From titanium and bronze to carbon fibre, magnesium and even cheese (see H. Moser c.2017…), all manner of materials have found their way into modern watch case construction. Ceramic, despite the lacteal competition, is clearly emerging as one of the most intriguing in the space, not to mention one of the most challenging to produce.
Thanks to its scratch-resistance, featherweight ranking and tactile charms, ceramic has become something of a haute horology darling, with a comparative ‘who’s who’ of high-end watch brands muscling their way into the burgeoning ceramic scene over the past few years.
These brands are all keenly rhapsodising about ceramic’s onerous and demanding manufacturing process, all extolling their mastery over the process, and all assigning lofty retail prices to their ceramic-cased end product.
But while collectors coo over these undeniably desirable pieces, one can’t help but feel attention is criminally directed away from the brand which is arguably responsible for introducing ceramic into watchmaking and, arguably again, most adept in the alchemy required for its production: Rado.
Founded in 1917 in Biel, Switzerland, and now under the stewardship of horological behemoth The Swatch Group, Rado ushered ceramic into watches – and also the use of now-industry-standard synthetic sapphire crystal at scale – with 1962’s DiaStar in tungsten carbide, a metal/ceramic hybrid material.
Rado’s, and by proxy the watch world at large’s, next ceramic milestone came with the eponymous Ceramica model in 1990, the first watch to be produced with both a ceramic case and bracelet. A hat tip must also be made to IWC for 1985’s Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar and its inaugural use of zirconium oxide-based ceramic, the now omnipresent substance used throughout today’s ceramic watches; besting Rado by a matter of months.
New editions of Rado's best-selling Anatom collection
Maintaining its commitment to ceramic watchmaking, Rado has, more recently, developed a number of new ceramic materials including Plasma High-Tech Ceramic (which can be polished to a high metallic shine) and Ceramos™ (which combines ceramic’s hardness with metal’s toughness for the ‘best of both worlds’).
New for January 2025, Rado has introduced five new editions of its best-selling Anatom collection. The key distinction in these models is the bracelet, now crafted from polished high-tech ceramic links that complement the bezel. (Previously, the collection featured a textured rubber strap.)
And, looking at the sullied topic of the commercial bottom line, thanks to its decades-honed proficiency in the field, some of Rado’s ceramic watches are notably available at prices which are a fraction of its competitors, with an entry price point of £1,150.
We met Rado’s CEO, Adrian Bosshard to learn just how they do it.
Square Mile: You’ve been CEO of Rado since 2020; tell us about your path to that position and what attracted you to Rado in particular?
Adrian Bosshard: I used to race MotoGP in the 1990s and was sponsored by Swatch Group brands Longines and then Certina. When my motorcycle racing career finished, I joined Certina as a regional sales manager, becoming CEO in 2003.
Three years later, Mr Hayek [Swatch Group’s CEO] gave me an additional beautiful project: to reawaken the Union Glashütte brand. In 2008, we relaunched Union in Germany, a year later in Austria, and then in China a few years after.
It was a real pleasure and an interesting journey. Mr Hayek then said to me: “Adrian, we have big ambitions with Rado… I believe you have the right profile to take over Rado, a global brand.”
Despite my fondness for Certina and Union, I thought it would be an opportunity for personal growth and a nice challenge to work at a ‘global brand’ for the first time. Union was a regional brand and Certina an international, not global, as they’re not present everywhere. This was a real attraction for me.
Also, the first really expensive watch I got was a Rado Integral, a wedding gift from my wife.
Rado Integral
SM: Rado has so many brand ‘pillars’; what do you, personally, think its real strengths are?
AB: I’ve always been an admirer of the brand (it’s why my wife chose a Rado for my wedding gift): its very specific design language and also its work with materials. Chief amongst these materials is, of course, our scratch-proof ceramic. It’s fascinating and a key part of our history.
Since joining I’ve discovered so much more depth in the brand and its competence – we have so many ‘icons’.
We regularly find that DiaStar, for instance, has countless personal stories and connections to our customers and their families. It’s a watch that does excellent volumes in the Middle East, India and around the globe. It’s not often you have a heritage design that was so courageous and is still so strong.
Pieces like the Captain Cook dive watch, launched in 1962, which we relaunched in 2007 after an over-40 year absence, do very well for us too.
Aside from design, Rado easily has the most experience with ceramic watchmaking. Looking at our Ceramica model, I think we definitely inspired a few other brands with their ceramic bracelets too…
Rado Diastar
SM: Rado offers its ceramic pieces at a fantastic price point… I assume that’s possible thanks to experienced, streamlined production and years of R&D?
AB: It’s a big advantage for us. Our aim is to really offer this premium material to a large portion of the public. It’s very important to us and, as such, we produce about 70% of our watches in ceramic.
Ceramic’s advantages in terms of wearability, comfort, scratch-resistance and lightness is something other brands, obviously, want for their customers too. There were others that started using ceramic around the same time as us, but we’re really the brand to have initiated things in earnest and have gone on to really develop ceramic into so many collections over the years.
The other brands we see working with ceramic are at a different price point, and, because of this, we view the competition as positive. We also, as you point out, have the experience and industrial competence to produce at an affordable-luxury price.
Rado Captain Cook
SM: Can we discuss gendered watches? Unisex/gender neutral watches have become very popular over the past few years. But, to me, a lot of Rado’s watches have always felt quite genderless…
AB: We are definitely a brand with many unisex products. I feel we are also one of the brands with the nicest balance between ladies and gents pieces.
Traditionally the whole business has been male driven, it still really depends a lot on the market territory, but we’re starting to see a real shift. Ladies were mainly jewellery driven, now they’ve jewellery and watch driven.
Over the last five years or so, ladies have really discovered watches for themselves and are now very open to buying watches too. We see a lot of growth potential there. We’re even seeing a lot of ladies wearing the larger sized Captain Cooks, as well as, of course, more typically unisex pieces like the True Square.
Rado True Square Open Heart Limited Editions
SM: And that’s, in part, having a real effect on the case sizes you’re producing, no?
AB: Definitely. Around ten years ago we had that period where case diameters were growing endlessly, now we’re coming back to a more reasonable level. We previously had a Captain Cook at 45mm in diameter – our customers expected this. However, our steel version is now 42mm and our ceramic version is 43mm. We have also done an execution in 37mm and, this year, we have a 39mm execution coming.
The 43mm ceramic is still big, but it’s light and comfortable. Thanks to its ceramic construction, it immediately wears at your body temperature, so it feels like you're not even wearing a watch.
For more information, see rado.com
