Captain Cook
Model History
The Captain Cook was born in 1962, the same year as the DiaStar, but with a different ambition: a rugged, reliable dive watch whose name pays tribute to the British explorer James Cook. The original model stood out for its "beads-of-rice" bracelet, its domed acrylic crystal, and a case back decorated with two seahorses over a crosshatched background, details that became something of a cult among collectors in later decades. Production, limited to about 8,000 pieces, stopped as early as 1968, and the model remained forgotten in the brand's archives for a long time.
Rado brought it back to light in 2017, at Baselworld, with a relaunch that included both a faithful 37 mm replica of the original and a 45 mm version designed for contemporary wrists, as well as an edition limited to 1,962 pieces that explicitly recalls the line's birth year. The relaunch's success prompted Rado to rapidly expand the collection with new sizes, green and blue colored dials, and NATO-style straps.
The following years saw the Captain Cook become the main testing ground for Rado's material innovations applied to a sports watch, with a bronze version in 2020 and a high-tech ceramic one in 2021, as well as automatic chronograph variants: a path that turned a vintage reissue into one of the most dynamic collections in the brand's current catalogue.
Technical Specifications
Main Executions
The two seahorses engraved on the case back of the original 1962 piece, now also found on some modern reissues, remain the detail collectors look for most to recognize and authenticate vintage pieces from the line.