Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic Chronograph

PHENOMENALLY VERSATILE, POWERFULLY BLUE

Up to the task during aquatic exploits, adrenaline-fuelled adventures and epic on-court battles. Plus, equally at home in business meetings, on date night, and as an accessory to life’s most glamorous occasions. Yes, the Rado Captain Cook Chronograph in high-tech ceramic is a timepiece that refuses to be typecast. Balancing rugged performance credentials, retro details, modern materials and contemporary style, this is a carefully curated heir to decades of Captain Cook watchmaking heritage – a range first launched in 1962 – with a beguiling dark blue dial and matching ceramic bezel now debuting on a chronograph.

Boundary defying

The piece joins an existing line-up of two Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic Chronographs, both launched in 2025: one, an alluring masterpiece in black with rose gold-coloured embellishments, the other pairing a dark green dial and bezel against a sleek plasma case and bracelet, with stainless steel detailing. But this sultry blue hue brings something new to the table. Its intrigue is in its very darkness. Like ocean waters encountered by only the boldest of divers, or the sky at first light, with its promise of exhilarating new adventures, it is a powerful colour that seems to straddle different realms. In the dial, it discreetly reflects light and luxury, while its polished high-tech ceramic bezel exudes craftsmanship and poise. In combination with a high-tech ceramic case and bracelet in plasma, and rose gold detailing, it all makes for a remarkably sophisticated colourway. That lends the watch a boundary-defying, dynamic character. Depending on context and surroundings, one minute it looks innately sporty, the next it’s unmistakably stylish. (And somehow, it’s both of those things, all at once).

A story of precision

If that all feels focused on aesthetics, let’s dig a little deeper. This is, after all, a watch featuring a complication created for pulse-raising pursuits, where precision is essential. Chunky hour and minute hands point to purposeful indices, all finished with white Super-LumiNova® – leaving no room for ambiguity. The second hand in the main dial, and those on the chronograph’s minute- and hourcounter subdials, feature a painted red tip – a distinctly retro touch that’s a design staple in watches of this nature. Its box-shaped sapphire crystal boasts an anti-reflective coating on both faces – enhancing legibility. And its chronograph pushers are reassuringly substantial, making stop/start/reset commands decisive and intuitive – never fiddly. The Captain Cook Chronograph in high-tech ceramic is powered by a Rado calibre R801 automatic movement, assembled with 37 jewels and boasting a 59-hour power reserve. With an antimagnetic Nivachron™ hairspring, tested in five positions, wearers can trust in its accuracy.

Ruggedised style

It’s certainly built for hard knocks. High-tech ceramic is harder than steel and impervious to scratches. And by the way, its plasma appearance is no surface finish, but runs right through the entire material, having been ‘baked in’ at 1,450°C. It makes for an intriguing depth of metallic grey that’s almost pearlescent – beautiful to photograph, and even better in the flesh. As a watch created with exhilaration in mind, it goes without saying that it’s water resistant to 30 bar (or 300 metres).

Which takes us to how it feels. Because high-tech ceramic is remarkably comfortable, quickly adapting to match the temperature of the wearer’s skin, it becomes almost an extension of their body. Just one more reason Rado is known as the Master of Materials. In this case, a fluid-like bracelet follows the contours of the wrist, thanks to matt plasma high-tech ceramic outer links and polished plasma high-tech ceramic middle links.

As part of a range of three highly adaptable timepieces, designed as much for the great outdoors as for the urban environment, the Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic Chronograph is an impressively engineered chameleon.

About high-tech ceramic

High-tech ceramic truly embodies Rado’s experience and status as Master of Materials. Not only is it a material of astonishing durability, with remarkable scratch-resistant characteristics, but it is also beautifully light and silky to touch, with the ability to quickly match a wearer’s body temperature, so it feels like an extension of themselves. That's why we say, ‘Feel it!’ High-tech ceramic was first introduced by Rado in 1986 following extensive research and development, and can only be produced under exacting conditions. The process starts with extremely pure and finely calibrated mineral powders of zirconium oxide, which are mixed with a specially developed plastic carrier medium and injected into precision moulds at pressures of around 1,000 bar. The moulds are baked, then allowed to cool and the plastic carrier agent dissolved chemically. The ceramic forms are then heated again, this time to 1,450°C. This precisely controlled sintering stage causes powdered particles to fuse together, resulting in a density and hardness that far exceeds regular ceramic. The reward is a material that stands at 1,250 on the Vickers scale and which can be machined and finished, using diamond tools, ready to be assembled into a Rado timepiece.

Rado’s pioneering plasma high-tech ceramic combines the qualities of high-tech ceramic with the unique shine of metal – without using metal. This unique process enriches completely finished white high-tech ceramic elements with carbon, giving them a metallic finish. They can have a polished, brushed or matt surface, which allows for a wide variety of looks. Such a complex material requires all the ingenuity that led to the development of high-tech ceramic along with some essential extra steps.