Brand: Rado

Model: Diastar 515

Ref.: 515

Issued: 1970s

Case: Tungsten-carbide with stainless steel screw-back and Rado's NCC movement protection system

Bracelet: Stainless steel "fish-tail", mfd. by SK, reference unknown

Movement: This watch has not been opened to determine the caliber, but it is presumably an ETA 2824 or similar

Description: Sometime during or just after the production of Rado's NCC series, this watch was produced. Its case is identical in shape and dimensions to the NCC505 model, a steel watch made from 1970-1979 (click here for a comparison photo), but is shrouded in tungsten-carbide as are all Diastar models. Diastar 515s are apparently a rare model and this example is even more so due to the dial being made of Tiger-Eye stone. In the 1970s, Rado made many different models available with dials made of various minerals and composites. Tiger-Eye seems to have been a popular material (click here for a comparison review which includes another Tiger-Eye Diastar). Notable on the stone-dial models is the lack of a rotating anchor logo found on nearly all Rado automatic watches since 1962. The fragile nature of the dial material forced the designers to limit the number of apertures in the dial in order to maintain rigidity. As a result, the printed logo often found on hand-wound Rados is present here, though this watch is self-winding.

The original SK "fish tail" bracelet with signed Rado clasp is present on this watch. Each of the links is also signed underneath with the anchor logo.

Photos: Click for larger images

This watch has been sold.

Text and images © C. Bradley Jacobs, WatchCarefully.com