A unique first Rolex Rainbow Daytona is making its jewel-encrusted way to auction this November. It’s being sold with no top estimate but an expected sale price of at least $3.5 million.
The watch will headline a Phillips auction in Geneva on November 8.
The sale Reloaded: The Rebirth of Mechanical Watchmaking, 1980-1999, also stars an F.P. JOURNE Tourbillon Souverain à Remontoir d’Egalité number 15 of 93; a previously unknown and completely unique Philippe Dufour Duality watch; and a Derek Pratt oval pocket watch Made for Urban Jürgensen.
The Rainbow Daytona, reference 16599, takes a watch that is already much beloved and extremely valuable to another level.
This unique Philippe Dufour is also up for sale.
The Daytona is a racing watch. To many collectors, it is the racing watch. A Daytona owned by Paul Newman (who is closely associated with the ref) sold for nearly $18 million in 2017.
This example has more glamour than the sleek and extremely functional models that Newman wore. It is coloured with a rainbow of gems.
“This watch is a big deal,” said Alexandre Ghotbi, the head of watches for Europe and the Middle East at Phillips.
Few collectors knew of the watches existence and it has been in a private collection for nearly 20 years according to Phillips. It was made privately in the either 1993 or 1994 for a buyer from the Middle East. Rolex later returned to the style in the 21st century.
The skill needed to set multiple gems on and around watch faces helped to elevate Rolex from well-regarded maker of specialist and professional watches to one of the ultra-luxury makers. Even sourcing gems in the right shades to deliver a rainbow effect is extremely challenging.
They are selling the watch with no upper estimate but expect it to make at least $3.5 million.
As yet, few details have been released, but the sale is being by some watch experts as a test of the market.
Extremely rare and valuable watches though have seemed somewhat immune to rises and falls in the overall market and Phillips will be confident of exceeding the released price.
Last year, a gold Rolex 6270 Cosmograph Daytona made in 1988 with diamond-set dial and bezel made around $4.5 million in a Phillips sale. A Rainbow Daytona was auctioned in 2022 for $444,000.
