Rado is known to most watch enthusiasts for both its creative takes on classic watch designs and its innovative use of materials. At the start of this year, we had a chance to see the brand flex its muscles in the former area, unveiling new green-dial models to its popular Captain Cook line; in the summer, we saw the latter at work, in the ceramic-cased, skeletonized True Thinline Anima. In the new True Square Designer models, released this fall, Rado deftly brings together uncommon creativity with novel materials.

To produce the trio of collaborative models, Rado partnered with the Italian duo FormaFantasma, British designer Tej Chauhan, and Japanese team YOY. Each timepiece uses Rado’s classical True Square model as a stage for its design partner’s unique take on the watch’s design. Separately or together, they showcase the versatility of the Rado canvas when placed in creative hands.
True Square Formafantasma

The True Square Formafantasma is co-designed, as its name indicates, by FormaFantasma, an Italian design studio led by the duo of Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin. The model has a 38-mm x 10.4-mm square ceramic case produced in a light gray color and featuring a small, signed crown on its side. The lugs of the watch stem smoothly from the case, integrating the 50-meter water-resistant square case to a three-link bracelet.

The dial is essentially a further expansion of the case, with only a small circle at its center ...