The Rado True Phospho closes the circle of a project that has seen Rado collaborate with some of the most famous European designers. The trio of designers, who created "Big Game" – a practice that offers its expertise in different fields ranging from fashion to the sector of furniture – has finally entered the world of watch-making, thanks to the Swiss brand's desire to constantly go beyond the limits of its sector and turn its watches into trendy products.
If the Rado True Stratum, probably my favorite version of a Rado True limited edition, is the triumph, almost the exasperation of the geometric concept of a Rado True, the trio of creative people behind Big Game has acted differently by creating an unusual honeycomb pattern dial and by playing on empty and full spaces to outline the personality of their interpretation of the Rado True.
In doing so, the once full dial becomes "skeletonized" and, at the four cardinal points, the holes have been filled with SuperLuminova®; a completely different approach from that conceived for the Rado True Stratum, whose inspiring concept was to create a sort of monolithic and three-dimensional, almost hypnotic object.
It would be more correct to define it as a "transparency" rather than a "skeleton"; the choice to fill some of the hexagons with SuperLuminova® puts both the full and empty space on a single plane; the indices are not applied but are rather part of the dial. The same technique was used on the case-back; the automatic caliber is transparent (not fully visible) and this choice indicates the direction taken by Augustin Scott de Martinville, Grégoire Jeanmonod and Elric Petit when they conceived the Rado True Phospho.
The ETA caliber with its 11 and 1/2 lines becomes part of the design but it is not a central element; the Rado True Phospho seems partly inspired by those concepts already developed by Rado on its True Automatic Open Heart. One way, the one chosen by Big Game, to differently celebrate the concept of innovation announced several times by Rado's CEO, where the relentless research for new materials has been coupled by years of continuous efforts to convey the concept of innovation through a more sophisticated design.
Finally, on a closer inspection, the dial creates a sense of discontinuity with the monolithic 40mm high-tech black ceramic case, the taut lines of the lugs alternate with the dial that seems to express a modern version of Pointillism. The retail price of one of these 1003 True Phospho Rado timepieces? 2,280€. If you are wondering why the pieces released are just 1003, it is easy to say; each one of the three designers wanted a watch for himself and, I reckon that they chose the first three samples of the series!
(Photo credit: Horbiter®'s proprietary photo-shooting)
Gaetano C @Horbiter®
