DESIGN FOR LIFE

Famous for its design chops, Rado often finds a way to marry its keen eye with state-of-art manufacturing. CEO Matthias Breschan is adamant that real innovation and even rarity can be achieved at different levels of watchmaking

- ASHOK SOMAN

There are few, if any, watch brands that made their marks via TV advertising but that is exactly what Rado did in the 1980s. To my young eyes, none of it registered except the images of the watches themselves. I had never seen anything like the shimmering black square timepieces; even at that time, the message about ceramics hit home. It is quite possible that the watches met and merged with the iconic imagery from 2001 Space Odyssey, which was also playing on TV at the time. For more on such musings, I invite you to take a look at our cover story this issue, where the star is not the Rado DiaStar but the Rado Captain Cook.

Our subject for the moment is the man in charge of the Swiss watchmaking brand, Matthias Breschan. Breschan has been CEO at Rado for approaching nine years, which is unusual in the watch trade today. The firm, now owned by the Swatch Group, has been in business since 1917 so Breschan is still quite youthful, relatively. It is that youthful zeal that makes him a believer in the power of innovation, and helped him steer the brand true. For example, he understands that Rado’s decision from 1957 to concentrate on the exterior of the watch is something worth advancing in the 21st century. Breschan cites the example of the brand’s design cooperations, especially with designers that are not working with watches. Prominent examples of this right now are watch projects with Konstantin Grcic, Leslie Chan, and Jasper Morrison.