RADO r5.5 watch by jasper morrison

RADO 'r 5.5' watch by jasper morrison
image © designboom

'r5.5', the new RADO watch collection is named after its radius.
jasper morrison designed a new timepiece, the 'r5.5' chronograph for swiss watchmaker RADO.
the soft overall form with ceramic body is not only expression of essential and timeless design but
also of latest innovative high-tech experimentation. the material, HT ceramics, is extremely resistant,
it had been applied before in medicine, formula-1 motor racing, and on the heat shield that enabled the
space shuttle’s re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere. jasper morrison's 'r 5.5' chronograph
uses this exact high tech ceramic. the dial has a distinctive square silhouette with curved edges,
on which the details are highlighted in white through a slightly iridescent surface.
the 'r5.5' collection was first launched during the vienna design week in austria, and will be gradually
introduced to the world market.


'r5.5', the new RADO watch collection is named after its radius
image © designboom


a chronograph reduced to the essential and deliberately available only in one size
image © designboom


black color ceramic bracelet, flat sapphire crystal, steel crown with black color ceramic cap
image © designboom


case top black color ceramic polished or matt, black ceramic links polished or matt
image © designboom


black color titanium case back, case middle part in steel, with titanium screws.
scratchproof, watersealed, swissmade.
image © designboom


titanium 3-fold buckle
image © designboom

titanium 3-fold buckle
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the under side of the ceramic links bracelet, close-up
image © designboom


the under side of the ceramic links bracelet, close-up
image © designboom

RADO is a pioneer in the watchmaking industry by being the first to work with ceramic.
in the mid-1980s, RADO engineers discovered a substance that fulfilled requirements
of extreme hardness, durability, brilliance and skin-friendliness, that had not been used
in the watch industry before: high-tech ceramics. the raw material is ultra-fine zirconium-oxide
or titanium carbide powder with a grain size of about 1/1000th mm, approximately one fiftieth
of the diameter of a human hair. the powder is homogenized and granulated. a process known
as ceramic injection molding (CIM) enables RADO to produce well-defined and highly complex
shapes of bracelet elements. the pre-shaped forms are heated in a special furnace at a temperature
of 1,450ºC. this process is known as 'sintering' and results in the full density and absolute hardness
of all high-tech ceramic elements. depending on the surface desired, the individual elements
are either polished or given a satin finish.


movement activated through the 2 gently curved rectangular ceramic pushers: ADD and Split functions,
10 ½’’’ ETA 251.471 quartz chronograph, 23 jewels, small second counters, 30 min. and 60 seconds
center counter, date at 3 o'clock.
image courtesy RADO




'r5.5' is available in the following versions - with steel colored hands and counters, with minute track and
arabic numbers, and with second counters ...
image courtesy RADO



... with steel colored hands and red colored second counters, yellow colored hands and minute track with
arabic numbers, with yellow colored hands and second counters.
image courtesy RADO


jasper morrison at the rado 5.5 presentation in vienna
image courtesy RADO


jasper morrison wears one!

RADO
founded in 1917, RADO supplied precision movements to the watch industry before
presenting the first collection of finished watches, in 1957, under the brand name RADO.
in contrast to brands obsessed with the history, traditions and craft of watchmaking,
RADO has always looked to the future. RADO's visionary founders pioneered the use
of severalmaterials and production methods in the watch industry, and RADO has continued
to develop extraordinary high-tech materials ever since. known as the creator of such
design icons as the 'diastar' (the world's first scratchproof watch) and 'RADO ceramica',
RADO watches have earned more than 20 international design awards, and the high-tech
materials and contemporary designs remain a hallmark of the brand today.