Ash Barty reflects on her remarkable life in Rado’s Master of My Own Materials campaign while also unveiling the new Rado Centrix Diamonds.
Thanks to her passion, flair and drive, Ash Barty remains an inspirational figure not just in Australia but worldwide. The tennis superstar’s partnership with Rado started very early in her career and has remained with the brand since post-retirement.
During this time, Rado and the tennis world saw the talented young tennis player with focus and determination, bringing edge-of-the-seat excitement to every match, ultimately becoming world number one. This incredible achievement was topped only by her impeccable determination as she held onto the world number-one ranking for 114 weeks straight! Shortly after this, she announced her retirement from the sport in March 2022. No better way to finish a career than on the top spot.
Ash Barty’s extraordinary natural attributes – her skill, quiet confidence, and authenticity, resonate greatly with Rado, whose timepieces are defined by complementary characteristics: reliability, accuracy, and a relentless commitment to innovation. The love for the Tennis superstar from Rado isn’t one-way either. Ash Barty recalled recently that the first watch she ever bought after winning a tournament was a Rado Centrix.
“I fell in love with Rado timepieces when I was quite young and bought myself my first Centrix as a reward after winning a tournament. It felt elegant and precise, and I still love to wear it now. It brings back happy memories of all my hard work leading up to winning a tournament and being able to reward myself with something I’d always wanted. From there, our relationship has just grown.”
Ash Barty
Recently, Ash has been featured in Rado’s “Master of my own material” campaign, a video series in which the brand highlights some of its most celebrated ambassadors and tennis stars. In Ash Barty’s video, she talks about her life after tennis, including the thrill of helping young tennis players through the Ash Barty Foundation, along with what she describes as “absolutely the best and the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done”: motherhood.
During Ash Barty’s video, it can be seen that she is wearing the new Rado Centrix Diamonds timepiece. This timepiece is one of the latest in the Centrix collection, is elegant in design and luxurious in appearance, with a mixture of precious metals and also diamonds. It’s also quite fitting that Ash’s first luxury timepiece was a Centrix many years ago, with her now also donning the latest Centrix model from the brand for her ‘Master of my own material’ video.
Watch Advice recently had the chance to do a full, in-depth review of this latest Rado Centrix Automatic Diamonds. Check out the full review here, in which you can also see some great close-up shots of the watch!
This latest Centris Automatic Diamonds timepiece has been reworked by Rado technically and aesthetically. The 35mm stainless steel case has polished rose gold-coloured PVD-coated elements, which are carried on from the adjusted case lugs to the two-tone bracelet. The outer “links” of the bracelet are made from rose gold-coloured PVD-coated, while the middle links are white high-tech ceramic.
Matching the white ceramic finish of the bracelet is the beautifully lacquered silver faceted dial that’s adorned with an opulent 3D effect. The hands, date window frame, along with the signature Rado “Anchor” at the 12 o’clock position, are all rose gold coated, which is a great finishing touch to match with the rest of the rose gold elements on the timepiece. The luxury sparkle finish is added with the 12-hour indices being done with Top Wesselton full-cut diamonds totalling 0.051 carats.
Beating inside this elegant Centrix Automatic Diamonds is the Rado Calibre R763 movement. The R763 movement comes fitted with an antimagnetic Nivachron TM balance spring. The Swatch Group, in collaboration with Audemars Piguet, developed this new non-magnetic compensating alloy called Nivachron, with the aim of this balance spring design being to optimise the resistance of watch movements to magnetic fields.
The Nivachron TM balance spring also allows for improved precision and reliability of the movement. Overall, the Rado Calibre R763 movement operates at a frequency of 3Hz (21,600 VpH) while giving out a power reserve of 80 hours.
While Ash Barty has had her fair share of input into different watches from Rado, including the True Square X Ash Barty Limited Edition, the Centrix model will always remain her favourite due to its sentimental value. Now, she gets to enjoy the latest from the Centrix line, with the timepiece’s aesthetic beauty being equalled by its technical prowess.
Reference: R30037744
Specification
- Case: 35mm length, 11.1mm thickness.
- Case: Stainless steel / PVD with rose gold coating
- Dial: Silver lacquered facetted dial with an opulent 3D effect
- Hands/Indices: Rose gold coated hands, 12 diamonds for the hour indices totalling 0.051 carats.
- Crystal: Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on both sides
- Water resistance: 50m (5BAR)
- Movement: Self-winding mechanical movement Calibre R763 (Ref. 03.763.241)
- Movement frequency: 21,600 VpH (4Hz)
- Power reserve: 80 hours
- Bracelet/Strap: Bracelet made of polished rose-gold-coloured PVD-coated stainless steel with white high-tech ceramic middle links.
