In what has become a longstanding wedding tradition, a bride — in response to her engagement jewelry— often gifts the groom a watch as a token of her love and a keepsake for their special day. Today’s modern couples, however, are creating new traditions, namely honoring weddings by gifting each other coordinating watches heavy with emotional symbolism.
Rado is the perfect brand to embody this new watch-gifting tradition. Designed as the authentic “couples watch,” Rado’s Open Heart collections feature shapes, sizes and colors and appeal to both genders. Paired as a black and white duo, they might evoke a tuxedo and white wedding gown, but these “couples watches” transcend weddings. They can be dually gifted for an anniversary, long-lasting partnership or other significant couple’s life event, or they can be gifted to the couple by friends or family members to become a cherished family heirloom passed down through generations.
The collection holds compositional and visual symbolism as well. Comprised from Rado’s signature high-tech ceramic and accented with everlasting diamond markers, the Open Heart watches are engineered to last a lifetime, just like love. Since its first launch in 1957, Rado has long been known as the Master of Materials, and high-tech ceramic stands the test of time among luxury watchmaking materials for its remarkable marriage of lightness, hardness and scratch resistance. Hypoallergenic, the watches fit snugly around the wrist for an incomparable sense of comfort.
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Metaphorically, the Open Heart design represents long-lasting unions as well. Whether in round or square styles, the monobloc case and open dial denotes the deepness of a relationship, where both parties know each other’s inner workings like their own. The dial cutout is also worthy of special attention. Boldly offset near the center of the dial is a creatively crafted “8,” a figure considered to be the most fortuitous of all numbers in some parts of the world. Viewed from another angle, the cutout forms the symbol for infinity, which expresses the endlessness of time and all things eternal.
The latest four True Round Open Heart models or two True Square Open Heart models from their core collection offer a beautiful way to symbolize the start of a couple’s journey together and create a lasting memory of their special day, rather than sticking to the traditional gender-specific gifts.
The True Round models feature a curved sapphire crystal, rose gold index with white Super-LumiNova® automatic, calibre R734 with 80-hour power reserve, antimagnetic Nivachron™ hairspring, open heart with circular grain decoration and Côte de Genève movement holder. Square styles feature the same movement, with style updates like a flat sapphire crystal and option for 12 Jubilé diamond markers (combined carat weight of 0.096). All carry the high-tech ceramic material over to the crown with a sandblasted titanium case back fitted with a sapphire crystal and are highlighted by Rado’s distinctive moving anchor symbol.
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The Rado True Round Open Heart Limited Edition (marked 1 to 888) takes design one step further, with a “dichroic effect” on the sapphire crystal that makes the dial colors shift alluringly.
To add to the keepsake value, Rado offers watch personalization. Couples can engrave initials, a beautiful memory, a declaration of love or just an important date on the case back or closure, depending on the model. Three different fonts are available for engraving.
From the Master of Materials for the way it has revolutionized traditional watchmaking with high-tech ceramic, plasma high-tech ceramic and Ceramos™ to its design-led collections, maybe Rado should now be called the Master of Love.