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A new chapter in Rado's vintage-inspired dive watch collection.
Rado, for the large majority of us, is known for its ceramic watches – and obviously, the brand is good at it. However, Rado also wanted to remind us that there were other watches in its collection before the advent of ceramic cases and that the company has a (much richer) past. To this end, the brand introduced several vintage-inspired dive watches last year named “Captain Cook”. Today, there’s a new chapter in this story, with the presentation of the Rado Tradition Captain Cook MKIII Automatic – another cool, historical dive watch, this time with a slightly more modern touch.
Two models were released in 2017 as part of the Captain Cook homage; the Hyperchrome Captain Cook with a 37.3mm diameter, which perfectly captured the vintage spirit of the original 1962 model, and a less convincing 45mm version in titanium. The new Captain Cook MKIII plays on a different trend, with an oversized case and a colourful dial. While it retains the vintage look of the original 1962 Captain Cook, it adds a large dose of modernity in the design and the technical aspects.
The rather funky tonneau-shaped pilot case – typical of the era, and also used by several other brands such as Omega and Heuer – is made of grade 5 titanium with a sandblasted finishing. This respectable dive watch is water-resistant to 220m and features a screw-down titanium caseback. While the look is old-school, the dimensions aren’t, with a 46.8mm x 48.3mm case. Clearly, far from last year’s models. Another modern touch is the black textile strap.
Being a dive watch, you’d expect a rotating bezel. Here, Rado chose an internal “compressor-style” diving bezel actuated by a secondary crown at 2 o’clock. Powering the Rado Tradition Captain Cook MKIII is the ETA C07.621, an automatic movement with several modifications compared to the usual ETA 2824. While the frequency has been lowered to 3Hz, the power reserve has been increased to 80 hours.
As for the dial, once again we have a mix of vintage and modern touches with typical Rado-style indices combined with bright colours on the diving scale and hands. The display includes a day-date complication at 3 o’clock, which doesn’t feel inappropriate in this context.
The Rado Tradition Captain Cook MKIII Automatic will be priced at USD 2,550. Deliveries will start in October 2018. It will be available at most Rado retailers worldwide, except in the US where Macy’s has the exclusivity for this model. More details at rado.com.
