The severe repercussions of World War I on the market for watches could not prevent the horological engineer, Georges Schaeren, opening a watchmaking work-shop in Bienne on 11 November 1918. How the company and its products came to be called "Mido" is not revealed by the avail-able documents. In the 1920s the creativity of the young entrcpreneur resulted in an extraordinary style of wristwatch. Schaeren was fascinated by the striking radiator designs of the up-market cars of the period. These formed the basis of attractive designs for watch cases and dials, and turned out to be exactly to the taste of an image-conscious clientele. When the Bugatti had to be left in the garage, its characteristic radiator on the wrist served at least as a reminder of the magnificent sports car. In this way Mido built up an impressive collection of models featuring the most sensational automobile radiators.

Schaeren successfully built on this marketing idea by entering into agreement with car-owner associations, which chose these watches as a sort of membership card. It is likely that his well-placed clientele afforded Schaeren an introduction to higher society. One of these Mido models, for example, could be seen on the wrist of His Majesty | the King of Spain. In 1934, Mido offered the sporty "Multifort" model - a water-resistant, shock-proof and antimagnetic automatic wristwatch. This was followed in 1936 by the "Permadur" with an unbreakable mainspring that solved many n~ winding problems. In 1939 the collection was enhanced by two interesting novelties, the "Radiotime" synchronized the watch (: with a radio time-signal at the touch of a | button, while the "Datometer" featured a I clearly visible date indicated by a central hand. Chronograph enthusiasts from 1934 onwards were fascinated by the "Multi-Centerchrono" which had its 60-minute counter in the center of the dial.

The undisputed Mido classic, the "Ocean Star" appeared on the market in 1959 in a single-piece case with the Aquadura scaling system.

Today Mido is part of the Swatch Group's brand Portfolio.

to see our MIDO - WATCHES click HERE

20.08.2000 by Courtesy of Gisbert L. Brunner