[dropcap size=small]S[/dropcap]tymied by the monopoly of the Dutch East India Company over trade routes in South America, a pair of intrepid merchants from Holland pushed for a new passage.
And on Jan 29, 1616, they found it in the form of a route passing Cape Horn, located at the tip of Tierra del Fuego. The latter’s name in English, the “Land of Fire”, hints at the treacherous nature of the area’s geography. With Antarctica just 650km away, the weather was unpredictable and the seas, violent.
It is their spirit of bravery that the original 1960’s Rado Cape Horn collection celebrated. And this year, Rado launches the HyperChrome 1616 to mark the fourth centenary of the discovery of this South American headland.
Featuring an outsized case measuring 46mm, the HyperChrome 1616 is an audacious statement: angular, bold and thoroughly masculine. As you would expect, the case is constructed from Rado’s speciality material, the ultra-light yet ultra-durable high-tech ceramic. Five times harder than stainless steel while being one-quarter lighter, Rado’s signature material doesn’t weigh you down, no matter what life throws at you.
Presented in black – and optionally in brown in a limited run of 400 pieces – with matte and polished surfaces, the watch additionally features a black PVD-coated titanium caseback. The sapphire crystal is treated with an anti-reflective coating on both sides for ultimate readability, while the handsome dial offers applied indexes and hands painted with black Superluminova. A unique vertical day and date display adorns the position at six o’clock.
A black, soft-touch leather strap completes the entire stealthy ensemble, making the Rado HyperChrome 1616 a prime choice for fashionable people on the sartorial edge.
Available at the Rado Store, #B1-86/87 The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands. Visit www.rado.com for more information.