Rado unveils new Powder Injection Moulded Ceramica designed by Konstantin Grcic
December 7, 2016
Rado’s new Ceramica watch designed by internationally renowned industrial designer Konstantin Grcic
Luxury watchmaker Rado, based in Lengnau, Switzerland, and part of the Swatch Group, celebrated another milestone during this year’s edition of Vienna Design Week held in early October 2016, with the launch of the new Rado Ceramica designed by internationally renowned industrial designer Konstantin Grcic. Grcic’s new design gives the watch a contemporary look while retaining the geometric shape for which the original Ceramica, first introduced in 1990, was known.
Like the original upon which it is based, the new Rado Ceramica is a high-tech ceramic watch manufactured by Ceramic Injection Moulding using ultra-fine zirconium-oxide powder mixed with colouring pigments and binder to create a granulated feedstock. This feedstock is then injection moulded at high pressure prior to debinding, sintering and a lengthy finished process in order to achieve the desired surface finish. Rado was a pioneer in the use of CIM for watch applications.
The linear bracelet silhouette of the original has evolved into a more classic watch shape, with the gently curved edges of the monobloc case being a design cue. Advances in technology, together with Grcic’s vision, stated Rado, have given rise to this combination of form and material which can be found in the eleven models that make up the new Ceramica collection.
Selected models of the new Ceramica, previously best known for their high gloss iteration, now come in a matt finish. “In my opinion, the matt finish brings out the form of the watch much stronger,” stated Grcic.
