Baselworld 2010: Rado
By Melvyn Teillol-Foo
Rado is a conundrum in the SWATCH Group portfolio. Founded as movement makers Schlup & Co in 1917, their first watch collection was not until 1957 and branded as RADO. Throughout the 1960s, Rado was the most well advertised brand in Asia together with Mido and Rolex. I can only speak about Asia, where I grew up but I suspect the same marketing was applied in other regions. Their unique selling point was scratch resistance. Rado did this first with the DiaStar hard metal (tungsten carbide) watch and subsequently using a variety of sintered or High Tech ceramics, diamond and lanthanum in their newer product lines.
Rado is somewhat ‘purist’ in its approach, using innovative materials in the pursuit of excellence in one field – scratch-resistance. For example, HT Lanthanum is a combination of sintered lanthanum boride and boron carbide forming one of the hardest substances in existence at 3200 Vickers hardness only exceeded by diamond. Only 200 pieces of the Lantano watch have been made. We can all stop hoping – they have stopped production – I asked!
Most of the watches have quartz movements because the focus is on scratch-resistance and accuracy. The Rado Original lines offer automatic time and split-seconds chronograph movements.
Ceramica Digital Automatic (2nd from left)
Rado’s Ceramica model revolutionized watchmaking in 1989, making its mark with full ceramic. An icon. The legend is now forever digital. With this new model, Rado blends digitalization with an exceptional material. At the front it is digital, with a high-tech time display.
At the back it is mechanical. The digital display is entirely driven by an automatic movement visible through the transparent case back. This exclusive movement is shared only with Hamilton, another SWATCH Group stablemate.
r5.5 White Jubilé
This is the continuation of a partnership of the r5.5 collection between Rado and British designer Jasper Morrison. This new interpretation is supposed to exude sophistication as the white ceramics and diamonds work together.
Other watches in the r5.5 range
Sintra Skeleton Automatic Limited Edition Basel 2010 (111 pieces)
The Sintra collection is firmly established but the new Sintra Skeleton Automatic is the first in this Rado collection to feature this special movement that is custom made for Rado, all in black. The COSC certificated skeleton movement is in a black convex case made from high-tech ceramics.
eSenza Blue Jubilé
The eSenza Blue Jubilé can be distinguished by its refined elliptical form and play of light.
The entire circular dial is adorned with sapphires in varying shades of blue.
Set in a Fibonacci spiral derived from the golden number, they bring a mythical balance to the subtle harmony of blues. On the surface of the dial, time is purely displayed as two silvered hands under the curved, edge-to-edge sapphire crystal with its metallic blue finish. The discreet crown is partially hidden under bracelet.
V10K
Although not a novelty, the V10K has to be highlighted as the quintessence of Rado’s original vision. The synthetic diamond surface achieves a hardness of 10,000 Vickers like natural diamonds. The head and back of the watch, bracelet, crown and push-pieces: are now in high-tech diamond. For the first time, it has a matt finish that stands the test of time. Beneath the diamond coating is a revolutionary ceramic adapted to watchmaking. Its density has been reduced to a minimum, resulting in lightness. The bracelet articulation uses an elastic shape memory alloy core. All of the metal components in the watch’s interior are in titanium. The sapphire crystal construction is faceted and slopes away to the edge of the watch. On the dial, the chronograph counters resemble a dashboard. Rado’s vision of the future.
Conclusion:
This brief sketch is just to capture a flavour of Rado for our community. Although not recognised as a haute horlogerie brand, Rado is somewhat ‘purist’ with a niche mission of scratch-resistance through materials science. That deserves a watch-ful eye on them for R&D innovations that could be transplanted to other brands.