Rado is a watch brand that manufactures world-renowned timekeeping products. Ever since 1917, the brand has been producing innovative designs and vintage looks that stand out in many parts of the watch industry. While these are valuable features, luxury watch brands are beyond these factors. We, therefore, answered the question, is Rado a luxury watch?
Rado is a luxury watch brand. The use of complex materials and limited quantity supplies are some of the reasons that Rado watches are significantly rare. The heavy price tag and brand name comply with luxury watch standards. These are important characteristics of luxury watches.
The fact that Rado offers luxury watches originates from various information and data that distinguish a fashion watch from a luxury watch. In the following paragraphs, we will explain why Rado is a luxury watch brand.
Why is Rado a luxury watch
Rado has a rather large experience in watchmaking and is a part of the Swatch Group. The brand has been manufacturing watch products since 1917 and started in the village of Lengnau, Switzerland. Rado found different ways to distinguish itself from the competition. For example, the brand became innovative and started specializing in high-tech ceramic watches.
After World War II, Rado became one of the biggest brand names on the watch market for producing movements that a watch needs to keep running. After this accomplishment, Rado started manufacturing their own watches. They were even put in context as some of the world’s most durable and luxurious watches on the market.
This principle established the brand name and the brand was known for its specialization in innovative materials. In addition, the brand is also known for the manufacturing quantity of its timepieces. For example, they only make half a million watches a year, which allows them to pay more attention to each individual product.
All these characteristics that the brand offers, correspond to the characteristics that we see in luxury watches. In the list below, we see the recurring features that distinguish fashion watches from luxury watches. In the following paragraphs, we will therefore discuss these characteristics, specifically for the Rado brand:
- The brand name
- Materials
- Is it Hand made
- Price-tag
The brand name
If you look at the bigger picture, Rado might not be amongst the most popular watch brands in the community of watch enthusiasts. Brands like Omega, Rolex, and Patek Phillipe would rather come to mind.
However, the brand established its name in the watch industry as one of the most durable and luxurious timepieces in the 1980s. They have continued this line, and the brand is now pioneering the watch market. They have also established their name through innovative ideas like manufacturing ceramic watches.
All these factors have ensured immense success for the brand and also ensured that they have established themselves in the industry. This is an important characteristic of luxury watch brands.
Materials
Luxury watches are different from fashion watches in several aspects. One of them is also the choice of materials that are used in the timepiece. Luxury watches use expensive materials. They are seen as everything above what is actually necessary for terms of quality for watches.
Think about materials like gold, but also titanium and ceramic are materials that are often used in luxury watches. Ever since the 1990s, Rado’s signature material that the brand became known for is the manufacturing of ceramic watches. In fact, the brand goes beyond the use of ceramic and also uses hardened titanium, diamonds, and sapphire crystal in its timepieces. These are all materials that we also often see in the biggest luxury watch brands.
Best known for their transformative use of ceramic, the dreamers at Rado have
Rado – Switzerland
mastered the art of material science.
The materials used in Rado watches are relatively expensive and that shows in the final retail price of their products. The fact is that Rado uses quality materials that are strong and have their own stories, definitely meeting the luxury watch guidelines.
Hand made watches
Luxury watches diminish themselves from fashion watches because they are usually seen as a lot rarer than normal watches. This has to do with the principle of mass production and the supply and demand that comes with it.
Watches that are mass-produced are produced by machines in large quantities and are usually manufactured by external suppliers. The fact that they are mass-produced makes the production time per product a lot less, and the number of products in that manufacturing time a lot more. This means that mass-produced timepieces are usually a lot less rare and interesting for watch collectors. This causes the retail price to go down, and the resale price as good as nil.
On the other hand, watches that are handmade have a lot more expertise, time, and value within the manufacturing process. This causes the watch to be more expensive and could even be a good investment for the future. Which are a big part of the difference between fashion watches and luxury watches.
Rado watches are handmade and are also made in limited quantities. This causes the products to be rather rare compared to its competitors. Rado watches have leaked that they have a manufacturing process that produces around 500.000 watches per year. In comparison, some of the brands that use mass production for their manufacturing process can make up to 2 million watches per year.
So, the fact that Rado produces their watches in a lot fewer quantities and the fact that they are relatively rare is another sign why Rado is a luxury watch.
Price-tag
Rado is a luxury watch brand but the price could be debated as their products are relatively affordable to some of the high-end luxury watches on the market. Although for some watch buyers, price ranges of $1000 to $5000 USD are on the pricey side, it actually isn’t that expensive for a luxury watch.
In the following table, we put together some of Rado’s models and their prices. This gives a better understanding of the price ranges that Rado offers:
| Captain Cook: | $2,100 – $5,000 USD |
| True Square: | $1,600 – $3,200 USD |
| True: | $1,400 – $2,900 USD |
| True Thinline: | $2,000 – $3,400 USD |
| Centrix: | $1,280 – $2,600 USD |
Luxury watch brands could be seen as investments because of the prices we see in them could go up to tens of thousands of dollars. Because of the rarity that is created by a lower supply than the demand for these watches. And the expertise and time that is put into an individual piece, but also the use of expensive materials, the prices are higher for these watches.
These factors drive the price of the watch and make it come to a fair price. The fact that Rado is amongst some of the cheaper luxury watch brands has to do with the use of ceramic materials, rarity, and quality they provide compared to other luxury watch brands like Rolex or Patek Phillipe.
All in all, Rado can still be seen as a luxury watch brand in terms of price for the watch. But it is seen as one of the cheaper options in terms of luxury watches, which is a good thing for the quality and for what you get back from it.
So, Is Rado a luxury watch?
Luxury watches have characteristics that diminish them from normal fashion watches. In the paragraphs above, we discussed the different characteristics that we see recurring in luxury watches and analyzed them for Rado.
In conclusion, Rado is a luxury watch brand due to a higher demand than the actual supply that the brand offers, the choice and use of luxury materials in its products, and the established brand name in the industry. The price is also quite high, which is due to these various factors added together.
So, it’s safe to say that Rado is a luxury watch brand that offers luxury timepieces and radiates a legacy of incredible history and innovative designs.
Is Rado a good investment?
Now that we know that Rado manufactures luxury timepieces, there could also be a potential investment opportunity. In the paragraphs above, we explained that luxury watches are usually (the only) good watch investments as they are handmade and not mass-produced. This increases the rarity of the watch and the demand as a result. But is Rado also a good investment?
Rado is not a good investment. The fact is that watches reflect their demand in the market. Rado is simply not good as an investment in that case. The only watches that are really good investments are Rolex or Patek Phillipe. These watches have an incredible supply and demand rate. Other than that, some specific limited edition models from other brands could also be a good investment. But Rado is just not as wanted as some of the biggest demand watch brands in the world to be a good investment.
The only way you can look at a Rado watch as an investment is through the emotional value you add to it. Rado has an incredible heritage in the watch industry for manufacturing some of the most innovative and extraordinary designs in the entire market, which could be seen as an investment in itself.
Is Rado a quality watch?
Watches do not specifically have quality guidelines to become seen as luxury timepieces. But quality in luxury watches is often an obvious factor for them. The materials that they use are not only expensive because they are luxurious, but they are also of good quality and solid. The movements that luxury watches use are also often of good quality and the watches often last a long time.
Rado is known for using ceramic materials which are known to be very strong and erosion/scratch resistant. The brand also has characteristics of precision and is incredibly durable, which makes the brand overall good quality.
For the price you pay, you get a lot of good from Rado. These watches have everything you need and won’t disappoint in terms of quality and heritage.
Rado’s most luxurious watches
We know that Rado manufactures luxury watches, but we also explained that not all watches are luxury watches. Luxury watches are rare and won’t come down to a specific brand, but rather from the watch itself. Therefore, not all Rado watches are luxury watches and we put together some of the most luxurious Rado watches there are.
In the list below, we put together some of the most luxurious timepieces that Rado has to offer in their assortment:
- Captain Cook High-Tech Ceramic
- True Square Automatic Open Heart
- Captain Cook Automatic Chronograph
- True Square Over The Abyss
The Captain Cook line is known for producing vintage watches and contains some of the most expensive products that the brand offers. The True Square is also a popular watch in terms of luxury and is known for its high-tech ceramic features.
Final Words
In this article, we discussed if Rado belongs to the luxury watch market. There are several factors that diminish luxury watches from normal fashion watches. Rado offers watches that are made of extraordinary materials and are manufactured in limited quantities, which are some of the characteristics of a luxury watch.
Luxury watches are known to have an established brand name, rare and expensive materials, are usually handmade and not mass-produced, and the price tag reflects the luxury.
In this article, we discussed all of these factors for Rado and came to the conclusion that Rado is a luxury watch brand. Rado uses limited supplies and has an incredible brand name in the industry, and the price of its products reflects the value they have to offer.
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