Rado Brings Back Its 60s-Inspired Captain Cook Over-Pole In New 39mm Sizing

Back in 2022, Rado revived its 1962 Over-Pole within its contemporary Captain Cook line of divers in limited-edition form, taking on the 37mm diameter, dynamic grey dial, and rotating worldtimer bezel from the model that inspired it. Today, the brand has done it again, but this time, it’s going bigger – exactly 2mm in diameter bigger, that is. The new limited-edition Captain Cook Over-Pole packs all the vintage charm that made its predecessor a hit amongst fans, now in 39mm sizing that the audience asked for the first time around. 

The original 1962 Over-Pole debuted in a few color options, and the gold tones, black worldtimer bezel, and silver dial are a play pulled right out of the brand’s own vintage catalog. In this case, the gold in question is achieved by coating stainless steel in yellow-gold PVD, so you won’t see any precious metal price tags here. The silver sunray dial grounds the loudness of the yellow gold nicely, and its polished sheen makes it appear almost cream white as the light catches it. And, of course, you can’t miss the black bi-directional worldtimer bezel, on which the names of major cities have been both laser engraved and lacquered onto the brand’s proprietary high-tech ceramic in golden tones, and indicate the separate time zones of the respective cities. If you take a look at some vintage models of the Over-Pole Worldtimers, you’ll notice that the printed names of cities undergo a lot of wear and tear over time, so this new combination of techniques is much needed and will help with the longevity of the text on the bezel over time. 

In addition to the gold-PVD-coated indices marking the hours, a 24-hour scale has been printed around the perimeter of the dial, which works in concert with the worldtimer bezel to help the wearer tell time in other time zones. By aligning your home time with the hours hand, and you’ll be able to glance at the time in the other cities on the scale. At the three o’clock position rests the date window, which features mid-century-style typography along with the bright red text that marked the original Over-Pole model over a silver background matched to the dial. At the top of the dial lies the brand’s logo along with its signature oscillating anchor symbol, while the vintage Over-Pole logo is printed at 6 o’clock. 

While the 39mm diameter on this model might be larger than its limited-edition predecessor, it hasn’t beefed up any in its case height, which measures a slim 10.9mm thick. This includes the boxed crystal with its slightly domed profile, which helps give it a true-to-vintage feel. This compactness is achieved in large part due to the movement within, which is the same R862 Worldtimer manual-winding movement that was also in the 2022 Captain Cook Over-Pole, so the antimagnetic Nivachron hairspring and 80-hour power reserve remain unchanged. This movement is on full display through the exhibition-style sapphire crystal caseback, so you are free to marvel at its Côtes-de-Genève finished surfaces and blued screws to your hearts content. Additionally, this piece is water resistant up to 100 meters. As part of the limited edition, the caseback also sports an engraving of each model’s unique serial number out of 1,962 pieces. This model comes with a leather carrying case along with a classic brown leather strap and a yellow gold PVD beads-of-rice bracelet that matches the case, so you can switch up your style at will. I gotta say, I love the all-gold bracelet. It feels so opulent and funky and sticks the landing for me. 

Overall, this feels like a fun, heritage-informed reboot and is playing into the watch world’s slow return to yellow gold tones that consumers have been asking for in the past several years (enough of the rose gold already!) – even if it is in PVD-coated form. It’s got enough quirk and history to make it stand out among the unending stream of vintage reboots and reissues, and for those who bemoaned the small stature of the previous limited edition, this one’s for you. 

The new Captain Cook Over-Pole is now available and is limited to 1,962 pieces worldwide and priced at $2,800. For more information, visit the brand’s website here.