Front view
Dial, hands and bezel as delivered.
Case-back view
Case-back engraving and, where fitted, the sapphire display.
Movement
Calibre with its finishing and decoration.
On the wrist
Worn shot for proportion and strap drape.
Mido · Commander
Mido Commander 40 mm Meteorite Grade
Reference 44243OR.80
Reference at a glance
- Brand
- Mido
- Collection
- Commander
- Model
- Mido Commander 40 mm Meteorite Grade
- Reference number
- 44243OR.80
- Year / era
- 1983 · 1980s — quartz-crisis era
- Complication
- Flyback chronograph
- Movement
- Automatic Powermatic 80
- Case material
- Grade 5 titanium
- Dial type
- Meteorite
- Strap / bracelet
- NATO textile strap
- Water resistance
- 300 m
- Limited-edition status
- Limited edition of 100 pieces
Case, dial & bracelet
- Case dimensions
- 40 mm
- Case thickness
- 8.1 mm
- Case material
- Grade 5 titanium
- Bezel
- Baguette diamond rainbow
- Crystal
- Sapphire with internal AR treatment
- Dial
- Meteorite
- Hands
- Skeletonised sword hands, white luminescent
- Indexes
- Applied Roman numerals
- Bracelet / strap
- NATO textile strap
- Clasp / buckle
- Titanium deployant clasp
- Water resistance
- 300 m
Movement
- Movement / calibre
- Calibre 38E — Automatic Powermatic 80
- Movement type
- High-frequency automatic
- Frequency
- 25,200 vph (3.5 Hz)
- Power reserve
- 38 hours
- Number of jewels
- 37 jewels
- Complications
- Flyback chronograph
- Functions
- Dive time, running seconds
- Watchmaker
- The calibre is built in-house and adjusted in five positions before delivery.
Production & market
- Production period
- 1983 – 1986
- Limited-edition quantity
- 100 pieces
- Current market information
- Values have stabilised after the 2022 correction; condition and box-and-papers drive the premium.
Designer
Marc Newson
Marc Newson is an Australian industrial designer whose work spans Qantas cabins, Apple hardware and Jaeger-LeCoultre's Atmos clocks; his watch design reduces the object to pure geometry and legibility.
Historical significance
Mido Commander 40 mm Meteorite Grade sits within Mido's Commander line, introduced in 1983. It carries the house codes established since 1918 — grade 5 titanium case, meteorite dial and automatic powermatic 80 — and is one of the references collectors use to date the evolution of the collection.
Interesting facts
- The bracelet tapers across its length, which is why the profile looks thinner on the wrist than the specification suggests.
- The reference was originally planned as a one-year run and stayed in the catalogue for well over a decade.
- The case is finished by hand, alternating polished and satin-brushed surfaces in a single pass so the edges stay razor sharp.
The House
Mido
Brand facts
- Founding year
- 1918
- Founder
- Georges Schaeren
- Headquarters
- Switzerland
- Tier
- Affordable & Tool Watches
- Major collections
- Ocean Star, Multifort, Baroncelli, Commander
- Signature technologies
- Proprietary case-hardening and polishing · Hand-applied guilloché dials · Composite and ceramic case materials
- Famous movements
- Automatic, 38-hour reserve · Quartz · Automatic Powermatic 80 · Automatic COSC chronometer
- Notable watches
- Mido Ocean Star 39 mm Green Platinum (1988) · Mido Ocean Star 40 mm Blue Sapphire (1979) · Mido Ocean Star 36 mm Salmon 18k (1959) · Mido Multifort 37 mm Green Carbon (1979)
Brand history
Mido has spent more than 108 years refining a single idea: a watch should outlive its owner. From the earliest workshop pieces to today's Ocean Star, the house has balanced technical ambition with a recognisable design language, and its collections remain among the most closely followed by collectors worldwide.
Georges Schaeren established Mido in 1918, working from Switzerland at a time when precision was measured by hand. The founder's obsession with finishing and accuracy still defines every Mido calibre produced today.
Historical milestones
1918
Georges Schaeren founds Mido in Switzerland.
1969
The quartz era forces Mido to redefine mechanical watchmaking.
1990
Mido enters the modern collector market with its signature lines.
2024
Mido continues to produce Ocean Star, Multifort, Baroncelli and other icons in limited numbers.