Introducing: Two New 39mm Rado Captain Cook Models With A Holiday Vibe
Captain James Cook (1728–1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer who made a name for himself with his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans between 1768 and 1779 — arduous and hazardous work. The watch named after him was launched in 1962. Since then, numerous models, ranging from technical to colorful, have come out under the Captain Cook flag. This summer, two new 39mm Rado Captain Cook versions debut, showing a new side of the Captain. The first Captain Cooks in this universal size have a black-to-turquoise or a light-blue-to-white dial, resulting in laid-back, holiday-type timepieces an exhausted explorer would wear for a few weeks off. These are the type of watches you’d wear not when circumnavigating the main islands of New Zealand but, instead, when chilling carefree on the beach of one of them.
New size option ahoy! Perhaps the most significant news is not the latest watches’ colorways, featuring a black-to-turquoise dial and a black high-tech ceramic bezel insert or a light-blue-to-white dial and a light blue ceramic bezel. However fresh and holiday-ready they may be, the 39 × 45.5 × 12mm case dimensions are arguably the biggest news. Rado did introduce the size before, but that was for a limited series of tennis-related Captain Cook models. The Swiss brand from Lengnau now presents this universal size in two non-limited watches. The 39mm size sits perfectly between the existing stainless steel models with 37mm and 42mm cases.
Two new 39mm Rado Captain Cook models with a holiday vibe
Reference R32223203 is the version with the light dial, and reference R32223213 is the darker one. Each watch costs €2,550 / US$2,450. Thanks to the moderate case dimensions and gradient water-like colors on the dials, both inspire a very aquatic mood, not for serious deep-diving or ocean-navigating, necessarily, but more for taking a dip in a tropical lagoon. Still, with stainless steel cases and bracelets and a 300m water resistance rating, they’re well-equipped for the rough stuff.
The two new 39mm Rado Captain Cook models’ more classical proportions are amplified by the polished steel beads-of-rice bracelets. The shape of the links looks as if they were shaped by water, and the style also recalls the original Captain Cook from 1962.
Outspoken faces
Both models share three central hands for the hours, minutes, and seconds, plus a date window at 3 o’clock. For practical purposes, the sturdy hands and robust-looking indexes received a generous amount of bright white Super-LumiNova that turns blue in the dark to ensure the watch is readable in every situation. “Below deck” beats the automatic Rado caliber R763, an ETA C07.611 movement with a Rado-branded rotor. This familiar Swatch Group movement has an 80-hour power reserve and an antimagnetic Nivachron hairspring for enhanced reliability.
Light or dark?
Now it’s time to choose between light and dark. The model with the light-blue-to-white dial gives off strong “five-star tropical resort, poolside” vibes. With a unidirectional light blue ceramic bezel measuring elapsed time with the help of metallized silver markings, it is functional at heart. Still, the aesthetic is very casual and carefree. The black ceramic bezel represents a more serious style. Paired with the intriguing black-to-turquoise dial, this watch looks like an ideal snorkeling partner — not in open waters, mind you, but in the safety of a sheltered lagoon.
What do you think? Are the colors the highlight, or is it the new 39mm case size? I’m sure we’ll see a string of (more serious) dial and bezel colors come out soon. Do you have a color combination you’re waiting for? Please let me know your thoughts and ideas in the comments section.
