Coffee Corner Watch Talk Presents Cool Black Monday — Featuring Mido, URWERK, And Gerald Charles

Counterbalancing the bright colors of summer

June 27, 2022

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I like color. Heck, I love color! I think the Hawaiian shirt that perfectly matches the dial and vibe of the 1970s Tissot Seastar Navigator Chronograph in the picture above makes that perfectly clear. This year’s Summer Splash is all about color, as you’ve probably noticed. But because of that kaleidoscopic competition, I think it’s time for a bit of black. This is not only to give your eyes a little break but also because black is cool — maybe not literally, but definitely figuratively — and we all need to keep/be cool during the hottest and brightest season of the year. That’s why Coffee Corner Watch Talk presents Cool Black Monday featuring watches from Mido, URWERK, and Gerald Charles.

Nothing’s better than a refreshing dive into the water to cool off during a hot summer. Competing in the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, however, is something completely different. And so is diving all the way down to a depth of 600 meters. Still, because Mido is the Official Performance Partner of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, the brand presents the special edition Ocean Star 600 Chronometer Black DLC. It’s a very capable, chronometer-precise, and thematically correct dive watch that deserves a closer look.

Cool Black Monday: Mido

The new Ocean Star 600 Chronometer Black DLC is a dive watch with a 43.5 × 14.1mm case and a lug-to-lug of just 43.5mm. The watch, with its black DLC-coated steel case, ceramic bezel, screw-down crown, and double-AR-coated sapphire crystal weighs a confidence-inspiring 220 grams. There’s also a helium valve on the left side of the case to cope with the effects of diving 600 meters below the water’s surface. And as you would expect from a dive watch, the black Ocean Star is an easy-to-read instrument thanks to an abundance of green Grade X Super-LumiNova.

Mido Ocean Star 600 Chronometer Black DLC Special Edition

Apart from being black, bold, and robust, the new Ocean Star 600 is also very precise. Mido’s newest dive watch is certified by COSC (Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres), making it a chronometer. Inside the case beats the automatic Caliber 80 Si. As you can probably distill from the name, this movement packs 80 hours of power reserve. It is also equipped with a silicon balance spring for greater resistance against magnetic fields.

The Mido Ocean Star 600 Chronometer Black DLC Special Edition comes on a matching black-coated steel three-link bracelet. Inside the box, you will also find an additional black rubber strap.

The price of the Ocean Star 600 Chronometer Black DLC Special Edition is €1,650, and you can buy it either at an official dealer or on the Mido website.

Cool Black Monday: URWERK

Black is a bit of a signature color for URWERK. Therefore, the new UR-100V Full Black Titanium Jacket is hardly a surprise when it comes to its color scheme. But that doesn’t take anything away from the fact that this sinister creation is one striking watch. The UR-100V Full Black Titanium Jacket is a raw and pure beauty. It’s also a limited edition of just 25 pieces, an unsurprising aspect of this futuristic creation for avant-garde connoisseurs.

URWERK UR-100V Full Black Titanium Jacket

The UR-100V Full Black Titanium Jacket shows elements of the first-ever URWERK creations but with a reimagined look. The prominent steel dome of some early models, for instance, is now in transparent sapphire crystal. What you also get with the dark new watch is a case with strong, hard symmetric lines in titanium and steel. Inside the futuristic case, the self-winding UR 12.02 movement is at work. And since it’s an URWERK caliber, you will also see the characteristic Windfänger airscrew.

The bracelet is worth a closer look too. There are 32 black DLC-treated sandblasted titanium links. These not only create an aesthetically pleasing picture but also guarantee great comfort on the wrist. “Our goal was to make the most comfortable watch to wear. The UR-100V Full Black Titanium Jacket is a perfectly ergonomic watch. Its bracelet is ultra-light and incredibly soft against the skin. It’s a bracelet synonymous with pleasure,” says URWERK co-founder and master watchmaker Felix Baumgartner.

The price of the URWERK UR-100V Full Black Titanium Jacket is CHF 65,000 excluding tax. You will find more info on the official URWERK website.

Cool Black Monday: Gerald Charles

The new Gerald Charles Maestro 8.0 Squelette (ref. GC8.0-SQ-A-00) is not an all-black watch. Still, because of the watch’s blackened skeleton movement, the watch qualifies to be in the Cool Black Monday edition of Coffee Corner Watch Talk. The latest Maestro 8 starts off with Gérald Genta’s unmistakable and complex 18-part Maestro case. It also has a screw-down crown that makes the watch water-resistant to 100 meters. The black rubber strap with a Clous de Paris pattern isn’t afraid of water either.

Gerald Charles Maestro 8.0 Squelette

The Gerald Charles Maestro 8.0 Squelette is an Octavio Garcia design. Garcia made a name for himself at Audemars Piguet and later co-founded Gorilla Watches. He came up with the idea to put a dark, open-worked movement in the Maestro case. Garcia worked together with Vaucher to develop the automatic caliber GCA 5482. This movement comprises 160 components, but it is ultra-thin at just 2.6mm. The most dynamic highlight might well be the gold micro-rotor that runs on ceramic bearings. On the dial side, the skeletonized bridges show a satin finish, rhodium plating, and the deep anthracite color of the NAC (N-acetylcysteine) treated components. And since this is an Haute Horlogerie watch, the angles, bevels, and apertures are hand-polished, while all wheels are circular-grained on each surface.

Another interesting detail is the inner ring between the dial and crystal, which is kept in place by a series of nine specifically designed star-shaped screws. As you would expect, however, all these details come at a price. The exotically shaped Gerald Charles Maestro 8.0 Squelette has a price of €58,000. You can learn about the watch and how to get one on the official Gerald Charles website.

That’s a wrap

So, how did you like this special Cool Black Monday edition of Coffee Corner Watch Talk? Not too gloomy, I hope? Luckily, summer is a season that you’ll enjoy in Technicolor anyway, so a little dose of black watches won’t dim your mood. Have a great watch week, treat yourself to a (black) coffee, be and stay cool, and see you next Monday.

Please find and follow me at Lex Stolk • Instagram

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Coffee Corner Watch Talk Presents Cool Black Monday — Featuring Mido, URWERK, And Gerald Charles

Great article!

I like all three of those pieces but the Urwerk is the standout for me LOVE that bad boy ?

dave says:

Jun 27, 2022 at 14:10

<3 the UR-100

Although I do not dive anymore and as such do not need a divers watch, I like them for their legibility and capability in terms of rough usage.

I seriously believe that amongst this type of divewatches, one won’t go wrong at all with this specific version (ref M026.608.37.051.00) of the Mido Ocean Star 600. It has different and in my opinion better hourmarkers than the other Ocean Star 600´s.

It also has a well lumed bezel, and to me this watch is a reference which I measure other divewatches against. Has to be pretty darn good to match this one – the other Ocean Star 600s don´t….

As always, there is room for improvements, and I would have liked a different clasp/buckle, as It is always cumbersome to put on and take off rubberstraps when fingers and strap is cold and wet.

If a “proper” divers watch that actually looks like one is the objective, this one punch way above it’s weight. I like the non-cosc Ocean Star GMT a lot, but it is not as good as the black OS600 in terms of diving purposes.

Lex, that shirt is divine.

dave says:

Jun 27, 2022 at 14:12

Lex is a bit of a Fratello style icon, isn’t he? I recently bought a tiger stripe camo jacket inspired by the main man. He’s a fashion influencer without realizing it.

I like this Mido dive watch. Up until a handful of years ago, Mido and its Swatch company sister Rado didn’t have very many desirable references. Now, both brands are churching out the hits.

dave says:

Jun 27, 2022 at 14:13

I was impressed by the recent Rado CC bronze chronograph.

1. RR
  WatchesSwiss says:
  
  Jun 27, 2022 at 14:40
  
  Yes, both Mido and Rado are really coming out with some interesting an compelling designs.
  
Arnold says:

Jun 27, 2022 at 14:24

Good afternoon Watchesswiss,

I’m not very into Rado (just a question of preferences), but Mido have a few other watches that I find attractive. I believe that the divers are particularly good alternatives, and this one in particular, I view as true and honest about what it is.

Calibres is not my strongest point at all and I might be wrong, but I have the impression that the Powermatic 80 calibre in it’s iterations (Standard, Cosc/silicon and GMT) for various Swatch brands are quite decent offers and safe bets for the customers.

I belive it is a good selling point for the Certina DS Action GMT and the DS divers.

1. RR
  WatchesSwiss says:
  
  Jun 27, 2022 at 14:55
  
  Hi Arnold. Yes, the three sister companies: Mido, Rado, and Certina have been doing well these past few years. I hear the Powermatic movement is good enough for what it is – a reliable, versatile, highly adaptable, rather inexpensive movement. As you know, I own a Certina DS Dive watch and use it as my beater and water sports watch but I don’t plan on buying any Mido, Rado, or Certina watches in the future. I have enough watches in the under €2,000 price segment already. Of all the Swatch companies, I like Omega best. Hoping my next watch is my Rolex Day-Date but if I don’t hear from my Rolex AD, I might have to buy an Omega, Grand Seiko, or something else. Have a great week ahead!
  
  1. Arnold says:
    
    Jun 28, 2022 at 14:02
    
    Enjoy your summer!

Great article! But none of these watches are anything compared to an Omega

Arnold says:

Jun 29, 2022 at 20:08

…but someone – you – actually had to compare these watches to an Omega in order to conclude whether they are anything compared to an Omega, thus your statement cannot be anything but wrong, right?

…they can’t be anthing compared to nothing?

Beware, Omega is clearly the end….

Love the vintage Tissot to go with the shirt 🙂 I am left undecided between shirt and watch.
Coming to the watches, for me the Mido Ocean Star here is the one to go with, with the best value for money in its price segment at the moment.