By Brent Robillard
Transparency with restraint
I was lucky enough to be in Miami during Art Basel 2023 when Rado officially reintroduced the Anatom after a forty-year absence from the catalogue. It was a big moment for the brand—and rightly so. The original Anatom, a quartz watch rendered in Rado’s proprietary hardmetal, returned as a fully modern object: high-tech ceramic case, curved sapphire crystal with sharply bevelled edges, and an automatic movement inside. The technical challenge alone—executing that case geometry in ceramic—was reason enough to celebrate.
At launch, the collection was restrained: four black models on black rubber straps. Since then, Rado has leaned further into the Anatom as a materials showcase, adding ceramic bracelets and expanding the palette. The most striking of these, to my eye, has been plasma high-tech ceramic—Rado’s process-driven “liquid metal” look achieved by firing ceramic in a plasma furnace at extraordinary temperatures. I visited the Comadur facility in 2025 and watched that process firsthand. Looking into that furnace genuinely feels like peering into science fiction.
Not long after, I added a plasma ceramic Anatom to my own collection. I don’t own many dress watches—three, in a collection of more than forty—and the Anatom is the only contemporary one among them. Part of that is personal. I acquired it as a nod to my father, who only ever wore dress watches. But part of it is also that the Anatom, like the Diastar, feels emblematic of Rado in a way that few other designs do. “Iconic” may be too strong a word, but these are watches that visually encode the brand’s philosophy.
Since Adrian Bosshard took the reins, Rado has doubled down on its “Master of Materials” positioning. Many brands use ceramic; few stake their identity on it. With high-tech ceramic rated around 1,200 Vickers, Ceramos pushing higher still, and further developments teased by Bosshard himself, materials aren’t an aesthetic flourish for Rado—they’re the point. With 2026 marking forty years since the brand’s first high-tech ceramic watch, the Integral, it’s hard not to read the new Anatom Skeleton as part of a broader statement year rather than a one-off experiment.
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Watch our YouTube video on the Rado Anatom Automatic in Plasma High-Tech Ceramic
Key Features of the Rado Anatom Skeleton
Skeletonisation comes to the Anatom
Rado has also been steadily building a visual language around skeletonised dials across its catalogue, from the Captain Cook to the True Square and True Round. In that context, the absence of a skeletonised Anatom always felt slightly conspicuous. The case shape, with its curved sapphire and architectural framing, seems tailor-made for layered depth. This new Anatom Skeleton feels less like a surprise and more like an overdue extension of an existing design philosophy.
Skeleton dials are inherently divisive. They trade clarity for spectacle, and not everyone is willing to make that bargain. The strongest criticism levelled at open-worked watches is legibility, while the strongest defence is that they reveal a level of mechanical and finishing complexity that would otherwise remain hidden. Rado’s approach here is measured. The brand has learned, over multiple collections, where to cut and where to leave visual anchors behind.
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What remains of the dial structure is rendered in cool greys, built from asymmetrical, predominantly horizontal lines intersected by sweeping vertical arcs that echo the geometry of the gear train beneath. Warm-toned wheels and components introduce contrast, picked up again in the PVD gold-coloured handset. Around the perimeter, a suspended chapter ring carries twelve fully lumed hour markers, providing a necessary frame of reference in what could otherwise become visual overload.
Legibility does take second place to design here—this is still very much a dress-leaning watch—but in practice it’s better than you might expect. The hands are clearly delineated against the layered background, and the lume on the markers is surprisingly effective for a piece that is more about mood than mission.
Case, materials, and wear
The case is rendered in plasma high-tech ceramic, giving the watch its distinctive metallic grey appearance—neither painted nor plated, but the natural result of the plasma process. The curved sapphire crystal retains the sharply bevelled edges that defined the 2023 reissue, and the display caseback offers a rear view of the movement for those who prefer their mechanics less theatrical. Renders of the watch often appear sterile, but the liquid appearance of the plasma high-tech ceramic, paired with the curved crystal make for a truly moody combination. And, in the real world of light and shadow, I am convinced the watch never looks the same way twice.
Instead of the ceramic bracelet now available on other Anatom models, Rado has paired the Skeleton with a soft grey rubber strap, separated from the case by PVD gold-coloured ‘endlinks’. It’s a deliberate contrast: technical material against a more relaxed, contemporary strap. The clasp is stainless steel, with a high-tech ceramic-coated cover on the visible outer surfaces.
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On the wrist, the Anatom Skeleton wears smaller than the numbers might suggest. The curved case hugs the wrist naturally, and the low-profile case sides help keep the visual mass contained. The ergonomics that defined the original Anatom concept are still very much present here.
Movement and Specifications
Inside is Rado’s R808 automatic calibre, visible through both the front and the exhibition caseback. The R808 is a modern workhorse movement with an extended power reserve (up to 80 hours), antimagnetic components, and contemporary finishing adapted here for the open-worked presentation. While it isn’t haute horlogerie in the traditional sense, it’s well suited to a watch that is about accessible modern mechanics rather than artisanal excess.
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The Rado Anatom Skeleton measures 32.5mm in diameter with a lug-to-lug length of 46mm and a total thickness of 11.3mm including the curved sapphire crystal with its sharply bevelled edges. The case is rendered in plasma high-tech ceramic, paired with a sapphire display caseback that reveals the Rado R808 automatic movement within, and the watch offers 50 metres of water resistance for everyday peace of mind, if not exactly poolside plunges.
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Specs
| Case | Plasma High-Tech Ceramic 32.5mm Diameter 46mm Lug to Lug 11.3mm Thickness Push/Pull Crown Display Caseback 50m Water Resistance |
| Dial & Crystal | Curved and Bevelled Sapphire Crystal Skeleton dial Applied Markers Pencil Handset Super-LumiNova |
| Movement | Rado R808 Regulated in Five Positions 25 Jewels 21 600bph 80-Hour Power Reserve |
| Strap | Rubber /w Stainless Steel PVD Clasp |
Rado Anatom Skeleton
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Final Thoughts & Pricing
The Anatom Skeleton feels like a natural extension of two parallel threads in Rado’s modern identity: advanced materials and open-worked design. It doesn’t radically redefine the Anatom, but it does shift its tone. Where earlier iterations leaned more overtly into sleek minimalism, this version invites you to linger—to look through the watch rather than simply at it.
If you’re sceptical of skeleton dials, this won’t convert you. And if you’re looking for a practical, go-anywhere piece, there are better options in Rado’s own catalogue. But as an expression of what the brand does best—technical ceramics, distinctive form, and a willingness to foreground process—the Anatom Skeleton is a contender.
If this is indeed just the opening move in what Rado has planned for its anniversary year, it sets a thoughtful tone: less about spectacle for its own sake, more about reinforcing the ideas that have defined the brand for the past four decades.
The Rado Anatom Skeleton retails for $6,100 CAD (or $4,300 USD) and is available through the RADO online boutique.
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About the Author
Brent Robillard is a writer, educator, craftsman, and watch enthusiast. He is the author of four novels. You can follow him on Instagram.
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