Every business is looking for that irreplaceable, unique, and timeless product. What makes or breaks brands is how they capture people’s attention with breakthrough innovation and leverage that to create a timeless brand identity, a household name, something so seemingly eternal it feels as though it’s always existed. Historical innovations are essential and a driving influence behind today’s popular luxury timepiece brands. Watches are a timeless product with thousands of iterations made over centuries, of which few have heralded profound impact.
The new Rado DiaStar Original 60-Year Anniversary Edition, released this year, is that product. Created in 1962, the DiaStar 1 was an innovation in material design and changed people’s perception of a watch’s longevity. “My study of design history meant that I was familiar with the watch, and I own a DiaStar from the 1960s,” says Alfredo Häberli, who designed the 2022 DiaStar 60 –Year Anniversary edition. Previous timepieces were handsome and functional at best. The post-WWII designers at Rado strived for a durable watch with extreme resistance to handle the action and excitement of the post-war boom. When this bold and unmistakable timepiece launched in 1962, it paired a ground-breaking scratch-proof “Hardmetal” case with the diamond-like resistance of a sapphire crystal dial covering. It was aptly named DiaStar, reflecting its indestructible star-like lustre and resilience.
Years of research and development culminated in the pinnacle of durability and resistance. Before the Rado DiaStar, most watches were made of gold or plated brass, with fragile mineral or polymer glass, and occasionally with delicate enamel or other fine materials susceptible to damage. Made with a scratch-proof tungsten carbide alloy called “hardmetal,” the shiny, highly resistant case is surrounded by sapphire crystal.
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The 2022 DiaStar reimagines Rado’s signature oval shape in another of the brand’s preferred materials radial-brushed Ceramos™. The Rado calibre R764 (gold plated) movement is automatic with 25 jewels, three hands, a date, and a graphical day display in grey or natural colour Super-LumiNova®. The timepiece boasts an 80-hour power reserve, and antimagnetic Nivachron™ hairspring while exceeding standard test requirements from three to five positions for higher accuracy. Underneath the anti-reflective sapphire crystal, almost as durable as diamond, is a hexagon faceted face, complete with a silver-coloured moving anchor symbol and grey printed Rado logo. The satin brushed stainless steel “Milanese” bracelet uses an easy clip system.
“The hands and date display were designed to look as modern and abstract as possible, you have to be able to wear it on different occasions, so it comes with two alternative straps and in a leather case that can be used as protection while travelling,” says Häberli.
That irreplaceable, unique, and timeless influence is also pursued by designers. Alfredo Häberli has been praised for his unique ability to embrace reality while employing fantasy and his constant search for originality and innovation. “As a Swiss designer I’m always interested in innovation, which makes it possible to move forward in the history of design, trying to combine tradition and innovation with joy and energy, the anniversary edition is no exception,” says Häberli.
The pairing of design and material innovation in the 2022 Rado DiaStar is a modern take on the timepiece responsible for transforming the Swiss watch industry. “Two words: precision and poetry. Precision in the automatic movement, material, workmanship, and geometry—poetry lies in the fascinating, ineffable matter of time.” A timeless product, the 2022 DiaStar represents a continuum of Rado’s transcendent timepiece. It looks great when you buy it and for the rest of your life. With Rado, the past and the future join forces as one.
