DESIGNER’S TOUCH
Three designers reinterpret the Rado True Thinline
TRUE THINLINE DEEP WEB
Belgian-based Austrian fashion designer Flora Miranda applied her unique vision to the True Thinline as part of the 2019 Rado Designer Series. Using her True Thinline as a blank canvas for self-expression, Flora created the dream-like Deep Web in polished black hightech ceramic, limited to 1,001 pieces. Under the sapphire crystal, two transparent discs sit on top of one another, each with a metallic-coloured web pattern. As the discs overlap, an illusion of hands is created, offering a truly futuristic and ethereal approach to telling the time.
Unlike the other models in the series, the Deep Web is powered by an automatic movement, which was required to ensure there is enough momentum to power the overlapping discs that sit under the box-shaped sapphire crystal. On the collaboration with Miranda, Rado CEO Matthias Breschan said, “Flora first came to our attention when she won the Rado Star Prize Austria 2017. We knew her futuristic and disruptive approach to fashion design would take her far. The balance of light and dark in her design presented technical challenges but we knew that overcoming them to create Deep Web would result in a design that is immediate, compelling and totally timeless in its appeal.”
TRUE THINLINE GEM
With her European flair, natural positivity and curiosity for new things, Spanish designer Inma Bermudez is known for creating interesting versions of everyday objects. In 2019, she worked with Rado to create her first wristwatch. With expertise in crafting objects from delicate porcelain, working with Rado’s super hard high-tech materials was a real challenge for
Inma. The result, however, is nothing less than a “Gem” of a watch, a limited edition of 1,001 pieces in pure white high-tech ceramic.
Based on the idea of using signature Rado materials to create a twist on classic jewellery design that looks super modern as well as enduring, Gem combines facetted sapphire crystal cut to look like an enormous diamond with a textured relief dial that recalls the many objects Inma has crafted in porcelain, allowing a unique play of light absorption, reflection and refraction to create the illusion of depth and thickness in the brand’s ground-breaking thinnest watch (5mm). Adding to the depth is the application of 12 tiny diamonds at the outer edges of the dial as well as subtle gold colour detailing that draws the eye and adds warmth to the Gem’s icy, porcelain look.
Impressed by the design, Breschan said, “Inma has brought a unique lightness and optimism to the True Thinline as well as conveying hardness, depth and durability through her choice of jewel motif. It has the eternal feel of a diamond and the long-lasting appeal of a classic idea.”
TRUE THINLINE MY BIRD
Known for her design collaborations involving materials such as silk and fine bone china, with a focus on colour and symbolism, Evgenia Miro created My Bird with the intention of conveying a sense of delicacy, sophistication and wisdom. According to the designer, “In time, nothing ever stays the same. Nothing is static. Everything’s in flux. This idea inspired the image of a bird feather ‒ as a symbol of lightness and freedom. The hightech ceramic used for the watch is very light but also extremely hard and durable. It looks delicate but is constructed in a confident way.”
The drawing of a feather smoothly flows from the dial onto the ceramic bracelet, which heightens the sense of movement, and the bird depicted on the reverse side is like a little secret. The delicate pattern is applied to the dial using an engraving technique on the high-tech ceramic, which glimmers and changes its look depending on the lighting. Miro added to the dial’s composition a diagonal line drawn from 1 o’clock to 7 o’clock based on the philosophy that over the course of a day, the period from 1pm to 7pm tends to be the most productive.