The Rado Captain Cook collection is a skilful blend of retro vibes and high-tech materials. Ok, it’s also available in more conventional stainless steel or bronze but the high-tech ceramic models will always be a bit extra special. It displays Rado’s industry-leading know-how of the material and the brand’s ability to apply it to any style of watch. Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen many interesting and cool combinations of colour and even skeleton models. Continuing from last year’s Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic Skeleton Limited Edition, Rado adds a new non-limited ‘gunmetal’ grey and gold-coloured model to the collection.

Rado is a master when it comes to ceramic applications in watches, and it shows in the high-tech ceramic case for this Captain Cook, finished in a cool dark grey colour. This innovative material is extremely resilient to scratches and has a cold, tactile feel to it. The case is topped with a rose gold PVD-coated bezel with a plasma high-tech ceramic insert matching the case. The crown is also rose gold PVD coated. The size is a substantial 43mm across, and 14.6mm in height. A cool touch is the sloped angle of the bezel, with that domed sapphire crystal on top.

The sapphire crystal dial is slightly tinted but still grants a view of the movement inside. It’s surrounded by a ring holding the hour indices and a gold-coloured minute flange. Time is shown with an oversized hour hand with a triangular tip, a sword-shaped minute hand and a central seconds hand, all rose gold coloured and finished with Super-LumiNova. You can also catch a glimpse of the golden geartrain bridge on top of the movement.

Powering this new take on the ceramic Captain Cook is the same movement as in the previous limited edition and the Rado True Square Skeleton, namely the Rado Calibre R808. This is essentially a slightly reworked ETA movement done specifically for Rado. It’s fitted with a Nivachron hairspring to improve magnetic resistance and has a power reserve of 80 hours. It can be seen through the titanium caseback, as well as the skeletonized dial of course. The new Rado Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic Skeleton comes on a three-link bracelet with brushed plasma high-tech ceramic outer links, polished titanium inner links and a double-folding clasp.

When Swiss brand Rado, known for its pioneering work with ceramic watchcases in the 1980s, suddenly pivoted in 2017 to a reissue of a steel dive watch from the 1960s, it was a surprise hit with dive-watch fans, particularly those who like their faithful diver reissues. Since then, the brand has made the Captain Cook a pillar collection, adding larger editions as well as different colorways and materials. Until now, however, the new generation looked very similar to its original ’60s inspiration.