Rado DiaMaster

Rado outfitted the DiaMaster collection with classic designs made using state-of-the-art manufacturing methods and materials. The Swiss company builds their cases out of either black or white high-tech ceramic or plasma high-tech ceramic with a metallic sheen. You can wear these watches with a five-piece link ceramic bracelet or an exquisite leather strap with a crocodile skin pattern. However, the highlight of this collection is its dials, which come in a wide variety of colors. Some of the dials are quite elaborate by Rado standards, ranging from simple sunbursts to finely decorated dials and tempered hands all the way to diamond embellishments and skeletonized dials.

A date display is standard on all models except for the skeletonized pieces. In addition, the collection includes complications like off-center hour and minute displays, small seconds dials, power reserve indicators, and chronograph functions. Most are powered by an automatic ETA caliber, though quartz-powered models are also available. What's more, the watches in this line come in a number of sizes, making them interesting for both men and women.

One of the stars of this collection is the 43-mm DiaMaster Automatic Grande Seconde with its beautifully designed dial. The small seconds dial as well as the hour and minute display are all off center. The minute and hour display is located around 3 o'clock, while the small seconds sits across the dial at 9 o'clock. The larger-than-usual small seconds dial is what gives this timepiece its name. Both the hour and minute display and the small seconds dial feature an attractive sunburst. The rest of the dial is also finely decorated and comes in a number of different patterns. In terms of color, you have the choice of various black and brown hues as well as blue, white, and silver. You can purchase a pre-owned model in very good condition starting at around 1,600 USD. Prices for new models depend on their color. Plan to spend around 1,900 USD for a brown DiaMaster Grande Seconde and about 2,600 USD for one with a white dial. Pieces with a black dial demand a further 120 USD, while those with a blue dial come in at around 2,900 USD.

At 45 mm, the DiaMaster Automatic Chronograph is slightly larger than the Grande Seconde, making it hard to miss. Rado went with a linear design for this chronograph: narrow bar indices mark the hours, the small seconds dial sits at 3 o'clock, hour and minute counters are at 6 and 9 o'clock, respectively, and the date display is located between 4 and 5. All this is powered by the ETA caliber 2894-2. Instead of an elaborate design, these dials in gray or white are kept simple with a faint sunburst. Be prepared for prices beginning around 4,000 USD for a never-worn model.

The DiaMaster Power Reserve comes with an elegant sunburst dial in white, black, blue, or brown. The large, easy-to-read power reserve indicator at 9 o'clock is particularly eye-catching. It shows how much of the ETA automatic caliber C07.671's 80-hour power reserve is left and when you need to wind it. A date display at 6 o'clock completes this watch. Set aside about 1,400 USD for a never-worn DiaMaster Power Reserve.

The DiaMaster Automatic Skeleton has the most modern feel of all the watches in this collection. Its dial is largely skeletonized; only the outer edge with applied hour indices and printed minute markers remains. Otherwise, the finely decorated ETA caliber 2892-S2 dominates the face of this 43-mm timepiece. These watches have cases made of either plasma high-tech ceramic with a metallic shine or black high-tech ceramic. The latter also has blackened bridges across its movement. Each color variant is limited to 499 pieces. Prices for new models of this skeleton watch range from about 4,200 USD for a metallic watch on a leather strap to 4,900 USD for the black version with a five-piece link bracelet in black ceramic.

While it's not skeletonized, the DiaMaster RHW1 is also a limited edition timepiece, though it had a larger run of 2,000 pieces. Its 44-mm high-tech ceramic case has a bronze PVD coating, and its black dial is dominated by oversized, silvery gray Roman numerals at 3, 6, and 12 o'clock. The ETA pocketwatch caliber Unitas 6497 ticks away inside this timepiece. In addition to the hour and minute hands, this movement also powers a small seconds dial at 9 o'clock. Set aside around 4,400 USD for a never-worn version of this watch.

DiaMaster Three-Hands models have a classically elegant design. These watches feature cases in black or metallic-colored ceramic that come in both men's and women's sizes. Their dials are available in black, white, blue, or gray. You can wear this watch on a matching ceramic bracelet or a leather strap. Prices for a new women's model with an automatic caliber sit around 1,100 USD, while a mechanical men's model starts at around 1,800 USD. There are also quartz-powered pieces available, which come in at as little as 1,300 USD new. DiaMaster Diamonds models are meant exclusively for women and have dials ornamented with diamonds. Prices for models with four diamond indices begin around 2,600 USD.