News · Mido

Mido gives the Multifort TV Big Date a vivid Alebrijes dial

The Día de Muertos special edition brings fantastical creatures, a luminous second view and three wearing options to the television-shaped Mido.

Hen & Mills Editorial · 4 min read · 2 October 2026

• Mido’s 2026 Día de Muertos special edition brings a Calavera skull and fantastical Alebrijes creatures to the television-shaped Multifort TV Big Date.
• The 40mm-wide steel watch combines a luminous decorative dial with Calibre 80, a Nivachron balance spring and up to 80 hours of reserve.
• Priced at A$2,125 including GST, the special edition includes steel, red rubber and Milanese mesh options; the Australian online listing is currently out of stock.

The skull gets your attention, but the creatures around it give this dial its character. Mido has filled a familiar television-shaped watch with Alebrijes, fantastical animals drawn from Mexican imagination, and left the large date looking out from above the scene. Announced on 1 October, this year's Día de Muertos special edition follows a tradition the brand began in 2020. The switch to the TV-shaped case gives that annual project a distinctly different frame. This is the Mido Multifort TV Big Date Alebrijes.

There is quite a lot to look at, and I mean that as a compliment here. A colourful Calavera skull sits at the centre, with small creatures and decorative details occupying the space around it. The grey gradient ground stops the bright colours from becoming the entire dial. I am usually wary of a picture that leaves the hands feeling like an afterthought, but the broad hour and minute hands, prominent markers and date at twelve retain a recognisable watch underneath the artwork. That balance is the interesting part.

A second view after dark

Mido uses Super-LumiNova to reveal further details when the lights go down. The brand presents that change as part of the design, rather than merely a way to find the hands at night. It makes sense for a dial built around fantastical creatures: a picture that behaves differently in darkness has more to offer than one that just sits behind the time display. I would want to see it in person before judging how clearly every element reads, but the idea is a good fit for this edition's deliberately exuberant character.

The choice of the TV Big Date matters as much as the decoration. Its rounded rectangular outline gives the dial a broad stage, with the big date aperture occupying the top edge rather than interrupting the central skull. The case is 40mm wide and 39.2mm long, with an 11.5mm thickness. Those figures describe the case, not a promise about how it will sit on every wrist. For me, this shape gives the artwork room to spread without losing the blunt, immediately recognisable outline that makes the TV family appealing.

The familiar machinery beneath the creatures

Inside is the automatic Calibre 80 with a Nivachron balance spring and up to 80 hours of power reserve. The larger reserve is useful in an edition that might be worn for its mood rather than kept on the wrist every day. It gives you more breathing room between outings, although the actual interval still depends on how fully the watch is wound. The big date remains the practical centre of the display, with two separately rotating discs providing the numerals. The decoration has not displaced the collection's main mechanical function.

The 316L stainless-steel case has a screw-down crown and a see-through back. Mido rates it to 10 bar, or 100 metres, and uses sapphire with antireflective coating on both sides. Those are reassuring everyday specifications for something whose dial is so expressive. I like that the watch does not ask the owner to trade the core TV Big Date equipment for the special artwork. There is no need to make this a solemn little commemorative object kept away from ordinary wear; the construction supports a more relaxed approach to owning it.

Three ways to wear one busy dial

A steel bracelet is supplied alongside two additional interchangeable options: red rubber and Milanese mesh. That is a particularly sensible inclusion on a watch with such a strong visual personality. The red rubber can pick up the brighter parts of the dial, while the mesh changes the texture around the same case. The standard steel bracelet uses a butterfly clasp with push-buttons, and the watch's lug width is 22mm. There is enough choice in the box to change its emphasis without immediately going shopping for another strap.

I would start with the steel bracelet. In the brand's photographs, the relatively quiet metal gives the artwork somewhere to stop, while the case's flat top and curved corners hold the whole thing together. The red strap will appeal to someone who wants the colour to continue beyond the dial, and that is a perfectly fair reading of this watch. My preference is for the contrast. The point of the Alebrijes treatment is how much happens inside that television outline; a calmer bracelet makes that small, crowded world more noticeable.

Mido Multifort TV Big Date Alebrijes pricing and availability

Regional list prices are A$2,125, US$1,525, €1,450, £1,140, CHF1,250, C$1,800, MXN29,500, HK$9,900, TWD43,200, S$1,810, MYR5,950, THB47,000 and KRW2,130,000. The Australian recommended retail price includes GST. Mido's Australian online listing currently shows the watch as out of stock, with a notification option, and does not give a local delivery date. The watch is described as a special edition, with no production limit stated. It includes the steel bracelet and two additional interchangeable options, red rubber and Milanese mesh, under reference M049.526.11.081.02.

Its strongest argument, I think, is how well that crowded dial uses the television outline. The skull has a clear place at the centre, the date has its own position above it, and the animals get the space between them. A lot of decorative watches seem to begin with a picture and struggle to find room for the time. This one has an established watch design holding the picture together, and that gives the exuberance a useful sense of order.