COSC grade movement, kinda similar to the Hamilton H10 and the Tissot Powermatic 80, but given a few tweaks. Like a Golf GTi basically; same donor unit diesel engine as the 2.0 model, just kick-ass faster.

All this parts sharing tech by Swatch is very VW/Audi/Skoda/Seat, and just like cars, it saves on build costs if you share a common platform.

Does it make for genuinely collectable watches long term? Nah.

On the upside this watch retails for just £760 or so, (we saw it on Amazon at £713 but is it a legit seller? – Ed) which is a bargain compared to some other Mido/Hamilton/Tissot models we think. You don’t have the wow factor with the Mido name, it hasn’t sunk in with the general public as a Swiss brand, so perhaps a Tissot or a TAG has a better resale value in percentage terms?

More at Mido’s site here.