The secret of (only) one shade of grey - the Rado HyperChrome Touch Dual Timer

Sep 04, 2014,07:16 AM
 

Electronic watches are usually not discussed here that much, but every once in a while there is such an interesting concept on the market that we cannot just go simply past it. This one is one such example, the Rado HyperChrome Touch Dual Timer:




With this timepiece the usually innovative brand has accomplished the feat of comprehensive rethinking of a watch's internal and external components. Not that much in terms of design (which is quite classic as far as Rado is concerned), but more so in terms of functionality and materials.

Let's go through this one aspect after the other:

1.) Design:
The HyperChrome comes in a very attractive round design and is crafted from lightweight ceramics (more further below). The theme for a good reason in grey (black and white versions exist as well) of which Rado offers two different versions: a 'glossy' variant with a 'two-tone' dial featuring rose gold indices on an anthracite dial...



... as well as a 'stealth' version with matte case and silver indices on a slightly more brownish tinted dial. This latter watch offer a lot in terms of chatoyant colour variation:





In the remainder of the article I present both without particular reference to a specific model.

In both cases (pun intended ;-)) the dial is - quite unusual in today's watch landscape - a rather simple affair doing well with one layer but instead with accentuated contrasts in terms of sharply edged shapes and reflections. Glossy:





And matte:





The final effect is that the same watch can be bold and subtle almost at the same time:











Another watch, another try: dreamy...



... strong-minded... 



... or mystical? One watch suffices!




2.) Functionality:
Strikingly Rado did away with the crown. This is not their first watch like this, but the brand has devised a compelling way of setting and operating the timepiece without. Certainly, the design benefits (in this case (again, the pun...)):



Indeed, this watch offers a lot (not only) for the seasoned traveller. Its an extremely versatile 2-timezone watch which transposes the 'iPhonic' touch control to a display-less analogue watch:

"The HyperChrome Touch Dual Timer is the first ceramic touch watch with two time zones. It displays one on the main dial and the second on a smaller one at 6 o’clock. The magic of touch lets you change the time with just the sweep of a finger or even swap the time zones and watch the hours and minutes fly by." [Rado Press Text]

Instead of wasting much of my own words, I asked (former) Rado Head of PR Carrie Campbell to explain the watch to our audience:



3.) Materials:
This year Rado also introduces brand new grey high-tech ceramic. This material has the same properties as black or white high-tech ceramic but in a cool grey colour which is difficult to reproduce consistently. But thanks to Rado’s high-tech ceramic know-how they have achieved to recreate only one shade of grey.




Compared to the glossy ones, the matte watch case leaves the assembly line only after an additional step of applying a matte surface structure on the polished cases!



The material is extremely scratch resistant, light and touch. Which again makes the timepiece a great travel companion particularly if your job (like mine) gets you regularly off the creature-comfort catering tracks! Rado recognised this and used the new high-tech ceramics also for the bracelet. first the matte case...








... then the shiny one:



This of course brings me directly to the (for many) most important question: how does it wear on the wrist? Well, this is not your 'usual' Breguet, Lange or Vacherin Constantin, price prohibits. Technology prohibits. But still - this one has quite some charm! Especially the glossy version is imbued with a special magic which makes excellent use of the specific characteristics of the new proprietary material. It has a lot of life and elegance in it and does not look too technical. The bracelet in there same material adds an almost jewellery like drama to the package:




The matte model for me lacks a bit of spice for me, but I can imagine the timepiece well on a younger (or sportier) wrist. It can also well act as the calming influence if you have a more exuberant attire.






So, some quite subtle modifications can make the watch appear as additional spice or as the relaxing detail on your outfit. This I think is quite remarkable!


Bottom line:
The wearing experience described above already hints at a dilemma: Now for us watch aficionados the answer is as tricky one and being fully honest requires the not easy exercise of some self-hypnotics: We have to forget for a mo(ve)ment that the watch is battery driven and concentrate on its merits! Here we have the following boxes checked quickly:

- scratch resistance thanks to a new high-tech material
- innovative operation: touch the sides to set time & change time zone magically 'on the fly'
- extremely light yet likewise robust
- uniquely mystic colours exclusively achieved by Rado

Together that's a lot of innovation and uniqueness in a rather unassuming package. More than meets the eye I am tempted to say! May own complaint is the reliance on finite and (lost likely) fossile power: the battery! If Rado could advance further and extend the watch into a self-powerred (solar, motional energy, ...) device I would call it perfect!



Travel in style!

Thanks for reading,
Magnus

 
This message has been edited by Ornatus-Mundi on 2014-09-03 14:20:48

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