I love getting to the bottom of a watch company. When writing about a company sometimes it takes quite a bit of research just to feel that click in my head. What has made this company last so long? What has this company focused on? What makes the company tick? What is its vision? Its obsession? For Rado it is its constant quest to create the hardest watch.
Rado has many interesting watches. Some I love, and some are ,well, interesting, but what has made Rado popular today is its incredible research in scratch resistance. Not only to the crystal, but to the watch in its entirety. I perused a couple of threads and what I discovered was that a Rado Watch has the potential to look as good as new even after ten years, which means they have a great resale value. Some guy even went as far as taking a key and trying to scratch the watch surface with not much luck. He then went outside and stomped on it, and managed a tiny scratch. Why someone would do this with a relatively expensive watch, I don't know. I suppose anything in the name of science. Okay lets get down to hard Rado facts.
Rado was founded in Switzerland in 1917, as strictly a watch movements manufacturer known as Schlup & Co. In 1957 Rado launched its first collection of wrist watches. In 1983 Rado became part of the Swatch Group. Rado manufacturers its watches utilizing non conventional material such as hard metal(tungsten and titanium carbide), ceramics, lanthanum and sapphire crystal (which is now used in most high end luxury watches). In 1960 Rado made its mark on the Watch World by producing the world's first scratch proof watch; the Rado Diastar. Rado kept experimenting with different hardy materials and in 1996 Rado unveiled its Vision 1 watch. The watch casing was made from crushed diamonds, so hard was the watch that it made its way into the Guinness Book of Records for the hardest watch ever.Rado still was obsessed with making a watch even harder. They turned to nanotechnology to perfect the utilisation of crushed diamond. They used a cutting edge process called CVD (Chemical Vapour Deposition) where a furnace capable of recreating an atmospheric pressure comparable to Jupiter was used. The combination of heat and pressure transformed the carbon into nanocrystalline diamond particles. With this groundbreaking material Rado was able to deposit an pure 100% diamond layer onto the hard metal watch components.
The result: The V10K watch. The V1oK watch is still available from Rado; however the materials used today are slightly different than the original V10K. The watch name stands for 10,000 Vickers- the ultimate value of hardness- the standard set for natural diamonds.
Rado current baby is the Ceramica Chronograph Limited Edition redesigned by Jasper Morrison, an award winning designer. 
Rado Cerix Ladies' Watch Black & Grey Ceramics Grey Dial Diamond Bezel R25473712
Rado is a company which constantly strives for perfection, in design, comfort and durability. To purchase a Rado is to purchase a watch that will shine year after year after year. Rado Watches are available for up to 73% off the list price from The Watchery. Choose between the eye twisiting Cerix with its fascinating shape or the glamorous ceramic Diaqueen Ladies Watch or the Plum Lantano.
