Industrial designer Tej Chauhan has revamped the 1960s DiaStar by Swiss watchmaker Rado, adding brightly coloured accents and a chunky bezel informed by golden sci-fi space helmets.
Rado DiaStar Original x Tej Chauhan is the second collaboration between the designer and Rado, following his reinterpretation of the Rado True Square.
This time around, Chauhan was asked to apply his “emotive industrial design” approach to a watch that first launched in 1962 and is one of Rado’s most important timepieces.
“DiaStar Original is a Rado icon, so my challenge was to create design distinction without compromising its integrity,” he explained.
The original watch was pioneering in its use of robust materials and was marketed as “the world’s first scratch-proof watch”. Its design language was also unique at the time, featuring an extended curved case that covers the strap fastening.
The updated version utilises Rado’s Ceramos ceramic alloy for the bezel, coated in yellow gold-toned metal. Chauhan said that the case colour might not be to everyone’s taste but claimed that it “gives a totally new, progressive perspective on a gold watch”.
Beneath its faceted sapphire crystal, the watch features a matte-black concave dial with a minute track printed in grey. Between the hours of nine and 12, the colour of the dial switches to a punchy blue shade to highlight what Chauhan calls the “party time indexes”.
The project brief called for a rubber strap to be fitted to the watch. Chauhan wanted to avoid the sporty connotations typical of this style and developed an unusual pillow-shaped grey strap secured by a polished dark-grey extendable folding clasp.
The designer is known for his aesthetic approach that looks to the “near future” and explained that this project draws on futuristic inspirations to achieve a look that stands out while retaining the watch’s original character.
“For DiaStar, I was looking at AI futurescapes and I also happened to see a movie which featured a moonbase and some gold space helmets,” he said. “This became the final inspiration.”
A bespoke typeface previously used on the dial of the True Square watch adds a further colourful element to the day and date indicator, while creating a shared element between the two timepieces.
“The composition as a whole is designed to elicit joy and invite engagement and to present an alternative perspective on a gold colour watch,” Chauhan added.
“I think the result is very exciting, full of contemporary contrasts, which to my eyes make the final composition pop.”
The watch features a stainless-steel case back, finished with a polished dark-grey metal coating.
A sapphire crystal display window provides a glimpse of Rado’s R764 automatic calibre, which is equipped with 25 jewels and delivers a power reserve of 80 hours. The timepiece is water resistant to 100 metres.
Rado has been involved in more than 30 collaborations with leading creatives throughout its history, including recent projects with Italian studio Formafantasma and New Delhi artist duo Thukral and Tagra.
To mark the Rado DiaStar’s 60th anniversary in 2022 the brand launched a version designed by Alfredo Häberli, while in 2023 the company unveiled three limited editions of the True Square watch in colours used by architect Le Corbusier.
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