Integrated bracelet, octagonal bezel, angular-cased watches are all the rage.
Watch brands from Tissot to Autodromo to Maurice Lacroix to IWC to Girard Perregaux to the leader Audemars Piguet (the originator) and many others have thrown their hats in the ring (see our article on Royal Oak alternatives). Now Mido has too.
The Multifort 8 Two Crowns is Swatch Group-owned Mido’s contribution to the genre and to start will offer three variations (black dial/steel bracelet, gray-blue steel bracelet, blue dial/rubber strap), which will go on sale later this month.
Swatch Group, which also owns PRX-maker Tissot is positioned slightly below this, which makes you wonder if the group is worried about cannibalizing sales — apparently not.
The Multifort 8 Two Crowns is delivered in a 40 mm x 9.5 mm stainless steel angular-shaped case with a fixed stainless steel, octagonal-shaped bezel.
Editor’s note: Mido says this is the “average thickness,” a term we’ve never seen before in this regard. Typically the measurement given is the maximum thickness, which means realistically this has a maximum thickness of 10 mm or more.
Mido’s Multifort 8 Two Crowns features a screw-down crown at 2 o’clock which controls the rotating inner bezel (a flange that is marked 1-60, color matched to the dial, and angled at 45-degrees), enabling elapsed times to be tracked using the minutes hand and/or seconds. The standard crown also screws-down and is located at 4 o’clock, and it controls time setting, the date, and winding. Notably, Mido gave the black and blue dial versions color-matched crowns, whereas the gray-blue dial comes with untreated stainless steel crowns.
With a horizontal relief stamped dial, that resembles a cut-out aesthetic (sandwich-style dial) for the indices, does not scream that this is a premium timepiece, but it does show Mido paid attention to the little details. Baton-shaped hour and minute hands, and a steel baton-shaped center-seconds hand with a pointed counter-weight, round out the look. And the hands and indices are lume filled.
The dial is protected by a sapphire crystal and the case is rated to 100 meters of water-resistance. The integrated bracelet models weigh 160 grams, and the strap version weighs 96 grams.
Mido powers the Multifort 8 Two Crowns — which offers hours, minutes, center seconds, and date — with an ETA A31.111, a modified version of the ETA 2892-A2. This automatic caliber, which is visible through the caseback, beats at 3.5Hz, has 21 jewels, offers a 72-hour power reserve, and features a Nivachrono antimagnetic balance spring.
Though this is not an expensive luxury timepiece, Mido managed to design a two-pin quick-release system, allowing you to change straps and bracelets without a tool, which makes you wonder how higher-end brands at the Swatch Group still do not offer a comparable system on some popular models.
Retail is $1,270 on a rubber strap (Ref. M047.507.17.041.00 – blue) and $1,340 on a stainless steel bracelet (Ref. M047.507.11.051.00 – black,
M047.507.11.081.00 – gray-blue).
Learn more at Mido.
Photos by Mido.
