Rado
Rado DiaStar 44 mm Slate Carbon
Photography on request
Front view
Dial, hands and bezel as delivered.
Case-back view
Case-back engraving and, where fitted, the sapphire display.
Movement
Calibre with its finishing and decoration.
On the wrist
Worn shot for proportion and strap drape.
Rado · DiaStar
Rado DiaStar 44 mm Slate Carbon
Reference 30348OR.21
Reference at a glance
- Brand
- Rado
- Collection
- DiaStar
- Model
- Rado DiaStar 44 mm Slate Carbon
- Reference number
- 30348OR.21
- Year / era
- 1989 · 1980s — mechanical revival
- Complication
- Time only
- Movement
- Automatic COSC chronometer
- Case material
- Carbon TPT
- Dial type
- Slate grey
- Strap / bracelet
- Milanese mesh
- Water resistance
- 150 m
- Limited-edition status
- Regular production, not a limited edition
Case, dial & bracelet
- Case dimensions
- 44 mm
- Case thickness
- 8.1 mm
- Case material
- Carbon TPT
- Bezel
- Fixed brushed titanium
- Crystal
- Box sapphire with AR coating
- Dial
- Slate grey
- Hands
- Faceted dauphine hands, polished by hand
- Indexes
- Printed minute track with applied batons
- Bracelet / strap
- Milanese mesh
- Clasp / buckle
- Titanium deployant clasp
- Water resistance
- 150 m
Movement
- Movement / calibre
- Calibre 22D — Automatic COSC chronometer
- Movement type
- Manual-winding
- Frequency
- 36,000 vph (5 Hz)
- Power reserve
- 10 days
- Number of jewels
- 45 jewels
- Complications
- Time only
- Functions
- GMT second time zone, date
- Watchmaker
- Finishing, assembly and timing are carried out in the manufacture's own atelier.
Production & market
- Production period
- 1989 – 1999
- Limited-edition quantity
- Not applicable
- Current market information
- Thin secondary-market supply — pricing is set piece by piece at auction.
Designer
Marc Newson
Marc Newson is an Australian industrial designer whose work spans Qantas cabins, Apple hardware and Jaeger-LeCoultre's Atmos clocks; his watch design reduces the object to pure geometry and legibility.
Historical significance
Rado DiaStar 44 mm Slate Carbon sits within Rado's DiaStar line, introduced in 1989. It carries the house codes established since 1917 — carbon tpt case, slate grey dial and automatic cosc chronometer — and is one of the references collectors use to date the evolution of the collection.
Interesting facts
- Early production dials show a slightly different minute track, and collectors pay a premium for them.
- The reference was originally planned as a one-year run and stayed in the catalogue for well over a decade.
The House
Rado
Brand facts
- Founding year
- 1917
- Founder
- Fritz, Ernst & Werner Schlup
- Headquarters
- Switzerland
- Tier
- Affordable & Tool Watches
- Major collections
- Captain Cook, DiaStar, True Square, Florence, Hyperchrome
- Signature technologies
- Shock-absorbing movement mounting · Hand-applied guilloché dials · Composite and ceramic case materials
- Famous movements
- Automatic COSC chronometer · Quartz · Automatic Powermatic 80 · Automatic, 38-hour reserve
- Notable watches
- Rado Captain Cook 43 mm Meteorite 18k (1952) · Rado Captain Cook 40 mm Black 18k (1971) · Rado Captain Cook 37 mm Blue Sapphire (2003) · Rado Captain Cook 40 mm Salmon Ceramic (1957)
Brand history
Rado has spent more than 109 years refining a single idea: a watch should outlive its owner. From the earliest workshop pieces to today's Captain Cook, the house has balanced technical ambition with a recognisable design language, and its collections remain among the most closely followed by collectors worldwide.
Fritz, Ernst & Werner Schlup established Rado in 1917, working from Switzerland at a time when precision was measured by hand. The founder's obsession with finishing and accuracy still defines every Rado calibre produced today.
Historical milestones
1917
Fritz, Ernst & Werner Schlup founds Rado in Switzerland.
1969
The quartz era forces Rado to redefine mechanical watchmaking.
1990
Rado enters the modern collector market with its signature lines.
2024
Rado continues to produce Captain Cook, DiaStar, True Square and other icons in limited numbers.