Recent Comments
I have both in my collection. Some for their grab and go aspect, some for their accuracy (chronos). I don't care to limit what I put on my wrist.
I mean why limit yourself? My vintage pieces tend to be handwind, a good half of my collection is automatic and the rest are quartz / digital. I wear what I want, when I want depending on what I'm doing. Plus you find as you go on that your interests change from moment to moment. I went on a quartz field watch kick about eight months ago for... reasons. Realistically I don't want to miss out on a watch because of a movement, though to be fair Miyota 8000 series movement are almost always a miss for me.
Mido Ocean Star Titanium. 42.5mm Case dia. 11.75mm Thickness on my 7 3/4" wrist 80 hours of power reserve.
I usually sport any number of Hamiltons but towards the end of this year I did a trade for a Mido Ocean Star Titanium and value on the dollar for what you're buying I think the Mido comes out on top of Hamilton as far as being members of Swatch Group. The AR top and under coating on the Mido's Sapphire crystal places it ahead of Hamilton right off the bat. It's nice being able to read a watch face at damn near any angle over having to twist your wrist this way and that to see what time it is with pretty much every Hamilton out there. To that end I've got my eye out for other Mido watches I can add to my collection.
I picked up this Mido Ocean Star Captain Titanium a few weeks ago.
In regards to Biocompatibility, it's not really an issue for me as I work daily with 304 and 316L stainless steel building things for beverage, brewing and food plants. If I had any sensitivity to Nickel, my career would be about thirty years shorter. But I do understand that if you do suffer from such, Ti is a viable alternative to SS alloys.
For me the lightness is a plus. Some of my work can be physically violent with a lot of motion. It's surprising how much a heavy watch beat up the muscle around your wrist and the back of your hand.
I like the look of this Mido. They've integrated the colour of the Ti into the design of the watch so it all compliments itself. I've also got an SWC Arc (quartz) which also looks great and it's more of a bead blasted finish.
The toughness thing is a bit of a misnomer. It's not as tough as some steels but it has greater ductility. It's a bitch to machine unless you have very sharp tools and very specific coolant in your machines. I believe the best way for making a watch case would be to heat and stamp a form with final machining being only for final surface tolerance and end surface finishing.
So while you will have a hard time deforming your watch case, you can scratch the bracelet up pretty easily.
The one thing that isn't talked about is the sonic characteristics of Ti. I have to almost have my regular 316 cased watches up to my ear to hear them tick. With this Mido, I can hear the movement quite clearly from a few inches away.
All that being said, I wasn't sure if this was going to be a watch I kept or sold on but I have to admit that even though it's been a short while, I find it on my wrist more often than not, selected over other watches in my collection that were in regular rotation.
As light as it is, it doesn't feel cheap but it does feel well squared away.
It's an interesting question but I think it's really tied in to what sort of discretionary funds you have available to you relative to what kind of watches you like. My collection is all over the place from my super 80's tacky Amitron (in Gold) Red LED watch to my vintage Speedmaster Professional and then a bunch of other stuff all over the place in between. I think I paid $30 for the Armitron and the amount that watch makes me smile is worth it. A few of my other vintage pieces were certainly affordable when I bought them but there is always the cost of service and bringing them back to spec to consider. The thing is I take joy in each watch, no matter it's value or cost. The fun was in the hunt and the research and ultimately putting it on the wrist. And hey, if you got it in a good deal, that's just bonus. I will say when you've got a watch worth thousands on the wrist, you're a lot more aware of your surroundings.