Two Swiss divers that make a strong case for your money

By Brent Robillard

I may have created a small problem for myself. For years, when someone has asked me about buying a good Swiss dive watch, the Longines HydroConquest has been one of my first suggestions. Spending time with the redesigned collection in Mexico City earlier this year only strengthened that recommendation. Then the Mido Ocean Star 200 arrived for review.

Now I have a follow-up question. How much were you hoping to spend?

The blue Mido on bracelet costs C$1,190. The new HydroConquest starts at C$2,900 on its H-link bracelet, rising to C$3,100 on mesh. That is a considerable distance between two watches I enjoyed wearing for many of the same reasons. Both look good, sit comfortably, and deliver the sort of everyday usefulness that makes a dive watch so easy to live with.

Our HydroConquest review has become our most popular article this year. The recent Ocean Star 200 review is finding its audience, too. Apparently, plenty of you are doing the same arithmetic.

Longines HydroConquest vs Mido Ocean Star 200 — Longines HydroConquest vs Omega Seamaster Diver 300M @calibre321

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The Longines HydroConquest in black and on mesh — Longines HydroConquest @calibre321

Familiar shapes with different personalities

Put these watches beside one another and the resemblance is easy to understand. Toothy bezels, crown guards, steel cases, and luminous markers. Classic dive watch ingredients. The differences become more interesting when you get closer.

The Mido has the more emphatically modern face. Its textured blue dial gives the light something to work with, while the broad, faceted hands and substantial indices make their presence felt. There is a pleasing heaviness to the dial furniture. The orange seconds-hand accent and Caliber 80 lettering add a little colour, and the day-date display at three earns its space through sheer usefulness. Though I understand that it is not for everyone.

The Longines takes a more restrained approach. The old Arabic numerals are gone, replaced by a cleaner arrangement of circular and baton markers with a triangle at twelve. That change modernizes the HydroConquest, although the overall effect, particularly on mesh, still gives me more of that traditional gentleman’s-diver feeling. There is room around the hands and markers. The date window remains at three, and I still wonder how a colour-matched disc would look.

My favourite remains the black dial with the slate grey bezel. It has enough character to hold my attention and enough restraint to go almost anywhere. The Mido’s blue dial is more immediately expressive. If you enjoy a watch that gives you a reason to glance twice, those facets are persuasive.

Mido Ocean Star 200 textured dial up close — Mido Ocean Star 200 @calibre321

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Mido Ocean Star 200 on wrist — 11.7mm thick @calibre321

Millimetres

Longines offers 39mm and 42mm cases. The Mido lands between them at 41mm. All three are 11.7mm thick, which helps explain why neither watch feels like a lump of diving equipment strapped to your arm.

On my 6¾-inch wrist, the 39mm HydroConquest was the natural fit. Its 48.1mm lug-to-lug measurement keeps it manageable, while the 42mm stretches to 51.2mm and has appreciably more presence. Having that choice is important. Someone who likes the design should have a reasonable chance of finding the right proportions.

The Ocean Star 200 brought my own Omega Seamaster Professional 2531.80 to mind. I made that comparison in the original review because of how it wears. The relatively slim case and tapering bracelet give the Mido a comfortable familiarity. A 41 mm diver can be a very easy companion when the rest of the dimensions cooperate.

I would still prefer brushed centre links on its bracelet. That is my tool-watch bias showing. The taper and secure clasp do far more for my enjoyment than the polished surfaces take away.

The HydroConquest offers another decision: H-link or fine mesh. I leaned toward the mesh, with its removable links and flatter fit beneath the wrist. The H-link has a more conventional sports watch appearance and a useful on-the-fly micro-adjustment system. Bracelet preference alone could steer you toward the Longines.

Longines HydroConquest with blue bezel — HydroConquest on the mesh @calibre321

Plenty of watch under the surface

Both provide sapphire crystals, screw-down crowns, and unidirectional bezels. Longines adds a ceramic bezel insert and 300 metres of water resistance to the equation; the Mido is rated to 200 metres. Those are meaningful specifications, although either rating comfortably covers the swimming and everyday water use most of us have planned.

I particularly enjoyed the revised HydroConquest bezel action. In Mexico City, the journalists around me kept turning the things. You could hear the enthusiasm. Defined clicks and controlled rotation are small pleasures, but they are pleasures you can revisit every day.

The movements make a close comparison. Mido’s Calibre 80 offers up to 80 hours of reserve and a Nivachron balance spring. The Longines L888.5 provides up to 72 hours and a silicon balance spring. Both address resistance to magnetism, and both can carry a fully wound watch through a weekend off the wrist.

Longines runs at 25,200 vibrations per hour against the Mido’s 21,600. The Mido has eight more hours in reserve. Neither number, by itself, would settle the purchase for me. There is useful engineering in both, and plenty of autonomy for anyone who rotates watches.

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Then there is the price

The HydroConquest remains an excellent value proposition within Longines’ range and its part of the Swiss market. You get the brand’s long history, a recognizable name, and tangible details such as the ceramic insert, bracelet options, and revised bezel action. Longines also supplies a five-year warranty, compared with Mido’s two years. There are reasons to spend the extra money.

Still, C$1,710 separates the Mido from the H-link HydroConquest. That is more than the price of the Mido itself. Anyone buying a first Swiss automatic diver is entitled to pause there.

Here in North America, Mido doesn’t carry the same name recognition. For someone just getting into watches, Longines may already feel familiar while Mido requires an introduction. The Ocean Star 200 makes a very good one. You get a handsome, comfortable diver with a generous power reserve at a considerably easier price to approach.

That is why it appears in our Best Dive Watches Under $1,000 guide, whose ceiling is in US dollars. The HydroConquest earns its place in our Best Dive Watches Under $5,000 selection. Both belong there on their own merits.

Best dive watches under $1K — Under $1K USD @calibre321

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Which one belongs on your wrist

If you want your first Swiss diver and would rather keep the spending under control, I would put the Mido very high on the try-on list. The same applies if you already have a drawer full of watches and simply like its dial. Collecting experience doesn’t make a good price less appealing.

The HydroConquest will suit someone drawn to a more restrained display, the smaller 39 mm option, or that excellent mesh bracelet. If Longines’ history is part of the attraction, enjoy it. We are allowed to care about the name as well as the numbers.

Both feel like welcome resistance to the steady upward drift in watch pricing. They offer strong specifications and, more importantly, plenty of enjoyment for the money. I would happily recommend either, depending on the wrist, the taste, and the budget involved.

Heck, nothing stops you from getting both in the end. I’ll never tell.