Space-aged gold helmets and visions of artificial intelligence-driven landscapes serve as the unusual motivations behind Tej Chauhan's Rado watch designs.
Rado's Futuristic Diastar Watch: A Tribute to Space Exploration
Rado, the Swiss luxury watchmaker, has unveiled a striking new addition to its collection—the Diastar Original Space Helmet watch. British designer Tej Chauhan, in his second collaborative project with Rado, has drawn inspiration from the iconic gold space helmet worn by Brad Pitt in the movie Ad Astra.
The watch boasts a large, curved case, reminiscent of Brad Pitt's space suit carapace in Ad Astra. To achieve a specific effect, the watch has been given a yellow gold PVD coating. The case, made from Rado's proprietary Ceramos—an alloy of ceramic and metal—offers water resistance to 100m.
The dial design of the watch is inspired by science fiction, with each day's abbreviation appearing in a different bright color for easy readability. The rest of the dial, including the indexes from nine to 12, provides a vivid contrast with the matt black dial and stencilled luminous hands.
The underside of the strap, made from pillow-shaped rubber designed to imitate space suits, reads 'TC Souvenirs of The Near Future'. The strap's unique design adds to the watch's futuristic aesthetic, which is further emphasized by the watch's unique typeface for the date and weekday displays on the watch, created by Chauhan himself.
The watch runs on Rado's R764 automatic calibre, an ETA movement with 80 hours of power reserve. The watch is engraved on the case back to mark the special edition.
This watch is a striking, futuristic take on Rado's Diastar Original, a 1960s design. The Diastar Original Space Helmet watch is now available for purchase from rado.com, priced at £2,100.
In the world of watch design, there are numerous examples of brands drawing inspiration from various sources. For instance, Casio makes a watch inspired by a Samurai's kabuto, while Cartier's Tank watch was originally modeled on a top-down view of a First World War tank. Gerald Genta styled the Royal Oak's octagonal, bolted bezel on an antique diving helmet.
Several brands have also drawn on the liveries of Formula 1 or MotoGP helmets for watch designs. However, the Diastar Original Space Helmet watch stands out for its unique fusion of space exploration aesthetics and modern watchmaking technology.
