FORGED IN ETERNITY

As Rado introduces its signature high-tech ceramic in the Captain Cook Chronograph, we explore the new iteration and speak to CEO Adrian Bosshard about balancing innovation with heritage

- by Somya Rauthan

There is a reason Rado is known as the 'Master of Materials. 'The Swiss luxury watch brand established in 1917 was the first to introduce ceramic and composite ceramic to watchmaking. It's an innovation that came on the heels of the brand's quest to develop new materials, colours, and shapes. It started from 1962, when the maison introduced Diastar, the world's first scratch-resistant watch featuring a case crafted from hard metal, a durable tungsten carbide alloy and sapphire crystal. Following the brand's slogan, “If we can imagine it, we can make it. And if we can make it, we will,” in 1986, Rado created high-tech ceramic, a scratch-resistant, lightweight, and hypoallergenic material. Nonmetallic in nature, it was made from high-purity powders of zirconium oxide, aluminium oxide, or silicon nitride mixed with a binder, moulded into the desired shape, and then subjected to extreme heat in a process called sintering. The result: A dense, strong, and a highly durable material.