The New 37mm, Hand-Wound Rado Captain Cook Over-Pole Limited Edition (Live Pics & Price)

The Captain Cook is certainly one of Rado’s most iconic collections – if not its most emblematic current collection. Named after the British explorer, this adventure-ready watch was originally presented in 1962. Since it was relaunched in 2017, the Captain Cook has become one of the pillars of the brand’s collections. Among the 2022 novelties, a limited-edition model now joins the line-up with a re-interpretation of another Rado model from the 1950s and 1960s, the Over-Pole. This evocative Over-Pole name was used for several Rado models, in particular, the worldtimer that is being re-interpreted by the brand today, with the new Rado Captain Cook Over-Pole Limited Edition.

For this re-issue of a vintage Over-Pole Worldtimer watch, Rado adopted the name Captain Cook Over-Pole. The new watch is a rather loyal re-interpretation of the original model’s spirit, preserving the vintage feel while integrating modern technologies and characteristic Captain Cook design cues. 

The steel case comes in a compact 37mm diameter (identical to the first re-editions of 2017 and 2019), which will please the fans of moderately sized wristwatches. Specifically, the 43mm lug-to-lug measurement makes it extremely comfortable on the wrist. The bowl-shaped bi-directional bezel is now fitted with a high-tech ceramic insert and the ridged edge will help you grip it without slipping. The list of cities featured on the bezel has been slightly updated. These are laser-engraved and lacquered in silver colour. The domed box-shaped crystal is now made out of sapphire crystal and features anti-reflective coating on both sides. The watch is water-resistant to 100m, which is more than sufficient for such as retro-styled traveller’s watch.

The dial of the Captain Cook Over-Pole features a gradient finish, faceted applied markers with white lume and it is slightly curved, which altogether adds to the vintage character of the watch. Just like for the original Over-Pole, the date is displayed with vintage red numerals – but now without a magnifier. Of course, there is the signature free-spinning anchor logo at 12 o’clock with a synthetic ruby backplate. Last, the curved hands are polished and rhodium coloured. The dauphine style hour and minute hands feature green luminescent material.

The World-Time rotating bezel

Some of the world’s major cities are displayed on the bi-directional rotating bezel. To determine the time for the different cities, rotate the bezel so that your current reference city (local time) faces your current local time, in 24-hour format, using the scale at the periphery of the dial. The approximate time for any time zone can then be read thanks to the 24-hour indication corresponding to its position on the bezel.

Turn the watch over and the screw-down caseback allows you to discover the hand-wound Rado calibre R862 through a sapphire crystal. This movement is interesting in many respects. First, it is a rare manual wind version of the ETA C07.111 or Powermatic 80. As such, it can be seen as an ETA 2804 that would have benefitted from the same upgrades as the tried-and-tested ETA 2824 to become the ETA C07.111 or Powermatic 80. In particular, thanks to a reduced frequency of 3Hz and a reworked kinetic chain, the power reserve has been beefed up to 80 hours. Secondly, it features a Nivachron balance spring, which is impervious to magnetism. The movement is pleasantly decorated with Geneva stripes on the bridges and blue screws. 

If you no longer have the practicality of the automatic winding here, this new hand-wound movement allowed Rado to keep a relatively thin profile for the case at 10.3mm, despite the box sapphire crystal, and, to maintain harmonious proportions for the 37mm case. With it, the watch wears super-comfortably on the wrist and should slip easily under the sleeves of your shirt or jacket.

Availability & Price

The Rado Captain Cook Over-Pole (reference R32116158) is presented on a brown vintage leather strap with off-white transversal stitching and a pin buckle. The watch comes in a leather pouch together with an additional beads-of-rice bracelet. The EasyClip system with quick-release spring bars allows you to swap between the strap and the bracelet (and vice-versa) in seconds. This cool re-issued is released in a limited and numbered edition of 1,962 watches, a nod to the year the Captain Cook model was launched. The price is set at CHF 2,400.

For more information, please visit www.rado.com.