Rado is a watchmaker synonymous with advanced material research and development. The company was first founded in the year 1917 under the name Schlup &Co. Brothers Fritz, Ernst and Werner Schlup developed the business in their parent’s home, which had become one of the largest producers of wristwatches by the time World War 2 erupted. During the 1950s the Golden Horse watch was released under the brand’s newly changed name, Rado, followed by the Green Horse watch, the latter of which was recognised for its water resistant case. They both featured a design element that has represented every Rado watch to follow, a moving anchor symbol.
The 1960s marked the success of the Diastar. It was during the manufacture of the Diastar that Rado began experimenting with materials, and as a result, pioneered sapphire glass and hardmetal to promote the company’s first scratch resistant case. From there onwards, Rado would uphold its reputation for creating some of the world’s hardest, most resilient and most robust wristwatches of all time. By the end of the 50s, Rado was recognised in over 60 countries worldwide.
Gold variations of the Diastar followed in the 1970s, along with the Dia 67 with a striking metalised sapphire crystal case. In 1986 the brand brought out a revolutionary high tech, scratch resistant ceramic. To mark this innovation, the Rado Integral watch launched with a distinct minimalist design. During the 1990s Rado invented two more revolutionary materials, cermet, a combination of metal and titanium based ceramic, and plasma. The latter granted the brand the freedom to play about with different colours and an eye catching metallic sheen.
At the turn of the millennium, Rado released a high tech diamond material featured in the V10K watch. The material was the most scratch resistant the brand had manufactured to date. The True Thinline collection of Rado watches that launched in 2011 embodied a minimalist, pared down and contemporary character. As its namesake suggests, these wristwatches were incredibly discreet on the wrist, boasting a thickness of just 5mm. Borrowing from the True Thinline’s technology was the Rado HyperChrome watch collection which involved the removal of the central stainless steel core and replacing it with a sleek monobloc case. The design has no crown and instead enabled the wearer to set the time with a touch and swipe motion. The HyperChrome Dual Timer was released by Rado just a year later and appealed to avid travellers and businessmen with a touch controlled time zone swap function.
As well as Rado’s involvement in various international tennis tournaments over the last two decades, the company also became the official timekeeper for 12 events during 2019. The precision timing of a Rado timepiece has found itself a place within the sporting industry, specialising in this sport and accounting for the moments that spectators and players value so highly in the game.
