Based in 1917 however branded Rado in 1954, the Lengnau Swiss watchmaker finally grew to become a pioneer in the usage of excessive tech supplies like ceramic and lanthanum, that finally, the vagaries of “model positioning” in order to enhance their complementarity amongst Swatch Group manufacturers meant that Rado started to focusing extra on modernist watchmaking aesthetics and fewer on its extra classically designed references. Therefore, when Rado launched heritage editions of its Golden Horse and the Captain Cook dinner, it prompted a uncommon soul looking of deeply held views on what every model stood for among the many neighborhood of watch connoisseurs.

Within the Swiss watch trade, model perceptions not often waver. Constructed over the course of a century or extra, advertising and marketing communications are likely to lean closely on a steady lineage which may hint the ancestry of a fashionable launch. Nevertheless, with Rado, when the futuristic references are all you understand, the rediscovery of the legacy of the Lengnau model may be exhilarating if not outright stunning, as a end result the limited-edition Rado Golden Horse 1957 is a vaunted image of the untapped potential of the model.

An authentic design earlier than they grew to become synonymous with its high-tech ceramic circumstances and bracelets, the dressy Rado Golden Horse 1957 and its hard-wearing, sporty diver’s watch Captain Cook dinner, encapsulate the zeitgeist of late 50s-early 60s designs. From smokey dials to domed sapphire crystals which mimic the looks of classic Hesalite, the Rado Golden Horse 1957 enhances the model’s up to date with a promise akin to see your loved one traditional Jaguar E-Kind with a hybridised electrical engine.

Certainly, the brand new Rado Golden Horse 1957 limited version carries on its face: classic aesthetics however beneath its hanging fume or smoked dial and extremely polished faceted indexes and traditional sword fingers, beats a totally superior piece of micro-engineering with 80 hours energy reserve. Remarkably, it’s not the technical motion with silicon escapement which really makes the Golden Horse 1957 such a profitable Rado novelty: it’s actually the classic aesthetics executed so equally and with such excessive consideration to particulars – suppose Grand Seiko or H. Moser, that with out a loupe, most of the ending is executed in a method which – dare we are saying – approaches the degrees of wonderful watchmaking strategies.

Take for instance, the date complication: quite than merely undertake it as a “obligatory evil as a result of customers need their watches to have the ability to inform the date as effectively”, Rado leaned into the complication by creating a framed window at three o’clock – this demarcates intent quite than tacit acknowledgment that “we didn’t need the date there however its you the client who actually needs it” – and Rado polished the heck of out of it too – which implies that each aspect on the brand new Rado Golden Horse 1957 limited version is there with goal quite than an after-thought.

The re-introduction of the oscillating anchor rotor at 12 o’clock can also be a sensible contact. On the re-opening of a Rado boutique late final 12 months, I managed to meet up with CEO Matthias Breschan who talked about that in the great old days, when the anchor had stopped rotating, it was normally a good indication that the seals in the watch had weakened and by some means some moisture or atmospheric particles had crept in and jammed the delicate function: It’s a remarkably innovation to a very urgent tough query which us watch collectors typically ask ourselves – a timepiece is just not like a automobile and given the quantities of time a servicing sometimes takes, common service intervals is just not a factor which is as generally adopted because the manufacturers would possibly like. In essence, the rotating anchor motif on a heritage reissue just like the Rado Golden Horse 1957 harkens again to an age the place there have been simply much less worries and extra enjoyment of what issues are quite than what may very well be.

Attractive and classically proportioned, the 37mm Golden Horse 1957 is simply 10.8mm skinny however it’s under no circumstances diminutive. By way of visible phantasm of smoked dial and elongated lugs, there’s a snug class which permits a dressy timepiece of this nature to speak ‘wrist presence’ with out overwhelming your wrist or departing from the classic really feel that Rado has re-created. This 2019 mannequin differs from the 2020 version with solely an additional US$100 between the for the “beaded rice” bracelet however truthfully, I really feel that one thing which is simply 50 meters water-proof ought to play to its strengths as a formal timepiece quite than dip its toes into the deeper waters which its Captain Cook dinner cousin performs in, with a beaded bracelet. Nevertheless, the rice beads bracelet is superbly designed and performs up its old faculty desirability.

Svelte, brushed completed mid case with polished lugs full the look of blended ending with nice aplomb making the brand new Rado Golden Horse 1957 limited version one of many clear rising stars in the model’s assortment.

Rado Golden Horse 1957 Value & Specs

Motion Computerized ETA C07 calibre with 80 hours of energy reserve
Case 37mm chrome steel case with 50 metres water resistance
Strap Leather-based
Value US$1700