DiaStar Original: Rado CEO Adrian Bosshard and Industrial Designer Tej Chauhan Talk about Their Latest Masterpiece
Known for his dedication to innovation, design excellence, and pushing the boundaries of modern watchmaking, Adrian Bosshard, CEO, Rado, has been instrumental in establishing the luxury watchmaker’s reputation as the ‘Master of Materials’, combining cutting-edge technology with bold aesthetics. Under his leadership, Rado, a pioneer in contemporary watchmaking, has continued to embrace creativity by partnering with prominent designers of our time. The brand’s latest collaboration with British industrial designer Tej Chauhan, renowned for works steeped in futuristic and emotionally engaging aesthetics, is a case in point.
Following the stupendous success of their initial project, Bosshard and Chauhan have teamed up once again to unveil the new Rado DiaStar Original x Tej Chauhan timepiece, underscoring the luxury watch brand’s commitment to design-led innovation. This partnership promises to push the creative frontiers even further with a distinct blend of high-tech materials, avant-garde design, and eye-catching colour palettes that reflect both Chauhan's hallmark aesthetic and Rado's pioneering spirit.
GMT India spoke to both Bosshard and Chauhan about what makes their creative collaboration tick. Edited excerpts:
GMT India: Rado has always held a special place in the hearts of Indian watch enthusiasts. What makes the brand so appealing to them?
Adrian Bosshard (AB): Rado's success is based on several pillars. Firstly, the long-standing presence of the brand in India and a very strong, extensive, and qualitative distribution and service network have contributed to our success. Secondly, our innovative products, such as the iconic Captain Cook, DiaStar Original, Anatom, and Centrix product families, have not only convinced the most demanding of customers about their quality, but have also won their hearts and trust. There is nothing stronger than word-of-mouth marketing from customers. Thirdly, the benefits of our signature material, high-tech ceramic ― wearer comfort, scratch resistance, lightness, to name only a few ― are incomparable. Once you have worn a high-tech ceramic timepiece, you do not want to take it off.
GMT India: What makes Tej Chauhan the perfect collaboration partner for Rado?
AB: We appreciate Tej Chauhan’s approach to new projects, his fresh perspective, and out of the box thinking. What is also very important is the fact that he is a watch lover, especially a great fan of the Rado brand.
The DiaStar has been presented in multiple modern interpretations in recent times. What sets this new interpretation by Tej Chauhan apart?
AB: The DiaStar Original is a true Rado icon. This new special edition is the perfect combination of Rado and Tej Chauhan. The horological excellence with the Rado calibre R764 and the watch case in CeramosTM is pure Rado DNA. The dial, hands, strap, and day/date visualization are the creative interpretation of Tej Chauhan. The result is simply stunning.
GMT India: Rado has built a strong reputation in terms of innovation in materials. Tell us more about CeramosTM and why it was the ideal choice for this new DiaStar.
AB: CeramosTM is a mixture of ceramic and metal alloy that offers all the extraordinary qualities of high-tech ceramic ― durability, lightness, scratch resistance, and wearer comfort ― with the eye-catching lustre of metal (in this case, a yellow gold-coloured bezel).
GMT India: How has the Indian market been responding to the brand’s latest creations?
AB: Over the past couple of years, Rado has experienced continuous spectacular record results in terms of sales demand and evolution of market shares. We want to continue this trend and relentlessly aim to create timepieces that appeal to Indian customers in the years to come.
GMT India: What’s in the pipeline for Rado? Will we be seeing more India-exclusive editions?
AB: Our watches are produced for global markets. As India is our Number One market, we have selected the country frequently for international product launches, such as the DiaStar Original x Tej Chauhan special edition and many other timepieces, over the past couple of years.
We have beautiful products lined up for 2025, including novelties meant for women and two revivals in the second semester. Stay tuned.
In an exclusive interview with GMT India, Tej Chauhan ― a visionary industrial designer known for his bold, expressive, and forward-thinking aesthetics ― explains the creative process behind the newly launched Rado DiaStar Original x Tej Chauhan timepiece that promises an exceptional mix of art and horology.
Underlining a joint commitment to reinventing contemporary watch design, the new DiaStar is more than simply a timepiece; it's a statement of progressive aesthetics that comes with a 38 mm yellow gold-coloured PVD-coated case, a Ceramos™ bezel, and a stainless steel crown. This special-edition novelty also has a polished dark grey PVD-coated stainless steel caseback, with sapphire crystal and engraving of “SPECIAL EDITION TEJ CHAUHAN”.
GMT India: The Rado DiaStar Original x Tej Chauhan marks your second collaboration with Rado. What was the core inspiration behind it?
Tej Chauhan (TC): Inspiration comes from different places. Ultimately, I want to tell a story. In this case, I love the combination of Rado's high-tech material innovation and their traditional watchmaking craft. There's excitement that comes with wanting to tell this story, but through a completely different design. My work often combines futuristic elements in ways which feel accessible right now. For this design, I was researching AI futurescapes, and also an imagined Moonbase and spacesuits to which this watch would belong...
GMT India: The watch is both futuristic and playful while staying true to Rado’s watchmaking spirit. What was your favourite part of working on this collaboration?
TC: Rado and I work well as a team; the trust we have in each other's expertise makes the project as a whole super enjoyable. I particularly liked the challenge of designing a rubber strap, which was part of the brief. In general, I think they look very sporty, so it was interesting to explore how to give this detail a unique feel that belonged only to this design.
GMT India: You work with a wide range of objects. How do watches appeal to you?
TC: There are many aspects of a watch that I love. I like the fact that they are precision instruments that do just one thing ― tell time. And that automatic watches don't rely on any power source other than the movement, to work and function forever. I still find that fascinating.
GMT India: What are the standout elements of this watch that best represent your visual language of emotive industrial design?
TC: Well, the strap is certainly one ― it's designed to make you want to touch it, and engage. I don't think a rubber strap like it exists. Colour is also key; I wanted to see if I could give a classic colour like gold a contemporary feel. All of the colours, materials, and finishes used on the watch have been carefully selected to feel fresh, but hopefully not polarising.
Emotive industrial design combines sensorial experience with incredible function, so, above all, I wanted to ensure that the design communicates that it's still a precision instrument for telling time.
GMT India: Tell us more about the material used, CeramosTM, and the challenges it may have posed during the design process.
TC: CeramosTM is incredibly strong. This means that this watch will look just as incredible in the years to come. For this particular project, one challenge was that I wanted to develop a new colour; it wasn't originally gold. But to reach the high quality standards, the time for testing new colours was too limited. But every cloud has a silver lining… except that in this case, it was gold.
GMT India: The rubber strap instantly stands out as a Tej Chauhan exclusive. Tell us more about it.
TC: There was just one main request on the brief ― a rubber strap. Actually, I am not a huge fan of them; I think they look too sporty. But this presented a nice challenge for me. I wanted to create a totally new feeling for a rubber strap. The solution was to use these pillowed forms. To me, they encourage interaction ― I want to pick it up and touch it. I hope others feel the same!
GMT India: The typeface (evident in the day and date window) is particularly interesting; it adds a pop of colour. What inspired the typeface?
TC: The use of my studio's typeface is a theme carried over from our first collaboration. I guess it has become something of a DNA element of our projects together. This time, we created more scope to use it, by having day and date. Not only that, the days appear in different colours, inspired by the way I experience a week.
GMT India: What do you find most rewarding about creating a watch that bears your design identity?
TC: The fact that it's a functional object which I get to wear and enjoy every day.
Image credits: Rado
