It’s been a headline-topping year for tennis champion Ash Barty. Getting off to a cracking start by breaking a 44-year drought to become the first local player to claim an Australian Open singles title. Then only a couple of months later, in a move that shocked the world, retiring from the sport which saw her reach legend status. A quick change into another sort of white outfit saw her quietly tie the knot with long-time partner Garry Kissick shortly followed by releasing her autobiography – My Dream Time – along with a series of children’s books titled Little Ash.
To cap it off, she recently took home the prestigious Sport Australia Hall of Fame Don Award for a second time, becoming only the third athlete to have been bestowed the honour multiple times. And while that would have been enough highlights for most people in a year, Ash isn’t most people.
She’s now applying her focus on design, having embarked on a creative journey with her long-standing partner, Rado Switzerland, co-designing the Rado True Square x Ash Barty Limited Edition.
A passionate watch lover, Ash worked closely with the Rado team throughout the design process to bring the timepiece to life. It’s her third piece with the brand, who she’s been an avid wearer and ambassador of since 2017.
The piece features a feminine light rose leather strap, ceramic square case with white mother-of-pearl dial and rose-gold-coloured applied indexes.
“Rado’s True Square watches have always been a favourite style for me and feature heavily in my collection, so we decided to use this shape as the basis for the limited-edition piece,” says Ash.
In a nod to its co-creator, the dial also features a tiny rose gold coloured tennis ball with a jeu, set, match engraving. A small cut-out allows a peek through to the watch’s mechanics, protected by a sapphire crystal face with anti-reflective coating. Ash’s signature is also digitally printed on the on the sapphire crystal case back. It’s a chic design which can effortlessly go from the office to the bar.
“I’ve loved the experience of co-designing this piece with Rado,” she says. “It’s allowed me to combine creativity with my love of watches.”
Square watches form an integral part of Rado Switzerland’s design history. Launching the first timepiece in 1976, Rado’s experimentation with square ceramic watches saw the launch of Ceramica in 1990. Thirty years later, the scratch-resistant material was used to create a square monobloc case using pioneering injection moulding technology, which forms the foundation of this new True Square Limited Edition release in partnership with Ash Barty.
Brought to you by Rado Switzerland.
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