The Rolex Daytona Rainbow was first introduced by the brand at the 2012 edition of Baselworld. Available in either yellow or white gold, the eye-catching collection was discontinued shortly after its launch, and it has proven to be a highly desirable watch on the pre-owned market where it often sells for three times the original retail price.
Now, the collection has been revived by the iconic Swiss watchmaker at Baselworld 2018, with the two key differences – the Rolex Daytona Rainbow is now presented in an Everose gold case and features multi-coloured gemstone hour markers.
As you would expect, the bezel, which has been set with 36 baguette-cut sapphires in a range of graduated colours, remains as the new watch’s key feature. The striking bezel is complemented by the additional 11 baguette-cut, coloured sapphires that are utilised as hour markers, which match the corresponding colour of the bezel, as well as the 56 diamonds set on the lugs and crown guards.
Rolex has their own in-house gemmologists and gem-setters to ensure that every sapphire on the watch meets their stringent quality criteria and is then set to best reveal its colour.
The 40mm case and matching bracelet are now presented in 18k Everose gold, which is a proprietary rose gold alloy that is developed in-house by Rolex. While a more standard rose gold is prone to losing its colour over time because of exposure to chlorine in the air, Rolex’s Everose is resistant to fading.
The rose gold motif continues on to the Daytona’s black lacquer dial, where the sub-dials are pink “Gold Crystals”, a pink gold alloy that has a textured, shimmering finish thanks to a “crystallisation process”. Furthermore, the watch hands are in rose gold and have been treated with Chromalight to enhance legibility in low light situations. As with all recent Cosmograph Daytona watches, the new Rainbow edition is equipped with the self-winding calibre 4130 chronograph movement, which was developed and manufactured by the watchmaker.
Click here to read our article on the updated Rolex Sea-Dweller, unveiled at Baselworld 2018.
