Mido Multifort Datometer — Bumper Automatic, Circa 1940s
In 1934, Mido’s Multifort became the first watch to combine a self-winding movement with shock resistance, antimagnetic protection, and water resistance in a single case — a technical proposition that had no real precedent at the time, and one that carried the Multifort name to the top of Mido’s line for the next two decades. The uncommon Datometer variant offered here builds on that foundation with a further refinement: rather than a simple date window, it indicates the date via a slender serpentine hand, finished in a burnt orange achieved through heat-treating rather than paint or lacquer and tipped in a red half-moon pointer, sweeping a printed roulette scale around the dial’s perimeter — a more deliberate, old-world way of reading the calendar, and one seen far less often than the standard time-only Multifort.
This example presents a well-preserved two-tone champagne dial with radium Arabic numerals, Mido script signature, and “Multifort Datometer / Super-Automatic” designations intact and legible. The 34mm case is stainless steel — marked “Rustless Steel” in period terminology — and was made by François Borgel, the Geneva case maker credited with patenting the modern screw-in case-back-and-bezel construction that made truly water-resistant wristwatches possible in the first place; by the 1940s the workshop operated under the name of Borgel’s successor, Taubert & Fils, but the casework itself carries that same lineage. The screw down caseback is stamped with the Multifort name and a British patent reference from the watch’s original registration. Hands, dial and case are all original to the watch. Inside is Mido’s caliber 917 bumper automatic movement: a 17-jewel, pre-full-rotor self-winding mechanism in which the half-moon oscillating weight rebounds between two spring bumpers rather than rotating freely, the transitional design Mido and several of its contemporaries used before adopting the modern full-sweep rotor. Given its age, the piece shows honest and consistent yet minimal wear.
The Particulars
Brand / Model: Mido Multifort Datometer
Era: Circa 1940s
Movement: Mido caliber 917, 17-jewel bumper automatic
Complication: Pointer-date (“Datometer”), serpentine hand, roulette scale
Case: Stainless steel, 34mm, by François Borgel (Taubert & Fils), snap caseback
Dial: Champagne/cream two-tone, applied Arabic numerals, heat-treated burnt-orange date hand
Strap: Shown on a suede display strap — confirm whether this is included or a new strap will ship with the piece
