Rado Captain Cook High Tech Ceramic Collection Review
Thursday - 17 June 2021
For Rado, 2021 was a year of hope and change. A year to try new things and reinvent traditions. With this in mind, they launched the new Rado Captain Cook High Tech Ceramic collection, a series of contemporary-looking high-tech ceramic, skeletonised timepieces brought to life within the long-standing aesthetic of their legendary Captain Cook model.
For as long as we can remember, the Rado Captain Cook collection has remained one of the Swiss watch manufacturer’s most iconic designs. First launched in 1962, the watch was named after British navigator and explorer James Cook, a gentleman famed for sailing and mapping much of the South Pacific. Its release was a fateful attempt to join in on the ongoing diving craze at the time, however, despite its pioneering concave inward sloping dive bezel, rice of beads bracelet and domed acrylic sapphire glass, it became overshadowed by other already well-established dive watches. In the end, no more than 8,000 pieces of the Rado Captain Cook were sold and eventually production for the collection stopped entirely.
Fast forward to over half a decade later and Rado surprised the industry with the release of its vintage replica Captain Cook watch at the Baselworld exhibition of 2017. Unlike before, the direct replica of the 1962 model alongside a contemporary 45mm version debuted with great success. Since then, the Rado Captain Cook has remained a permanent fixture in the brand’s luxury watch collections with several resounding iterations having been released including several popular green-dialled models and an entire range of Rado Captain Cook models engineered from patina-developing bronze. Now, Rado have combined the iconic design with a skeletonised dial and a full high-tech ceramic case in the new Rado Captain Cook High Tech Ceramic.
Let’s start with the case... Anyone remotely familiar with Rado will know that they claim to be “Masters of Materials”, displaying a prowess for utilising unique and tough resources to create their watches. One of their most renowned materials is high-tech ceramic, a smooth, stylish and soft material with lightweight, scratch resistant and hypoallergenic properties. In the new Rado Captain Cook Ceramic collection, the entire 43 millimetre case construction is engineered from a choice of black high-tech ceramic or matte plasma high-tech ceramic, the latter coming in a handsome grey colour. To pair, the rotating bezel inserts are engineered from ceramic as are the lugs, crown and bracelet.
There are currently four Rado Captain Cook Ceramic watches to choose from, each different in their colourways and straps. The first under reference R32127162 features a matte black ceramic case with a rose gold PVD steel bezel and crown, black ceramic bracelet and gold elements on the dial. Reference R32127152 is similar, boasting the same matte black case and bracelet but with contrasting steel elements on the bezel. Reference R32127156 is the same but with a black rubber strap. Lastly, reference R32128202 stands out with its plasma ceramic case with a dark grey colouring. It features hardened polished stainless steel on the blue ceramic bezel and is worn on a matching grey plasma ceramic bracelet.
At the centre, each Rado Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic then introduces a technical skeletonised dial. This is the first time a Captain Cook model has featured a dial like this and it gives the design a much more contemporary and complex aesthetic compared to its vintage-inspired predecessors. Ticking beneath black tinted sapphire crystal glass is the Rado calibre R734 automatic winding movement which delivers central hands for hours, minutes and seconds and a healthy power reserve of 80 hours. The familiar arrow-shaped Superluminova hands point towards faceted indexes and at 12 o’clock the legendary moving anchor still rotates with every turn of the wrist.
For more information on the Rado Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic collection, head over to the Jura Watches website here. You can also get in touch with the team on 01335 453453 or send us at help@jurawatches.co.uk.
Specifications:
- Case Size: 43mm
- Case Material: Black high-tech ceramic or plasma ceramic
- Bezel: Unidirectional in rose gold PVD or hardened steel with black or blue ceramic insert
- Glass: Black tinted sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment
- Crown: Screw in
- Case Back: Titanium with tinted sapphire crystal
- Water Resistance: 200 metres
- Movement: Rado calibre R734 automatic winding
- Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds
- Power Reserve: 80 hours
- Jewels: 25
- Frequency: 21,600vph
- Dial: Skeleton with Superluminova hands and indexes, rhodium plated or rose gold
- Strap: Black high-tech ceramic bracelet, plasma ceramic bracelet or black rubber strap
- RRP: Starts from £3,065
