June 08, 2021: Elegant, self-confident, resilient – and now award-winning, too: not one but two Rado design collaborations have won the renowned iF Design Award 2021. The True Square YOY and the True Square Formafantasma have thus joined the long list of Rado timepieces whose visionary design has been rewarded with an international award.
The iF Design Award has been presented since 1954. The competition this year was fiercer than ever before: almost 10,000 entries were up for the vote by the international jury in nine different categories. The collaboration with the design studios YOY and Formafantasma has brought the Rado brand two awards this year. Both models play with traditional elements of watchmaking and combine them with a decidedly modern, puristic aesthetic and the innovative Rado materials.
The True Square YOY surprises with the distinctive shapes of the seven-segment display – the classic face of a digital watch – and transfers them to the analogue time display with hands. Luminous white Super-LumiNova clearly stands out, both during the day and at night, from the matt black dial. The True Square Formafantasma, meanwhile, only reveals a small section of its dial through the round opening in its light grey high-tech ceramic case; a sophisticated construction that is reminiscent of the spring-hinged lid of historic pocket watches.
Both models make use of the pioneering high-tech ceramic from Rado for the case and bracelet, which is worked using injection moulding technology and thus combines endlessly gentle curves with the utmost resilience and scratch resistance. Both watches are also driven by a high-quality Swiss-made automatic calibre with 80-hour power reserve.
About YOY
YOY is a Tokyo-based design studio founded in 2011 by Naoki Ono and Yuki Yamamoto. Under the motto “Between space and object”, they are dedicated to the design of furniture, lighting and interior decoration. Their work can be found all over the world, such as at MoMA. YOY has been awarded numerous international prizes around the world and has been teaching at Musashino Art University since 2015.
About Formafantasma
Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin are Studio Formafantasma, an Italian designer duo based in Amsterdam. They see themselves as a bridge between craftsmanship, industry, object and user, and are interested in creating connections between research-based practice and the wider design industry. Whether designing or investigating new areas of application for materials: Studio Formafantasma devotes equal attention to the context, implementation and the smallest details of each undertaking. The duo is also characterised by its view of the historic, political and social forces that have shaped its environment. Their work is published internationally and museums around the world have acquired designs from Formafantasma for their permanent exhibitions.
About iF Design Awards
The iF Design Award has been a global, recognised trademark when it comes to excellent design since 1954. The iF Design brand has become established internationally as a symbol of outstanding design achievements. The iF Design Award is one of the world’s most important design awards. It honours design excellence in all disciplines: Product, packaging, communication and service design, architecture and interior architecture, professional concept, user experience (UX) and user interface (UI).
Rado True Square x YOY, Undigital
Ref. R27075152
Movement Rado calibre R763, automatic, 25 jewels, 2 hands, 80-hour power reserve
Case Matt black high-tech ceramic case, monobloc construction Matt black PVD-coated titanium case back
Matt black high-tech ceramic crown Flat sapphire crystal
Water resistant to 5 bar (50 m)
Dial Matt black Black flange
Black printed Rado and Automatic logos
Hands Black hour hand with white and black Super-LumiNova® blocks Black minute hand with white Super-LumiNova® blocks
Bracelet Matt black high-tech ceramic
3-fold titanium folding clasp
Rado True Square x Formafantasma
Ref. R27076012
Movement Rado calibre R763, automatic, 25 jewels, 3 hands, 80-hour power reserve
Case Matt light grey high-tech ceramic case, monobloc construction Sandblasted titanium case back
Matt light grey high-tech ceramic crown
Front cover made from vertically brushed light grey high-tech ceramic with small sapphire crystal opening with anti-reflective coating on both sides
Water resistant to 5 bar (50 m)
Dial Matt light grey
Hands Shiny black
Bracelet Matt light grey high-tech ceramic
3-fold titanium folding clasp
