Romance, Roses, Rado
Rado True Round Open Heart
ROMANCE, ROSES, RADO
Roses are red... Rado’s 2025 Valentine’s Day campaign revolves around the powerful symbolism of the rose – a universal metaphor for love.
Evocative, contemporary styled imagery portrays two variants of the Rado True Round Open Heart against a dreamlike, rose-filled background, with close-up compositions styled around flowers delicately held by the hands of a couple. The lovers’ wrists sport the watch in its black and white variants – opposites attract, after all.
The rose – its shape, colour and aroma – are, of course, imbued with centuries of romance, and the unfurling of a rosebud into full bloom is a familiar metaphor for the path of true love. But the rose may also be said to be the floral embodiment of a Rado watch. Its slow, exquisite growth brings to mind the steady passage of time. The delicacy of its petals, and their elaborate arrangement on each stem, perhaps a reference to the intricacy of the automatic watch movement. And the petals’ organic shape and innate softness an analogy for the feel of high-tech ceramic against the skin.
The beating heart of passion
The very name of the Rado True Round Open Heart – referencing the cutout dial that reveals the movement’s inner workings – suggests it’s time for romance. An open heart might be said to be a prerequisite for love: only by opening your heart to someone else will they reciprocate… Through the dial cutout, the eye is naturally drawn to the top of the dial and the watch’s pulsing balance spring. Could this represent the beating heart of passion?
In Rado’s campaign, love is clearly in the air as roses, then fingertips, are delicately caressed, before the couple’s hands are finally intertwined – the final view is of their wrists, both wearing Rado True Round Open Heart timepieces, conjoined in silhouette.
A story of devotion
As well as the symbolism of the Rado True Round Open Heart, the construction of the watch tells a story of devotion. Devotion to materials, through the organic curves of the high-tech ceramic monobloc case and bracelet – a material that’s not only unbelievably durable and scratch-resistant, but which feels like an extension of your body. And devotion to the exquisite function of the Rado calibre R734 automatic movement that you glimpsed through the cutout.
That balance spring, by the way, is constructed from antimagnetic Nivachron™ for ultimate precision, the sunray guilloche finish on the plate offers extra tantalising detail, and an 80-hour power reserve means the timepiece remains accurate even when you set it down to focus elsewhere. Both watches feature rose-gold-coloured hands and indexes, alongside the iconic Rado moving anchor, against a sunray dial and beneath a curved sapphire crystal.
All in all, the Rado True Round Open Heart is a stunning, contemporary expression of the watchmaker’s expertise and channels just the right message to convey love and desire. Which is why such a beautiful timepiece from the Master of Materials makes a delightful gift on Valentine’s Day.
Why High-Tech Ceramic? – Because it feels like nothing else…
This is exactly what Rado high-tech ceramic is all about. It's why we say, "Feel it." The ancient origins of its base material render its durability almost inevitable, but it is indeed a great testimonial to the know-how and experience of the "Master of Materials" that it has proven to be true. High-tech ceramic is a beautifully light substance, and one that is also magnificently scratch-resistant.
In itself, all that might be enough qualities to love, in one exceptional material, but surprisingly, it doesn't stop there. Not only is ceramic durable and impervious to almost everything, it has a rare silkiness to the touch that makes for exquisite comfort against the skin. Place it over a human wrist — fine, large, gentle or rugged, and it feels like it was made to be there — since forever. This is of course particularly true for timepieces making use of ceramic elements also in their bracelet, where the sensory experience becomes total and absolutely unforgettable.
About High-Tech Ceramic
Chronologically-speaking, high-tech ceramic was first introduced by Rado in 1986. Its sensuous feel, durability, scratch resistance and surprising light weight quickly conquered the hearts of watch enthusiasts the world over. Though related in some respects to more common forms of ceramics we all know, high-tech ceramic is truly a product of advanced science. Under highly exacting conditions, extremely pure and finely calibrated powders of zirconium oxide with perfectly uniform grain sizes, are shaped into a particular form then baked at high temperature to create an object or a watch case of the desired dimensions and properties. New methods developed by Rado involve the use of a plastic carrier medium mixed with the mineral powders, to allow injection into precision moulds at pressures around 1000 bar. Once cooled, the pieces are removed from their parent mould and the carrier agent dissolved in a standard chemical solvent process, prior to a final sintering phase at 1450°C. This precisely controlled sintering is what makes possible the extraordinary level of full density and hardness of High-Tech Ceramic, over regular ceramic. The procedure is true rocket science territory, as the dimensions of the first moulded elements shrink during sintering; the particles tighten up as porosity disappears and precise calculations must take into account this important change of around 25% in the dimensions. The reward is a case that now stands a 1,250 on the Vickers scale and is ready for final diamond-tool machining and finishing, into an impressive Rado timepiece.