In Partnership: Rado gives the Captain Cook a facelift with the all-new Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic in Olive Green
Rado is known for being a Master of Materials, and this is the case when it comes to the new Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic Skeleton. The brand has recently released a new take on its successful Captain Cook line, one that I’m partial to as I feel it captures that outdoors and adventurous spirit I love in sports watches.
For this new release, Rado has chosen a subtle Olive green colour to craft their High-Tech Ceramic case in, with either your choice of a full ceramic bracelet or olive rubber strap. Rado has elevated the piece and given the watch accents of rose gold around the bezel, on the crown and hands and indices. It’s not the first time Rado has done this, as this is essentially the sequel to the Captain Cook Plasma High-Tech Ceramic Skeleton the brand released last year. This time around, the watch is a little more subtle and understated and drives back to the spirit of exploration that is the Captain Cook collection.
Done in a matte olive green, the colour is subdued enough to be versatile and takes on darker tones in lower light settings, but in the sun, the green comes out a lot more and gives the piece more vibrance. On the ceramic bracelet, this is amplified somewhat, but on the rubber, it tones it down slightly for a sportier look.
Rado has offset the olive green with a Rose Gold PVD coating on the crown, the bezel knurling and the hands and indices, which is needed as the watch would be much too monochromatic, not to mention a lack of style cues here. It does elevate the look of the piece well and isn’t too over the top – restraint is always nice!
The dial is skeletonized, like its predecessor and shows the R808 Automatic movement nicely dial side. Rado’s use of brush finishes on the movement and hands gives the piece a more industrial look, which suits the style of the piece well, and the golden accents on the hands, indices and some of the bridges break up the dial – as does the now iconic Rado moving-anchor symbol. Rado has also tinted the crystal in a slight grey colour which helps the muted tones as well as cutting down additional glare, allowing the movement to be seen better from all angles.
Rado has used the R808 automatic movement in this piece, which gives the Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic Skeleton 80 hours of power reserve, and is equipped with a Nivachron hairspring which allows the watch to be effectively anti-magnetic and also highly shock resistant. To ensure its accuracy, Rado has tested the Captain Cook in 5 positions, ensuring the watch runs as it should. And you can see it ticking away both dial side and flipping the piece over via the see-through caseback flanked by circular brushed titanium – showcasing the movement and anchor-shaped winding rotor.
As mentioned at the start of the article, the new Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic Skeleton comes in a choice of a full colour matched ceramic bracelet with a double folding clasp, or an olive-coloured rubber strap with a deployant clasp made of steel for the inner, and the outer of the clasp is made from the same olive High-Tech Ceramic offset with rose gold coloured push buttons. The rubber does make it the more sportier combination of the two, however, the ceramic bracelet is comfortable and curves to the wrist and gives the watch a slightly different presence. Something I’ll go into more detail later in our Hands-On Review next month.
Initial Thoughts
I’ll reserve my full thoughts on this for the Hands-On Review, after all, we can’t give all the juicy details away at once! But having had the Rado Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic Skeleton for a little bit, I can safely say that it stays true to the Rado DNA and further to this, the Captain Cook collection.
At 43mm and 14.6mm thick, it bridges the gap between smaller and larger pieces, however, the 49.8mm lug-to-lug means it wears slightly smaller and is more conforming to the wrist. The Plasma Skeleton released last year did have polished elements to the bracelet, which gave that particular piece a less sporty look, even though it was in the grey “Plasma” Ceramic, however with this latest release, Rado has taken the Captain Cook back to its roots and stayed true to the sporty, outdoor and adventure seeking piece that is the Rado Captain Cook.
Reference: R32150162 (Ceramic) / R32150168 (Rubber)
Specifications:
- Case: 43mm, 49.8mm lug-to-lug and thickness of 14.6mm
- Case: Matt olive-green high-tech ceramic case, monobloc construction Rose-gold-coloured PVD coated stainless-steel turning bezel with a matt olive-green high-tech ceramic insert with engraved white lacquered numbers, markers and triangle in white Super- LumiNova®
- Dial: Brushed grey with Brushed rose-gold-coloured applied indices with white Super-LumiNova® and grey-tinted sapphire crystal
- Crystal: Glass-box style sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating
- Water resistance: 300m (30 Bar)
- Movement: Calibre R808 Automatic movement with Nivachron Hairspring. Pivoting on 25 jewels.
- Power reserve: 80 hours
- Bracelet: Olive High-Tech Ceramic bracelet with double folding clasp or Olive green rubber strap with push-button folding clasp.
Australian Recommended Retail Price: A$7,450 on Ceramic or A$6,900 on Rubber
Availability: Available now via Rado authorised dealers or online at rado.com
This article was written as part of a commercial partnership with Rado. Watch Advice has commercial partners that work with us, however, we will never alter our editorial opinion on these pieces, a fact that is clearly communicated to the brands when entering into a commercial arrangement. At Watch Advice, we categorically do not sell outcomes or our editorial integrity. We will never say a watch is good when it’s not.
