I thought about offering this as "Rado or Not?" but it's too wacky...

[watch carefully]

Have you seen this sort of case engraving before? I tend to think it was not sent from the factory this way.



Rado Cologny 705, seen on the interwebs.

[Tungsten Timers]

I have actually seen a few of these around and found them interesting because they are clearly inspired by engraved cases from the 1930s. My grandmother's Hamilton has a similarly engraved case to this one.

Here are two pages from JPinOman's 1978 Japanese Watch Importer catalog showing other engraved case models. I am guessing these became popular at this point in time because Art Deco was having a revival in Hollywood and in art/culture around this time.

[Tim.]

I agree, the engraving on that example doesn't seem to be of a high enough standard to be a factory delivered watch.

[Tungsten Timers]

LOL. I didn't realize the Cologny 705 is normally a smooth case. For sure, the engraving is not stellar.