Rado Revives the Captain Cook Diver in Three Distinct Flavors

Not wanting to be left out of the retro-heritage craze, Rado has jumped into the fray by reaching back into their archives to present a reinterpretation of a scarce and lesser known 1960s diver–the Captain Cook. This watch was named after the 18^th Century British explorer Captain James Cook, famous for his exploits in the South Pacific. While the original dive watch is rare today—and nowhere near a household name like the Seamaster or Submariner are—it is still well-known and highly regarded by the vintage watch collector community.

It’s refreshing to see this model re-emerge today as the Rado HyperChrome Captain Cook collection, which consists of three distinct versions. There are two 37mm models (you read that correctly, a 37mm diver!)—one for men and the other styled for women—and a (much) larger 45mm option.

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The 37mm men’s Captain Cook is the most vintage-faithful iteration, and it is definitely my favorite of the three. Let’s take a minute to talk about the size. Now, 37mm for a diver back in the day was quite common, but today it’s almost unheard of. The size definitely gives this watch a vintage feel and a wearability missing from so many of today’s behemoths. The stainless steel case has clean straight lugs and a polished finish, with an engraved three-seahorse logo on the back. The crown does not screw down, so the watch features a water resistance of only 100m.

Smaller sizing aside, the watch really is a stunner. It features a warm gray dial with a sunburst finish and painted luminous hour markers. These are very much like the original, as is the distinctive handset with the broad-arrow hour hand. Rounding out the dial is the trademark Rado anchor logo which is inset into the dial below the twelve, with the anchor rotating freely depending on which way the watch is oriented. It comes with a box-shaped sapphire crystal and a really sharp black ceramic bezel insert. I cannot overstate how nice the insert is, and it even features a font that is extremely close to the original.

This one comes supplied on a vintage style brown leather strap with a simple pin buckle. This model will be limited to 1962 pieces to commemorate the year the original Captain Cook was launched.

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The women’s version is the same size, but comes with a white ceramic bezel and silver dial that has eight of the hour markers replaced with small diamonds. This provides an element of bling without being overbearing or gaudy. The lady’s version comes on a fine milanese mesh bracelet.

Now, if 37mm is too dainty for your modern sensibilities, you may be interested in the 45mm edition. This larger model comes housed in a hardened titanium case. The dial is blue with a sunburst finish, and has applied luminous hour markers rather than the painted type of the more faithful recreation. The hands are slightly different on this one, too, with a narrower hour hand than what is on the 37mm model. The bezel features a blue ceramic insert to match the dial. This one has a curved sapphire crystal, and Rado added a screw down crown to up the water resistance to 200m. It is powered by the same 25-jewel ETA movement as the others, and comes supplied on a matching blue textile strap with a steel folding clasp.As I already wrote above, of the two men’s models, the 37mm is by far the most accurate vintage reproduction, and it is easily my favorite of the group. Now, I concede that the dimensions may be too small for many, and it may end up costing Rado some sales, but I personally like the decision to keep things small. That said, I think they could have bumped the size up to 38-39mm with ease. Another thing worth noting is that this is more of an aesthetic diver than anything else with a water resistance of just 100m. Few quibbles aside, however, Rado has done a fine job resurrecting a true vintage icon with the new HyperChrome Captain Cook line.

The limited edition Rado HyperChrome Captain Cook will be available this spring with an expected price of around $1,800. Pricing for the other two versions is TBD. Rado

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