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The Value Proposition The Mido Multifort Datometer Limited Edition

This vintage-styled, gold-tone watch bring a lot of heat for under $1,500.

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There's definitely nothing particularly innovative about creating a vintage throwback watch in 2018, but sometimes when brands get the formula right, a relatively straightforward watch can become something exciting. That's exactly what Mido has done with the Multifort Datometer Limited Edition, a special piece created to commemorate the company's 100th anniversary. The Multifort Datometer is a simple watch that offers a lot of value for the money, and looks like something much more expensive on the wrist. 

Despite being a centenary celebration watch, this model is not inspired by a 100-year-old timepiece. Rather, it draws its look from a watch that is somewhere around 80 years old instead. That watch has a sleek case with faceted lugs, a 12-3-6-9 dial layout, and a red crescent hand to show the date around the dial's perimeter. You can actually see a shot of the watch in our original post about this watch from the lead-up to Baselworld. Most of those traits have been kept intact, but with enough updates to keep the watch from feeling like it fell out of the pages of an auction catalog.

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What you get with the Multifort Datometer is a 40mm stainless steel watch with a rose gold colored PVD treatment, giving it the look of a formal, mid-20th-century dress watch. The case is rather slim at 11.85mm, though that number might actually make the watch sound thicker than it is – that measurement includes the box-shaped sapphire crystal, which adds more than a full millimeter to the watch's height. This isn't quite an ultra-thin, but I'd say it's slimmer than most comparable pieces you'd find today. The lugs are another highlight, with the slight facet adding some definition and a hint of shine as you move the watch around.

Some might bristle at the fact that this watch has a rose gold colored PVD treatment rather than it being solid gold or actual gold plate. But, to be honest, I don't think I'd be that interested in this watch if the case was either of those things. With a price tag in the thousands, this watch stops being a value proposition and starts being another expensive watch with a small complication and vintage styling. There are a lot of those, some better than others. Here though, you get the look of something much grander at a price that keeps it compelling.

The dial has a great brushed finish to it that's surprisingly matte (a plus in my book), and the bold numerals still come across as legible and graphic. The interior of the dial is rather open, another thing I really enjoy, though I could do without the curved "Super-Automatic" script at six o'clock. What does that even mean? The outer track is a chapter ring on the inside and a date display on the outside. The small date numerals are a little tough to read at a quick glance, but the red crescent draws your eye right where it needs to go, so a second longer and legibility isn't an issue. One of my favorite low-key things about this watch is the use of black lume in the alpha-shaped hour and minute hands – it's super subtle, and also present on the numerals at the poles too.

The movement is where this watch goes from something cool-but-basic to something that's a true value proposition for me. The Mido caliber 80 is based on the ETA C07.611, otherwise known as the Powermatic 80. As part of Swatch Group, Mido gets to utilize this fantastic workhorse movement that provides a full 80 hours of power reserve in an affordable, sturdy caliber. The finishing isn't going to get anyone too excited, but I'm ok with that here. Remember, we're talking about a $1,350 watch, and I'd rather Mido put the energy and investment into the other components for something like this.

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On the wrist, the Multifort Datometer looks great. I don't usually think of gold watches as "everyday" watches, as most days I want to strap on something steel (and that goes double on the weekends), but this might just qualify. I'd say it wears more like a 39mm watch than a 40mm watch, if that makes any sense, likely due to a combination of the shorter lugs and the relative thinness. It definitely looks a little vintage at first glance, but the more you look at the details the more you get a sense of how modern the watch is, both in its execution and its technology.

An open window with a rotating disc underneath is, for the most part, the standard way today of showing the date on most modern wristwatches. However, as the Multifort Datometer reminds us, that wasn't always the case. The "pointer date" complication is making a bit of a comeback today, with the Oris Big Crown Pointer Date standing out as the other notable example from earlier this year. Whether or not we'll see more watches going back to this style of display is unclear, but with models that look this nice, I'd be surprised if we didn't.

The Multifort Datometer Limited Edition is a series of 1,918 pieces (a nod to the brand's birth year) and each is signed with its own number on the caseback. The watch is priced at $1,350 and you can order directly from Mido online, where there are still watches available as of this story's publishing. For more about Mido and its collection, visit midowatches.com.