I was invited to an exclusive showing of the Rado 2017 Baselworld Collection. I was able to experience the ‘Portraits of Time’ exhibition and discover their latest innovation in timepiece.

I know Rado as a well-respected Swiss watchmaker, with my parents owning a few of their timepieces. For those who follow me, you would know that I’m a bit of a watch whore – wearing an aesthetic timepiece gives me great pleasure. As a timepiece aficionado, I have a specific taste in what is worn on my wrist. But, I have strong appreciation to the craftsmanship and designs of the watch world. Despite my love affair with watches, I wouldn’t consider myself an expert, hence, this won’t be a detailed review-type post with loads of jargon.

After this unique experience, my appreciation for Rado has ticked to the top. We both love watches, that is quite evident, but another commonality we both share is the interest towards the design world. Design is truly in their DNA, and their acknowledgement was exemplified in where they displayed their collection. The collection was showcased in the La Porte Space - the interior is absolutely amazing. Not only do Rado care about the design of their timepieces, they care about how they are presented and the entire experience. This is probably why they’ve won over 30 design prizes over the years.

Their timepieces are made from plasma high-tech ceramic which is a material that shines like metal while being non-metallic. The element of ceramic is integral to Rado’s design philosophy, where it makes their watches 25 per cent lighter than steel. The intricate nature of their thought process is something I noticed. In order to meet the demands of the market who wanted the benefits of ceramic, but finish of steel, they created a patented process involving a plasma oven that causes the surface of white ceramic to take on a unique metallic sheen. The level of dedication further proves why they are notorious design winners.  

I was able to get a closer look of four personally picked pieces from the collection – two DiaMasters, Coupole Classic and HyperChrome Captain Cook. They all had high-precision ETA movements with 80 hours of power reserve.

The Coupole and Diamasters were eye-catching despite the minimalistic designs. They epitomise the phrase, “less is more”, as the classic styles were simply elegant. The HyperChrome Captain Cook was the most intriguing of the bunch. To my Aussie audience, we all know Captain Cook, we learnt about him in our History lessons at school. And to those who don’t, he’s the man who discovered the Down Under. This timepiece was named after him, and has that ‘divers’ aesthetic with the arrow shaped hands and rotating bezel. Out of all the timepieces, this surprised me the most. In my opinion, Rado is well known for their slim ceramic dress watches with classic designs. So, to push out a chunky diver’s watch that remained lightweight on the wrist, they literally dived into the deep end with this model.