Rado recently unveiled its 60th Anniversary Edition of the DiaStar Original watch in collaboration with the Swiss Designer Alfredo Haberli at the India Art Fair. The 38mm DiaStar Watch is a limited-edition watch that is available in 2 strap options and comes along with a case.
Alfredo Haberli, a Swiss product designer has been working in the industry for 16 long years and have worked with many renowned brands like Rado, BMW, BD Barcelona, and more. In an exclusive interview, Alfredo Haberli talks about designing watches, Rado DiaStar, challenges as a designer, and more. Excerpts from the interview:
How did you get interested in designing watches?
My enthusiasm for watches was awakened on my 18th birthday when my father gave me the watch his father had given him for his 18th birthday. That was the beginning of my fascination with watches and my passion for collecting them-preferably those from the late 1960s and early 70s. Since I opened my own design studio more than 30 years ago I haven’t kept up with the times, which means I don’t follow trends. But my never-ending dream was to design a watch.
Tell us something about the 60th-anniversary special watch.
The Rado DiaStar 60th Anniversary Edition was designed with the goal to revisit the model, with subtle but notable changes to mark its 60th Anniversary, to keep the strong personality of its predecessor, while also adding the best and latest innovations. At the heart of the watch lies an automatic movement, which ensures precision and accuracy in timekeeping. The geometry and shape of the watch case, combined with the unique CeramosTM material, make the watch lightweight, yet incredibly durable and scratch-resistant. The dial of the watch is metallic grey and circular brushed, with dot indexes filled with the natural colour Super-Lumi Nova. It also features a silver-coloured moving anchor symbol on a metallic grey background, a grey-printed Rado logo, and rhodium-colored hands. The sapphire crystal glass is not only scratch-resistant but also anti-reflective, making it easy to read the time in any lighting conditions. The Rado DiaStar 60th Anniversary Edition is a beautiful and functional watch that is sure to impress both watch enthusiasts and fashion-forward individuals alike.
What inspired you to design it?
In my work as a designer I’m always trying to combine tradition and innovation with joy and energy, and the anniversary edition is no exception. In essence, the point was to take the features of the original Diastar and give them a contemporary form. So there’s been a minor geometric adaptation of the case to make it look more elegant and lighter. The facetted cut of the watch glass was reinterpreted in a hexagonal form meant to highlight the 60th anniversary. The hands and date display were designed to look as modern and abstract as possible. With every product, I try to add value, which lies in the everyday use of the design. For the Diastar that means you have to be able to wear it on different occasions, so it comes with two alternative straps and a leather case that can be used as protection while travelling.
Tell us something about the design and materials of the watch.
The choice of the material for the case – hard metal before and now ceramosTM in the new collection-makes the watch personality indestructible. It is truly a watch for a lifetime. It comes in two strap options, satin brushed stainless steel and an additional textile strap. It is framed by a radial-brushed Ceramos™ coiffe with polished angles and detailing set over a matching, monochrome stainless-steel case and a sapphire crystal with hexagonal facets that mark six decades since the first Rado DiaStar.
The new standard DiaStar Original models feature a parallel-stripe-faceted sapphire crystal, polished and brushed H-link stainless-steel bracelet, and a range of different dial colours in blue, grey, and green.
What about the geometry and design of the dial?
The DiaStar Original 60-Year Anniversary Edition comes in a monochrome ceramic and stainless-steel case measuring 38 mm x 12.3 mm that frames a grey dial protected by a sapphire crystal with hexagonal facets, six like the decades since the original watch. The hands and hour markers are coloured with a touch of Super-Lumi Nova. It has a range of different dial colours in blue, grey, and green, all of them characterised by a brushed finish in two directions. Behind the solid case back, the timepiece beats at a frequency of 4Hz (28,800 vibrations per hour) and offers 80 hours of power reserve.
The specialty of the glass and the Scratchproof aspect of it. Is that right? Please elaborate.
What are the challenges you face as a designer?
Architecture is a matter of centimetres, industrial design deals in millimetres, and watch design takes every mu (μ)- every micron –into account. First, you have to be able to see that clearly, but we were quick to adapt our approach to this scale.