880
Rolex
Ref. 128239
Day-Date “Rainbow”
A well-preserved and dazzling white gold wristwatch with day, date, pavé diamond and rainbow sapphire-set dial, bracelet, guarantee and presentation box
Full-Cataloguing
- Very well-preserved and offered by the original owner
- Set with 10 baguette-cut rainbow-coloured sapphires
- Offered first time at Phillips
Unveiled in 2019, the Day-Date “Rainbow” stands as one of Rolex’s most dazzling expressions of haute horlogerie. Offered in yellow gold, white gold, and Everose gold, this extraordinary timepiece is pure extravagance. Its dial is a dazzling theatre of light: a full pavé of diamonds interrupted only by ten perfectly graduated baguette-cut sapphires that cascade across the spectrum like a captured rainbow.
Each gemstone is painstakingly selected for colour and clarity, then hand-set by Rolex’s master gem-setters with microscopic precision, tolerances measured in hundredths of a millimetre so that every facet catches and throws light with maximum intensity. This centuries-old craft, repeated hundreds of times on a single dial, is what gives Rolex gem-set watches their legendary fire and uncompromising excellence.
The present example, reference 128239 in white gold, comes to market for the very first time at Phillips auction. Carefully preserved by its original owner, it remains in exceptional condition and is complete with its suite of original accessories. Here is the rainbow itself lifted from the sky and set permanently on the wrist.
Rolex
Swiss | 1905Founded in 1905 England by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis as Wilsdorf & Davis, it soon became known as the Rolex Watch Company in 1915, moving its headquarters to Geneva in 1919. Like no other company, the success of the wristwatch can be attributed to many of Rolex's innovations that made them one of the most respected and well-known of all luxury brands. These innovations include their famous "Oyster" case — the world's first water resistant and dustproof watch case, invented in 1926 — and their "Perpetual" — the first reliable self-winding movement for wristwatches launched in 1933. They would form the foundation for Rolex's Datejust and Day-Date, respectively introduced in 1945 and 1956, but also importantly for their sports watches, such as the Explorer, Submariner and GMT-Master launched in the mid-1950s.
One of its most famous models is the Cosmograph Daytona. Launched in 1963, these chronographs are without any doubt amongst the most iconic and coveted of all collectible wristwatches. Other key collectible models include their most complicated vintage watches, including references 8171 and 6062 with triple calendar and moon phase, "Jean Claude Killy" triple date chronograph models and the Submariner, including early "big-crown" models and military-issued variants.