REVOLUTION_International_Vol 54

THE ‘GHOST
CAPTAIN’
RETURNS
The sequel to our 2019 partnership with Rado is here and
it’s bigger and bolder.
WORDS DARREN HO
STYLING YONG WEIJIAN
When the CEO of Rado, Matthias Breschan, first unveiled the revived
Captain Cook to us back in early 2017, we were really smitten with it.
Rado had taken much care with the revival, delivering a well-built,
historically accurate wristwatch with modern fixtures and fittings, drawing us
back to the early days of diving instruments. The sunray-brushed brown dial that
mimicked a tropicalized dial of old and vintage-lumed indexes and hands gave
it a distinguished attitude that was complemented with the modern vibes of a
beautiful suede leather strap and sharp polished angles on the case.
As variations of the original timepiece spun off the HyperChrome Captain
Cook Automatic, we were ourselves motivated to collaborate with the brand on a
version of the watch. The idea of a “ghosted” bezel, essentially one that had been
so worn by sunlight and ultraviolet rays that it was nearly invisible, had been on
our minds, and that became the starting point of our Rado and Revolution collab
model. However, as Breschan had told us before, creating specific pigment colors
for a ceramic depends on the use of certain metal oxides, and getting the right
shade of gray for a near-invisible ceramic was a challenge. Our final decision
was to create a seemingly faded gray, one that would retain its appearance for all
eternity on such a watch.
The Rado x The Rake & Revolution HyperChrome Captain Cook Automatic
“Ghost Captain” ran in a small limited number and the interest and response
from our buyers impressed us. But in the process of garnering feedback, many
pointed out that at 37mm, the watch is a petite one for the 21st century. It’s clear
that Rado had anticipated this as they themselves introduced a larger model of
the Captain Cook together with a revival of the Mk II last year. Both models found
attention among Rado’s fans, particularly as the brand had opted for a series of
vivid colored models in marine blue and green (their color of the year). That was
around the time when they asked if we would be interested in working on a larger
edition of the Captain Cook, to which we enthusiastically agreed.
84 THE MODERNIST