After 15 years working in and writing about menswear, few occurrences are more satisfying than watching a personal preference become a full-blown trend.
In 2025, I’ve had the pleasure of observing and covering average watch case sizes shrink below 40mm.
Making the feeling a bit sweeter, one of my favorite dive watches has officially joined the movement.
After teasing a 39mm case with a limited-edition reference earlier this summer, Rado has now released the first regular production Captain Cook 39mm with two eye-catching dials.
Both have fumé gradient dials inspired by the ocean. One transitions from a silver center to sky blue, like tropical waters, and the other from a turquoise center to black, like polar seas.
Aside from the size, the new Captains match the existing standard 42mm references with key details like a concave ceramic bezel insert, rhodium-plated indices, a “beads-of-rice” steel bracelet and the rotating anchor logo on the dial.
