Rado DiaStar Original x Tej Chauhan watch designed as an "art statement on the wrist"

Promotion: British industrial designer Tej Chauhan sought to combine futurism with nostalgia when revamping the DiaStar Original watch for Swiss brand Rado, he explained during a talk at Miami art week.

The Helsinki- and London-based Chauhan Studio founder appeared on a beachside panel during Miami's Untitled Art fair this month for a discussion about his recent collaboration with Rado.

During the session, moderated by Dezeen US editor Ben Dreith, Chauhan described his approach to creating a special edition of the DiaStar Original, a 1962 classic from Rado's collection notable as the world's first scratch-resistant watch.

"My challenge was how to figure out how to present a new future-facing perspective on this incredible piece of heritage design from 1962, whilst celebrating that heritage at the same time," Chauhan told the audience.

"My work isn't about creating beautiful objects, it's about trying to figure out what those intangible moments of connection are," he added. "How do you stop someone from walking past something without taking a second glance?"

"It's that second glance – that's what we try to build into a piece of design work."

In the case of the DiaStar Original, that meant infusing the watch's '60s appeal with a touch of sci-fi to create a visual language that Chauhan called "souvenirs of the near future".

To illustrate why he believes this design approach is effective, he drew a comparison with concept cars.

"When you go to a motor show, and you see concept cars, you can't have the concept car," he said. "It's annoying that you can't have it. You see this beautiful thing, but you can't have it."

"I want to create this experience where you see this, and it looks like something you can't have, but you can have it. I think that's quite powerful."

Chauhan's DiaStar Original uses Rado's proprietary Ceramos ceramic alloy for the bezel, coated in yellow-gold-toned metal. It features a matte-black concave dial, coloured blue between the hours of nine and 12.

This is referred to as the Party Time index, which symbolises the hours that can be highly productive by day and "mark the start of a party in the evening".

The project is part of a six-year collaboration between Chauhan and Rado, and the panel also discussed how to make this type of partnership a success.

"When you have a product which is not only an icon in the Rado collection, which is also an icon in the whole watch industry, it means a lot when we give this product in the hands of a designer – it shows that we have a really big trust in Tej," said Rado CEO Adrian Bosshard.

"We are creating pieces that are often on the wrist of people for decades. And therefore it's a must that we work with the best people, in terms of competence and also in terms of hard feeling and passion for what they are doing."

"What people don't understand is that behind the scenes is that alignment, where everything makes sense to the brands, and that's when the magic occurs," added Eva Hughes, executive vice president of fashion and design school Istituto Marangoni Miami.

"At the end of the day, you really have to get along. You have to have shared values and objectives."

Rado supports Istituto Marangoni Miami through a scholarship fund, as well as running a student design competition to design the packaging for the DiaStar Original x Tej Chauhan watch.

"Any successful collaboration requires you to really get under the skin of the brand and really understand what the brand is about – who their audiences are, what their objectives are," said Chauhan.

"We approach everything from just asking as many questions as possible and getting as much information as possible, and creating this, I guess, foundation upon which we can build the creative work."

"I was just blown away by, on the one hand, Rado has this incredible innovation with high-tech materials," he added. "And then on the other hand, this is contrasted with this beautiful narrative of traditional Swiss watchmaking craft, and that was, really, really inspirational."

Featured at Untitled Art, Rado's latest marketing campaign, The Time Is Now, seeks to emphasise the way that watches can create special moments through gifting, as well as keep the time.

Bosshard told the panel that design is becoming increasingly important to the more than century-old brand.

"The watch is not just an item to tell the time," he said. "We are producing pieces with an art statement on the wrist, and something which will stay with the people often for decades, for the whole life, even for the next generation."

"And therefore, the element of design and individuality for the brand is becoming more and more important, and we see an important trend in this direction."

To learn more about the DiaStar Original x Tej Chauhan Special Edition watch, visit Rado's website.

The photography is courtesy of Rado.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for Rado as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

The post Rado DiaStar Original x Tej Chauhan watch designed as an "art statement on the wrist" appeared first on Dezeen.