Introducing The Rado Captain Cook x Marina Hoermanseder

Most of us associate Rado with high-tech ceramic watches and sleek contemporary lines. Rado’s Captain Cook resurfaced in 2017, a dive watch based on an automatic model from 1962. Offered in different case sizes and materials, including trendy bronze with ceramic bezels, the vintage vibe and resilient 300m water-resistance of the Captain Cook was a hit. Named after the famous British explorer, the original 37mm Captain Cook featured a concave dial with an inward sloping bezel and a domed crystal. Other hallmark features included the prominently painted indices, the XL arrow-shaped minute hand and the rotating anchor logo at 12 o’clock to animate the dial. For 2021, Rado’s Captain Cook changes tack and sails into feminine waters. Reinterpreted for women by Marina Hoermanseder, a French-Austrian designer whose career began with an internship at Alexander McQueen, the new Rado Captain Cook is decked out in attractive dusty pink with rose gold coloured accents.

Pretty in pink

The 37mm stainless steel case has a height of 11mm and is treated with rose gold-coloured PVD and polished. The notched rotating bezel is made from the same material and contains a white high-tech ceramic insert with laser-engraved rose gold coloured numerals and markers. Unlike the gent’s versions with its 300m water-resistance, the Marina Hoermanseder version is water-resistant to 100 metres. The crown is also rose gold-coloured, and the steel screw-down caseback features a special engraving by the designer and her signature.

Matching the white bezel, the dial is also white with three large triangular indices (at 6, 9 and 12 o’clock) picked out in a rose gold colour and treated with vintage-style Super-LumiNova. There are also eight diamond hour markers and a discreet date window at 3 o’clock with a white background and black numerals. The signature hour hand with its large arrow-shaped tip and the rotating anchor at 12 o’clock are also present; all three hands are rose gold coloured and also treated with vintage-style Super-Luminova. The minutes/seconds flange echoes the overall golden colour scheme of the watch and features black markings.

leather and buckles

Another obsession of Marina Hoermanseder has to do with her preference for leather and large buckles. According to the designer, buckles add “a tough and bold look around the wrist” to contrast with the more feminine rose gold colour scheme. In Hoermanseder’s words: “A challenge was to make the Rado Captain Cook x Marina Hoermanseder very feminine. This is why we chose soft colours and rose gold. Designing this Captain Cook edition, we wanted to give it a bold touch as well as a very soft and feminine one. This is what I always want with my fashion, to give women a spine, self-esteem and power. I think this watch includes all of these elements because it is in soft colours, it comes bold with the buckle, and it is not a small watch; it is quite a bold piece but combined with those colours, it’s feminine and timeless.”

Presented in a pretty powder pink case, the watch comes with three straps, which can easily be exchanged with the EasyClip system. A  pink leather strap with rose gold coloured PVD-coated rivets and buckle; a black strap with rose gold PVD-coated rivets and buckle; and a double tour pink leather NATO strap with Marina’s trademark rose gold coloured PVD buckle. The large buckle features Marina Hoermanseder’s signature and name on the strap stay.

Hidden beneath the stainless steel caseback decorated with Hoermanseder’s overlapping straps and buckles is Rado’s automatic calibre R763. Equipped with three hands and date at 3 o’clock, the automatic movement has a power reserve of 80 hours.

The Rado Captain Cook x Marina Hoermanseder retails for CHF 2,600 or EUR 2,640. For more information, please visit Rado’s website.