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FeatureRado’s Triumphant Over-Pole World-Timer Revival And Other 2022 Captain Cook Novelties

More than the ‘Master of materials’, Rado’s new Captain Cook Over-Pole is a triumph amid the new high-tech ceramic Captain Cooks unveiled this year. Take a closer look at the world-timer featuring India—and the half-hour time difference—along with the brand’s other new releases

Ranvijaysinh Jhala June 2, 2022

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Rado have always been pioneers and leaders in the use of ceramic and other materials. And today, they own that strength enough to go by the tagine: ‘Master of materials’. While they may not have been the first manufacturer to make watches from ceramic, they certainly did create the first ever scratch-resistant watch. It was the DiaMaster, in 1962, made from an ultra-resilient, hard material, which paved the way for several advancements in material innovation. Their usage of high-tech ceramic in watches came about in the 80s. This scratch-resistant ceramic was more commonly used in ultra-high-speed aircraft, and it led to Rado’s Ceramica, which is said to be among the first—if not the first—watch with the case, crown and bracelet made entirely of the high-tech material. For the good part of the last decade or so, Rado’s products have really celebrated ceramic as a material. With improvements through some serious research and development, they have been able to make ceramic in various hues—from the pastel to the vivid, from the pale to the intense—as well as slim watches, such as the True Thinline.

And this year, the Captain Cook line expands with all-new ceramic editions, using the same advanced, high-tech ceramic that Rado have mastered. It’s the best of both worlds really for the house of Rado

In the last couple of years though, Rado’s focus has shifted a more towards their Captain Cook collection—a dive watch line that was very successful for the brand back in the 60s and 70s. With the modern, newer Captain Cook timepieces, the Swiss watchmakers have captured the attention and fancy of a whole new generation. It’s become an icon for the brand all over again, with the very clear and functional displays, the robust construction and crowd-pleasing nature overall. And this year, the Captain Cook line expands with all-new ceramic editions, using the same advanced, high-tech ceramic that Rado have mastered. It’s the best of both worlds really for the house of Rado.

Captain Cook’s Facelift With High-Tech Ceramic

The high-tech ceramic mastery in the new Captain Cook ceramics presents scratch resistance of course, but also hypoallergenic properties. And being corrosion-resistant to a large degree, the case material is pretty much invulnerable. This wonderful case, at 43mm boasts a monobloc construction, which means the exterior case is not a combination of various parts, but is made from a singular, integral and structurally more stable unit of ceramic, except for the caseback. The press-fit titanium caseback features a motif of seahorses, which has been used by Rado in the past—most notably in their Golden Horse watches. It’s meant to refer to that watch and other success stories from the 60s, and it also serves as a reference to the water resistance of this edition. Being a dive timer, the build of the watch is as secure as a diver’s tool should be, with the strict ISO 6425 water-resistance specification of 300m.

Reinforcing its tool-watch nature is the dive-time bezel. The 60-minute timer on the ceramic insert of the unidirectional-rotating bezel features engraved numerals and a triangular marker at the 60-minute position for clear and crisp readability. The view of the dial itself is also quite crystal-clear, enhanced as such by the box-shaped sapphire crystal glass that has an antireflective coating on either side. The Super-LumiNova-loaded hour indexes are bold, and coupled with the very ample hands—the hour hand distinguished by its arrow shape—this display is very sharp. And there’s a reminder of earlier Captain Cooks, by way of the red numerals of the date display at three o’clock. Below 12 o’clock, you see the Rado emblem, which is a moving motif of an oscillating mass—meant to indicate that it is a self-winding movement that runs the show from inside. It’s the automatic Rado R763, which offers a significant 80-hour power reserve and features a hairspring made from the antimagnetic Nivachron, which was developed under the umbrella of the Swatch Group—Rado’s parent company.

The Indisputable Star: Captain Cook’s Over-Pole

Also powered by a highly accurate mechanical movement is the Rado Over-Pole, which runs on the R862 manual-winding calibre, featuring the same Nivachron hairspring and offering the same 80-hour power reserve that time-and-date automatics do. This manual movement can be seen through the sapphire crystal caseback of the understated but very elegant and sleek 37mm steel case—water-resistant to 100m. Not just for the very compact construction, but also for the functionality that it offers, the Over-Pole is definitely the star among the all the new Captain Cooks introduced this year. While the mechanical timekeeping itself is simply about displaying the time and the date via three central hands and an aperture at three o’clock respectively, the hero of this gorgeous watch is the world-time feature.

Probably the easiest world-timer that you could come across, this one simply has a 24-hour scale in addition to the main 12 hour markers, and a rotating world-time bezel that corresponds to the 24-hour scale. Once you’ve set your local time on the main central hands, you simply need to rotate your bezel to place the city that corresponds to your zone alongside your local time on the 24-hour scale. And that’s all. You’ll notice that all the other time zones also get aligned to their correct times. It’s a simple but very effective execution of a world-timer and it comes with Mumbai on the bezel, along with an indication of the half-hour points on the 24-hour scale. This makes it extremely relevant to us in India, as most other world-timers do not account for the half-hour zones like ours, and we’re hence left to count 30 minutes ahead of Karachi or 30 minutes behind Dhaka. It just makes one wonder why other watchmakers can’t simply make some space for an Indian city between those two, to at least indicate where one should look for India’s time more directly.

The Wonderful World-Time Revival From Captain Cook

This genius watch is not the first of its kind though. It’s a revival of Rado’s Over-Pole World Time from 1962, with modern-day updates, such as refinement in the finishing—including the facets of the applied indexes and hands, knurling of the bezel and so on—as well as the exhibition caseback. The very modern silver-to-grey-coloured gradient dial and the Super-LumiNova markers of the 24-hour scale are among the other updates. This new model is appropriately limited to 1,962 pieces.

Another complication watch among these 2022 editions is the Captain Cook Chronograph, featuring gradient dials, with a bi-compax layout—small seconds at three and 30-minute counter at nine o’clock. Powered by the R801 automatic chronograph movement that also has a Nivachron hairspring but offers a 59-hour power reserve, this watch comes in a 43mm case, with a ceramic insert for the unidirectional-rotating dive-timer bezel. Like the time-and-date models above, these also have box-shaped sapphire crystal for the glass, and a closed caseback. Offering water resistance up to 300m, the case comes in steel or bronze, both options with blue dials and bezels, while the steel one also comes with a grey option. All chronograph variants come with three strap options—all included with the watch—in steel, leather and NATO, which are all easily interchangeable owing to the easy-clip system.

In fact, the Over-Pole watch comes with two straps (both included)—in leather and a steel, rice-grain bracelet. This really makes it a terrific watch to have. It’s adaptable and more functional than most other world timers out there made by far higher-end watch brands, and it’s such a beautifully executed piece, with an aesthetic that is very timeless in appeal. Moreover, you don’t come across world-timers from Rado very frequently, so the rarity of such a watch from the crowd-pleasing brand enhances the desirability factor even further. The tremendous new watch only shows that Rado could definitely claim to be more than just the ‘Master of materials’. Here’s to more from them!