Strange as it seems now that they’ve been shuttered by Rolex, one of my favourite watches last year was the Carl F. Bucherer Heritage WorldTimer, a watch with plenty of low-key glamour and jet-setting chic. Well, it turns out I’m a sucker for clean, elegant world timers as the Carl F. Bucherer might just have been displaced by none other than Rado. Sure, I was expecting more Captain Cooks this year. What I wasn’t expecting was to fall in love with the collection all over again with the downright gorgeous new Rado Captain Cook Over-Pole.
You might remember back in the misty days of 2022. We were walking out bleary eyed into the post Covid light, our whole world opening up, the possibilities endless. Those possibilities also included a diminutive little edition of the Captain Cook dubbed the Over-Pole. It was a 1960s throwback to a rare, world time version of the seminal dive watch, replacing the unidirectional bezel with 24 timezones.
The thing is, the 2022 Over-Pole was also vintage in size. In this instance that means 37mm across. In genuine vintage terms, that’s not too small at all, but in modern watches that’s tiny and, I’d argue, a touch too small to elegantly fit 24 timezones around. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a problem I could mull over too much as the limited edition faded away.
Now, the Over-Pole is back in action and in a big way. Well, bigger at least. The new version upsizes to a much more wearable, readable and generally better 39mm, retaining some of those classically small dimensions but in a way that won’t have you squinting at what might be an upside-down New York. And, rather than the dark, grey-and-black colours of the previous edition, Rado has embraced the glamour of the golden age of air travel.
Not only is the case gold, but so too are the retro beads of rice bracelet. Full gold takes a fair bit of swagger to pull off, but in this instance without the bank account to match as it’s all PVD over stainless steel. Some watchmakers find gold plating to be a dirty concept, but I’m here for it. It means you have the same aesthetic but at an actually affordable price tag. Sure, it means there’s less intrinsic value, but if you’re looking at Rado rather than Rolex, that’s probably not a big consideration.
The gold continues onto the dial with the funky, multi-faceted indexes set against a classic silver dial. Those indexes are a lot of fun, especially the three cardinal points (three o’clock being replaced with a date). They add some punch to the dial, some personality like a statement chair in an otherwise minimal apartment.
Normally I don’t care for date windows, but a worldtimer’s one of the few instances where it makes a lot of sense. I’d have rather had it at six o’clock for symmetry’s sake, but there’s only so much Rado can do with third-party movements, even if they are part of the same company. And I do like the red lettering rather than black, it makes it really pop. It’s just a shame it’s a slightly different shade to the signature proof-of-life anchor that makes up their logo.
This being Rado, ceramic is an inevitability and here it’s on the bezel, the single most sensible place for ceramic to be, in pure black. The cities are engraved into the ceramic and coloured gold which isn’t the most readable combination but is definitely the most glamorous. It’s also a nice counterpoint to the silver dial and while I’m all for pure monochrome, the quirky indexes, date et al incline me more towards this kind of mix.
On the wrist, it’s incredibly comfortable. 39mm is the goldilocks zone already and 10.9mm is relatively svelte, but the way the beads of rice bracelet drapes over the wrist makes me wonder why it ever fell out of fashion. It also makes the watch feel more private jet than premium economy, so if you want to turn down the ostentation, the optional black leather strap’s a perfectly sane alternative. Way less fun, but sane.
Despite the change in size, the movement remains the same, the R862 which is based on the 2824-2, a manual-wind take on the maker’s flagship 2824 with a slowed-down frequency to up the power reserve. That power reserve is a substantial 80-hours, making it weekend proof, even if you’re living the dream of a four-day work week. It’s good, solid fun and finished with lashings of Cotes de Geneve and blued screws.
The only downside I can see to the Captain Cook Over-Pole is that it’s still a limited edition of 1,962 pieces, in reference to the archival original. Sure, that’s a big number compared to most limited editions (ours are only 100 or less), but Rado’s not a small brand and they won’t be around forever. That’s a shame because the Over-Pole has the first-class air hostess legs to become a collection mainstay – especially at the punchy price of £2,650.
Price and Specs:
More details at Rado.
So, Rado have never been on my personal radar. Whilst I have been aware of them for a long time, this brand have, despite being a Swiss brand, made more headway in Japan and the far East than in Europe or the UK. As Sam has indicated, Rado have virtually pioneered the use of ceramic in watches for some time, and for me, the black coloured svelte, dress watches were very attractive, but, this new nod to an earlier version doesn’t fall into the camp of being either svelte or attractive, furthermore, it is neither fish nor fowl, whilst looking like a dive watch, it actually isn’t, and not really a world timer either as we understand these to be (it’s life Jim, but not as we know it, is the quote from Star Trek that springs to mind). A world timer, is generally accepted as belonging to the age of the gentleman traveller from an earlier era, and yes, a well heeled traveller with deep pockets, that has class and a degree of elegance, so to compare this strange hybrid beast to the CFB heritage world timer is a step too far IMO. The Bucherer falls into a class of its own and is the apogee of word traveller watches. Just look at the webpage for CFB and the limited edition rose gold version and you with see that this isn’t available with a bracelet, only a leather strap and therefore shows a nod to elegance, – gold coloured bracelets watches are crass and a little vulgar.
I can’t see why Rolex have moth balled CFB other than to remove them from competing with Rolex, but, not being a fan of Rolex, I think they were scared that they could have become the better watch brand for people with more taste.
The CFB rose gold HWT is at the very top of my personal grail list, with numerous JLC watches following on from that position. – Sadly, the limited edition number, cost and Rolex sidelining, is unlikely to see me having one or being elected as as CFB Ambassador.
Over-Pole is a beautiful watch. Well done.