Where Yesterday Meets Tomorrow

In 1976, AMIDA sketched out a bold future with a driver's watch so radical, it seemed closer to science fiction than Swiss tradition. Just as the quartz crisis cast its long shadow, that vision was silenced, frozen in time.

Now, nearly fifty years later, AMIDA reawakens. Its journey resumes with the Digitrend Open Sapphire — a watch that embraces radical transparency, making its mechanics and message brilliantly visible. This is not just a revival; it is the continuation of a story paused mid-stride.

A Canvas for the Rebellious
The original Digitrend turned heads with its side-reading jump-hour display — a bold rethinking of how time could be read. Today, that same defiant spirit lives on in a new form: a clear sapphire top-case that fully reveals the time-display module beneath a prismatic crystal. What was once hidden is now gloriously exposed — a panoramic view replacing a fleeting glimpse.

The Case for Transparency
Two-thirds of the case is crafted from distortion-free sapphire, grown using the Kyropoulos method and polished for over 20 hours to reach optical-lens precision. The result is not just structural clarity, but a symbolic one — an invitation to observe, to question, to see ideas shine.

The jump-hour module and twin polycarbonate display discs perform their mechanical dance in full view, proof that innovation flourishes under light.

Evolution in Full View
The Digitrend Open Sapphire brings the iconic 1976 case into the present, showcasing its movement through the lens of contemporary Swiss finishing. Broad Geneva stripes grace the top of the module, polished anglage reflects the light, and a tight perlage pattern adorns the mainplate beneath the transparent discs. Every element is a statement: the icon is not being reinvented — it is evolving with purpose.

Reimagining Time
Powering the Digitrend is the Soprod Newton caliber, a reliable automatic movement beating at 28,800 vibrations per hour, offering 44 hours of power reserve and featuring 23 jewels. Its jump-hour complication, redesigned in-house using a sleek nine-part architecture, combines mechanical efficiency with visual harmony — a rare feat at this level of watchmaking.

Inspired by Submarine Engineering
The Digitrend’s unique time display is driven by a patented system dating back to 1973. Like a submarine periscope, a sapphire prism projects the rotating hour and minute discs into a vertical readout. While the movement operates on a horizontal plane, the time appears on the side of the watch, creating a visual twist that remains as unique today as it was visionary then.

Limited to 150 Pieces

Due to its complexity, the Digitrend Open Sapphire will be produced in a limited run of just 150 pieces, priced at CHF 4,500 (excluding tax).

Available from June 19th, with shipping expected in early July.

Founded in 1925 in Grenchen, Switzerland by Joseph Zwahlen, AMIDA made waves at the 1976 Basel Fair with the original Digitrend — the first mechanical “casquette” watch to display jumping hours via a sapphire prism. Its space-age vision earned it cult status.

After decades of silence following the quartz crisis, the brand was revived in 2024 by a team of designers and entrepreneurs, establishing a new atelier in Geneva’s Meyrin district. Their mission: to resume the future AMIDA once dared to imagine.

Today, AMIDA continues its legacy of retro-futuristic creativity — crafting watches that give form to out-thinking and invite wearers to see time through a new lens.