This Legendary Dive Watch Isn’t Letting a Modern Build Disrupt Its Classic Look

Rado has been building toward this watch for decades, and now that it’s here, the legendary Captain Cook has achieved its final form.

The Captain Cook was introduced in 1962 and has been Rado’s most recognizable watch ever since. When the dive watch line was revived in 2017, it three-handedly — wink, wink — helped reinvigorate the brand.

Rado

Even though the Swiss watchmaker has been using its proprietary High-Tech Ceramic since 1986, it wasn’t applied to the ol’ Captain until 2021. A year later, the iconic dive watch series got its first chronograph complication.

Rado has finally combined all those elements in the new Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic Chronograph. Although it is the most advanced iteration yet, it retains the iconic design elements from the 1960s.

Rado

The watch is being launched with two color options, including the black ceramic with gold-toned detailing that has graced every High-Tech Ceramic Captain Cook design. The other color is an interesting use of ceramic that ditches the standard black or bold coloring for a slate gray that mimics brushed steel.

Pulling rank

The original Captain Cook was a modest 37mm diver following in the wake of early 1960s legends like the Rolex Submariner and Omega Seamaster 300. It established the visual framework that Rado has remained faithful to ever since.

Rado

When the line was relaunched in 2017, it was scaled up to a 42mm case, with the chronograph complication adding another millimeter to the diameter. This new High-Tech Ceramic update copies all the specs of its steel predecessor and adds a 12-hour counter to the dial.

The dial is instantly distinguishable as a Captain Cook thanks to the tell-tale hour and minute hands. The standard harpoon second hand is replaced with a needle chronograph seconds counter, and the running seconds are displayed on a sub-dial at three o’clock.

Elapsed minutes are registered on the 30-minute dial at nine o’clock, and elapsed hours are registered on a 12-hour dial at six o’clock. All three chronograph hands are tipped with red to differentiate them from the running time.

Rado

The chronograph is operated with screw-down pushers flanking the screw-down crown. While the screw-down feature complicates things, it is necessary to ensure the 300m water resistance.

Fit for service

Watch brands tend to emphasize the use of ceramics with bold colors or stick to the default black, which Rado has done with previous Captain Cook references, but this new chronograph does something intriguingly counterintuitive.

Rado

Breezing over the black and gold model that follows Rado’s standard High-Tech Ceramic color scheme, the green dial alternative offers a treat for long-time Captain Cook fans.

The ceramic is colored and finished to resemble brushed steel, retaining the dive watch’s classic look while improving weight and durability. It is topped off with the green dial and bezel that has been the signature color of the Captain Cook collection since its return.

Rado

Another interesting wrinkle of the newest Captain Cook is that it runs on the same movement as previous diver chronographs in the collection, but it takes advantage of the R801’s hour counter option that was omitted from the steel versions.

Rado

Rado offers plenty of innovative modern watch designs, but it also does an excellent job of preserving the appearance of watches like the Captain Cook and Golden Horse that fans love exactly as they are.

Taking the initiative to develop a ceramic that emulates brushed steel so that it looks like a classic Captain Cook dive watch is the kind of fan service that makes Rado such a beloved watch brand.

Availability and pricing

The Rado Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic Chronograph is available now from Rado for $6,200.

Rado

Rado Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic Chronograph

Specs

Case Size	43mm
Movement	Rado caliber R801 auotmatic
Water Resistance	300m

• $6,200 at Rado

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