The Swiss watch brand Rado, famous for its innovative designs and the use of revolutionary materials, has a long tradition of initiating design events and supporting young talent through the Rado Star Prize.
I had the pleasure of attending the Rado Star Prize Austria 2017 and experiencing the highlights of the Vienna Design Week, Austria’s largest design festival that brings together creative talent from architecture, graphic arts and product, furniture, social and experimental design.
During the design talk with Rado CEO Matthias Breschan and the director of the Vienna Design Week Lilli Hollein, the True Designers’ series was unveiled. Six interpretations of the Rado True were created in collaboration with six leading international designers. It is an exclusive collection of limited edition timepieces showcasing both brand’s identity and the designers’ individual styles. None of the designers come from the watchmaking industry, which makes it even more exciting to see the results of their work:
The Rado True Face by the Polish architect Oskar Zieta: With the high-gloss metallic dial and a polished disc of stainless steel that work together to create a mesmerizing reflective finish.
The Rado True Shadow by the avant-garde Japanese fashion designer Kunihiko Morinaga: When exposed to sunlight, the dial of the watch turns dark, in the darkness it gradually fades into grey and ultimately becomes transparent, making the pulsating Swiss movement visible.
The Rado True Cyclo by the French designer Philippe Nigro displays the harmonious blend of matt black and silver surfaces and the silver-colored dial boasts of a satin finish.
The Rado True Phospho by the Big-Game design studio from Switzerland: The black brass dial is perforated, which allows the automatic movement below to shine through. The luminescent indexes are created by filling the empty spaces with Super-LumiNova to achieve geometric shapes.
The Rado True Blaze by the US designer Sam Amoia evokes a disco ball feeling on the wrist. The dial looks as though it were completely covered in a layer of silvery metallic slivers, giving the appearance of a glittery explosion.
The Rado True Stratum by the Austrian designer Rainer Mutsch showcases a dial with asymmetrically arranged descending steps that serve to emphasize the three dimensionality of the concave watch face.
Discover the Rado True Designers’ collection and enjoy the great blend of the worlds of watchmaking and artistic design: www.rado.com
