Decompressing with the Updated 1961 Rainbow Diver from Mido

Mido has great timing with the release of their limited or special edition runs of the 1961 Decompression Timer. They always seem to time it for the dead center of summer, this time of course being more towards the end but still pretty close. We reviewed their previous launch of the 1961 in the summer of 2020, that was about the point that I really fell in love with this watch – not only the watch but its backstory as well.

The new variant we have here today is relatively untouched, which I see as a good thing. Iconic watches benefit from as little design change as possible, they tend to age gracefully with very minor updates, and in the case of the new one here a change to the case color from raw steel to PVD black.

Renowned Rainbow Dial

It’s quite obvious what sets this watch apart from the crowd, and that’s the glaringly beautiful rainbow themed decompression dial. This is a dial you haven’t seen before on any other watch, that’s because it’s entirely unique to Mido, dating back to the 1960’s with some of the vintage variants now being quite sought after.

While the look of the dial is of course highly unique, it serves a very important function by allowing a professional diver to decompress safely from a deep dive. The colors serve a functional purpose as well as they’re essentially color coded to the amount of minutes required for decompression at certain depths. If most professional divers don’t use watches like the Submariner to dive anymore, chances are the 1961 Decompression Timer won’t be used either, leaving it relegated to watch collectors like you and me to dream about the bygone era.

Noteworthy Updates

Besides the new black PVD case, the rest of the watch is virtually untouched when compared to the previous model. We’re still looking at the popular caliber 80 as its movement, which provides a substantial power reserve of 80 hours. The dial layout is also identical from what I’m seeing here, with the exact same placement of the decompression rings, numerals, and date window. The case dimensions have luckily also remained the same at 40.5mm, and the really great slim and curved lugs – the crown guards are still intact as well differentiating the case a little bit when compared the modern Decompression Worldtimer Special Edition.