First unveiled in 1962, the Rado DiaStar was the world’s first scratch-proof watch that was crafted from hardmetal, and remains one of the most successful and sought-after lines from the brand globally. Commemorating the 60th anniversary of the DiaStar Original, Rado has partnered with Swiss-Argentinian designer Alfredo Häberli, to unveil new variants in the collection.
Rado is renowned for its use of high-tech materials in its watches. Giving the collection a modern touch, Rado has incorporated its signature material Ceramos in the new lineup. The high-tech material is a mixture of ceramic and metal alloy and combines lightness of ceramic with the glow of metal. This gives the watch a monobloc look when it was first used in 2011 for the True Thinline collection.
DiaStar Original 60-Year Anniversary Edition
Honouring 60 years of the Diastar Original, Ref. R12163118 is a special watch that features partner designer Alfredo Häberli's quintessential style. This monochromatic 38mm ceramic and stainless steel watch features a radial-brushed Ceramos™ bezel with polished angles, and a stainless steel crown at 3 o’clock with matte anchor. The sapphire crystal has hexagonal facets to indicate 60 years of the DiaStar, with anti-reflective coating on the inside face. The newly unveiled timepiece comes with green lume dot-shaped hour makers and lance-shaped hour and minute hands and rhodium coloured with natural colour Super-LumiNova®. There is a date window at 6 o’clock with grey Rado logo at 12 o’clock with silver coloured anchor engraving. Turning the watch reveals the polished stainless steel caseback along with special engraving of ‘DIASTAR ORIGINAL 60-YEAR ANNIVERSARY EDITION, DESIGN ALFREDO HÄBERLI’.
Powering the watch is the Calibre R764 automatic movement with 80 hours of power reserve. The watch is delivered in a grey pouch with a woven stainless-steel mesh. There are two bracelet options, one is a “Milanese” bracelet, and a mottled grey textile strap that can be easily interchanged. The watch gets a water resistance of 100 metres.
DiaStar Original
Continuing the monochromatic theme, there are three new versions of the DiaStar Original in a blue dial, (Ref. R12160213), dark grey dial (Ref. R12160103), and green dial (Ref. R12160303). The watch looks identical to the first DiaStar that was launched, retaining the oval shape, albeit with design updates. The 38mm stainless steel watch gets a Ceramos bezel, that makes its debut in this line-up. The bezel is also more angular than its first version.
On the dial, the watch gets a white printed ‘DiaStar’ logo at 3 o’clock, ‘Automatic’ logo at 9 o’clock, Rado logo with silver coloured moving anchor symbol with red background at 12 o’clock, and a stainless steel crown at 3 o’clock. The sapphire crystal features vertical facets, and the dial has vertical and horizontal finishes, which catch the light beautifully.
Devoid of hour markers, a day-date window in a vertical format rests at 6’clock with a colour contrasted background with that of the dial. The hour, minute, second hands get rhodium coloured in white Super-LumiNova®, and the caseback are in stainless steel with no visible screws.
The watch is also powered by the same automatic Calibre R764 with 80 hours of power reserve. Water resistance is 100m and it sits on a polished, brushed H-link stainless steel bracelet with a stainless steel clasp.
Images: Courtesy Rado
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