The Rado Captain Cook x Marina Hoermanseder Heartbeat is the latest timepiece from the watchmaking company best known for its pioneering use of materials.
Capitalising on the brand’s willingness to push design boundaries, the new watch was made in collaboration with designer Marina Hoermanseder, and is said to be a manifestation of the cool underground vibe of post-Cold War Berlin.
The Rado Captain Cook collection is one of the biggest and most loved within the brand’s portfolio. Despite debuting exactly 60 years ago, the model has retained all of its design signatures and, perhaps because of this, has become a prize among collectors.
Launched in 1962, and instantly recognisable thanks to its spinning anchor at 12 o’clock, the watch was named for the British explorer, James Cook. Production of the model ceased in 1968, but it resurfaced in 2017, much to the delight of watch enthusiasts globally.
The collection has since gone from strength to strength and exists in several sizes and different materials including high-tech ceramic and bronze.
In the past five years, the Captain Cook has been subject to some interesting partnerships, the latest being with previous collaborator Hoermanseder. The award winning French-Austrian designer, who once interned at Alexander McQueen and today dresses celebrities including Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Kylie Jenner and Nicki Minaj.
Currently residing in Berlin, Hoermanseder has taken inspiration for the watch from her home city’s wild musical days that started with punk rock in the 1970s, and led to the Kreuzberg district becoming the beating heart of European artistic creativity in the 1990s.
The new version of the Captain Cook features a rainbow of precious stones, PVD-finishing and unique interchangeable straps created by Hoermanseder. The playful seconds hand reflects the heartbeat of the self-winding movement within (hence the name) and takes the form of both an ECG reading and Marina’s signature.
Housed in a 36mm steel case treated with a yellow-coloured PVD finish to match the bracelet, the watch features a rotating bezel with a white, high-tech ceramic insert with laser-engraved, gold-coloured markers. The white dial has a gold chapter ring and rotating anchor and eight rainbow-coloured stones acting as indices. The gold hour and minute hands are filled with white Super-LumiNova.
Within the case, which is water-resistant to 100 metres, is a Rado R763 automatic movement with anti-magnetic Nivachron hairspring and 80 hours of power reserve.
The watch is supplied with three different straps – a bead of rice bracelet with polished and brushed, yellow-gold-coloured PVD finish, an embossed leather NATO-style, double-tour strap and a similarly embossed, pin and buckle leather strap.
