While there is certainly no shortage of dive watches on the market today there has been a gradual trend towards larger, thicker, and heavier divers that boast completely unnecessary water resistance depths. Few owners, if any, will take their watch below 200m let alone the 3000m or more that many high end Swiss brands are designing their watches to withstand. The appeal of the depth race is one that completely evades me, possibly because of my pedestrian sized wrist.
{ 3 comments }
Swiss watchmaker Rado has been obsessing over highly scratch resistant watches
for over 40 years, and now it looks like they have truly outdone themselves with
the Rado
V10K. The name "V10K" comes from 10,000 Vickers. Vickers are
a measurement of hardness and resistance, and 10,000 is the top of the scale –
achieved only by diamonds, and now, by the Rado V10K.
Some of the materials that go into the Rado V10K are fairly standard: titanium
caseback and clasp (extremely strong and lightweight), sapphire crystal, and a
rubber strap (available in black, orange, red, and blue). The rest of the watch,
however, is decidedly non-standard. Using a furnace capable of recreating the atmospheric
pressure of Jupiter, Rado actually coats the case of the V10K with synthetic diamonds.
If diamonds are the hardest substance in the world, the only way to build a truly
scratch-proof watch is to actually use diamonds to coat it.
It's nice to see that Rado did not sacrifice aesthetics to achieve this amazing
feat. While the V10K is certainly an unconventional watch, it is also simple, stark,
and stunning. It's so simple and stark, in fact, that it doesn't even have a crown
to interrupt the flow of its form. Rather, the watch is adjusted by placing a magnetic
device which is integrated into the strap against the caseback — at once, both
high-tech and retro (remember the Pulsar LEDs of the 70's?).
The Rado V10K contains a Swiss quartz movement. It's is water resistant, and comes
with a 2-year guarantee. Pricing is available upon request.
{ 1 comment }
