Rado (watch brand)

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Rado Watch Co. Ltd.

logo
legal form Corporation
founding 1917 (as Schlup & Co.)
Seat Lengnau BE , SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland 
management Matthias Breschan
( CEO )
Georges Nicolas Hayek
( Chairman of the Board )
Number of employees 470+ (worldwide)
Branch Watch industry
Website www.rado.com

Rado is a watch brand from Lengnau in the Swiss canton of Bern that has been part of the Swatch Group since 1983 and manufactures watches in the upper price segment. Rado brand watches are available in over 5000 sales outlets and over 70 Rado stores.

The Rado brand is known for its research in the field of materials science. Exceptional design, anatomical shape, skin-friendly and scratch-resistant high-tech materials as well as wearing comfort are described as characteristics of this brand. Official ambassadors of the watch brand are Andy Murray, Julia Görges, Renata Litvinova, Lisa Ray, René Liu and Hrithik Roshan.

Company history

Rado Captain Cook , MK1 1962

The Rado company was founded as a clockwork factory Schlup & Co. in Lengnau in 1917 by the brothers Ernst, Fritz and Werner Schlup and in the first few decades acted exclusively as a manufacturer of raw movements. In 1937 the Rado Watch Co. Ltd. founded as a subsidiary in the same company; Another wristwatch brand from the watch factory Schlup was Exacto from around the beginning of the 1940s to 1957 . From around 1958, only watch models are offered under the name Rado . The 'DiaStar' developed in 1962 is considered the world's first scratch-resistant watch. From 1962 to 1968 the diver's watch 'Captain Cook MK1' with a depth of 220 meters was produced in small numbers of only 8000 pieces.

In 1968 the company became part of ASUAG . In 1975 the inauguration of the new Rado headquarters in Lengnau took place. In 1983 ASUAG and SSIH merged to form the SMH Group in Biel . The Swatch Group emerged from this in 1998 . In 1992 Rado celebrated triple birthdays: 75 years since the original foundation, 35 years since the first official use of the 'Rado' brand, 30 years since the first launch of the Rado 'DiaStar'. In 1995 Rado was awarded the Innovation Prize of the Technology Center Switzerland for the development of the Rado 'Concept 1'. For the first time, polycrystalline diamond was used in the field of watch production.

Company philosophy

Since the launch of the 'DiaStar', the company has relied on materials such as hard metal , technical ceramics , lanthanum , polycrystalline diamond and sapphire glass , which the company researches and produces itself or in cooperation with Georges Ruedin SA , which is also part of the Swatch Group . Many of the brand's models are also provided with diamond jewelry or gold and are labeled 'Jubilé'.

Launch of watch models

  • 1962 Rado 'DiaStar', the world's first scratch-resistant watch, and Rado 'Daymaster' with day and date display
  • 1984 Rado 'Anatom' family
  • 1986 Rado 'Integral', the case of which is completely covered with scratch-resistant sapphire crystal . The bracelet is made of ultra-hard, scratch-resistant ceramic.
  • 1987 Rado 'La Coupole' collection
  • 1990 Rado 'Ceramica', whose case and bracelet consist entirely of scratch-resistant ceramic.
  • 1993 Rado 'Sintra' line in platinum colored ceramic
  • 1996 Rado 'DiaQueen' - a ladies watch collection which combines ceramics, gold and diamonds in one piece of jewelery.
  • 1997 Rado 'Vision 1' is the first watch made of polycrystalline diamond . In 2001 Rado received the entry for the hardest watch in the world in the Guinness Book of Records for this model .
  • 1999 Rado 'Cerix'. Their shape, which is based on a spiral, is unusual
  • 2000 Rado 'Ovation'
  • 2001 Rado 'eSenza'
  • 2002 Rado 'V10K', coated with high-tech diamond
  • 2007 Limited edition of the Rado 'Ceramica' line, designed by British designer Jasper Morrison to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary. For the first time, matte ceramic is used.
  • 2008 'Integral' and 'Sintra' are reinterpreted and gold-colored ceramics are used for the first time.
  • 2009 Rado 'r5.5' designed by British designer Jasper Morrison.
  • 2010 Rado 'D-Star'
  • 2012 Rado 'HyperChrome'

Design awards

Various watch families from the Rado brand have received numerous international design awards .

Watch family 'V10K'

Watch family 'r5.5'

  • 2009 Good Design Award, USA
  • 2010 iF Product Design Award, Germany
  • 2010 Red dot award, Germany

Watch family 'Ceramica'

  • 2008 Annual Design Review, ID Magazine, USA
  • 2007 Bilan du Design, Switzerland
  • 2007 iF Design Award, China
  • 1990 G-Mark Award, MITI, Japan
  • 1990 Red dot award, Germany

Watch family 'Sintra'

  • 2002 Rosinex Fair Award, Russia
  • 1993 G-Mark Award, MITI, Japan

Watch family 'Rado True'

  • 2009 Red dot award, Germany
  • 2008 iF Design Award, China
  • 2007 Good Design Award, Chicago, USA
  • 2007 Red dot award, Germany

Watch family 'Original'

  • 2006 Red dot award, Germany
  • 2006 iF Design Award, China

Watch family 'eSenza'

  • 2002 iF Design Award, Germany
  • 2002 IDEA Award, USA
  • 2001 Good Design Award, Japan

Web links

Commons : Rado  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Stockton: The Rado Captain Cook. A rare 1960'S Diver that spawned a reissue . In: fratellowatches.com of June 8, 2017