The Mido Multifort TV Big Date Limited Edition S01E01

Introduction

Introduced about a year ago, the date/">Mido Multifort TV Big Date raised a great and somewhat unexpected success. Thanks to its case design inspired by four references Mido marketed between 1973 and 2000, the timepiece quickly ranked among the brand’s most wanted models. The new collection debuted at Turin’s RAI (the Italian TV broadcaster) headquarters museum.

A TV Big Date Limited Edition with a “test pattern” dial

The term “Test Pattern” is our add-on to the name of the official model whose embargo ends today, yet it seamlessly suits this 999-piece limited edition Mido. A TV Big Date’s design, i.e. its square case with a Big Date complication on top, is inspired by the seventies’ and Mido designers mated such a silhouette with vivid colour palettes as exemplified by the smoked dial with a horizontal finish and matching coloured rubber straps with pin buckle, whose mid-pattern mimics the bracelet’s mesh, and whose softness helps the wearer taper it around the wrist.

A Multifort TV Big Date is 100-meter water resistant, too, thus making a four-season, all-round watch.

The 2024 most daring product so far celebrates ingenuity, bringing a piece of TV history onto the wrist, as most seasoned enthusiasts experienced during their childhood or teenage years when such a pattern suddenly popped up between one broadcast and the other.

The Test Pattern

A fixed on-screen image appeared during intervals to test the broadcast’s effectiveness. Each piece of that puzzle had a purpose. Setting the technical explanation apart, it tells the story of a gone era, the dawn of contemporary broadcasting, and the separation line between one generation and the following.

Mido’s designers tried and applied the test pattern to the Multifort Big Date TV, thus scaling it down to the dial, whose surrounding bezel holds like a TV screen’s frame. However, do not consider it a “copy and paste” process. The test pattern was adapted and redesigned in a typical watchmaking style.

To avoid any “patch” effect, the designers went beyond imagination and covered it with a three-dimensional pattern in the shape of tiny pyramids resembling a Clôus de Paris decoration.

It is more complex than it seems, given the multi-coloured design and a dial that looks considerably more crowded than the one it replaces.

The outcome is a colourful pop watch whose identity is miles away from its ordinary sibling. Here is what we assume was the brand’s designers’ target: a new timepiece sitting halfway between funk and pop, breaking the boundaries of traditional Swiss watchmaking to become a collectable, trend-setting accessory.

Mido is not new to such experiments; for example, we cannot forget the glorious Mido Commander “Dia de los Muertos”, exclusively made for the Mexican market, whose success this Big Date TV aims to replicate.

The technical specs: same square case and Mido 80 calibre

No news, good news as we delve into the model’s technical specifications. Once fully wound, the Mido Multifort TV Big Date Limited Edition runs longer than any competitor in the benchmark.

Housing the anti-magnetic Nivachron™ hairspring since it came out, the MIDO 80 movement offers everything you need and fits into the unchanged 40.0 mm by 39.2 mm case with a screw-down crown. Our only “regret” is what we usually affirm; we prefer a closed case in this product category.

Final thoughts

Thumbs up to MIDO on their daring proposition. The new Mido Multifort TV Big Date Limited Edition represents a viable option for any standard Big Date TV. Its style is eccentric; some will love it, others will jump out of their chairs. That is what happens with such “talking pieces”, green-lighted after an ordinary company brainstorming meeting.

The listed price is €1,550, which is quite a jump over the €1,200 you will pay for any standard Multifort TV Big Date in steel. However, bear in mind that the package includes two replacement rubber straps. Boomers will probably find this watch cool and approve of the weird-looking colour scheme. A younger audience might find it attractive, too, but for different reasons, mostly connected to style and trend.

It is a limited-series watch geared towards a mixed audience that is not exclusively connected with the watchmaking business. As far as we are concerned, it is a clever take on the ordinary model; swapping the bracelet for the strap works better. The bracelet is, in contrast, perfect on a standard TV Big Date. For more information, please visit the official Mido website.

(Photo credit: Horbiter®)

Giovanni Di Biase @Horbiter®