They say three things will tell you everything there is to know about a man: his shoes, his hands and his choice of wrist wear. This might come as a surprise to some of you, but The Word bunch – although shoe fiends and hand cream obsessive – aren’t known for their watch wisdom (heck, the last time we owned a watch, the Flik Flak’s detachable dials were being used as weapons of mass disruption in classrooms from Antwerp to Arlon). Much to the despair of our in-house stylists, we simply haven’t given watches the same kind of love that, say, our YSL high-tops get. That’s until we set our sight on Rado’s r5.5.

Rado's r5.5 Chronograph Matt (Photography Melika Ngombe)

A sleek, stylish and straight-up piece of watch-making might, this particular dial was thought-up by Jasper Morrison, whom the design-conscious Swiss watchmaker enlisted for this collection of engaging and exquisitely understated chronographs.  Making good the company’s use of oversized dials, the master of functionalism and minimalism has designed a watch which somehow manages to reflect the company’s heritage (Rado is known for its innovative use of hi-tech ceramics, a tradition Morrison’s design embraces), draw upon contemporary tastes (both the analogue and digital versions are discreet yet refined, well-suited to post-recession indulgences) whilst also firmly looking to the future (the watch’s design is right up there with, say, the Citroen DS).

The perfect anti-dote to Jacob-the-jeweler-era bling (the r5.5 is more corduroy than it is Jeans, more Saab than it is Hummer), this dial heralds a new-found confidence in watch making prowess, with Rado leading the pack as far as designing what today’s people really, really want.

Photography Melika Ngombe