Rolex - The New York Watch Auction: EIGHT New York Saturday, June 10, 2023 | Phillips

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  • Manufacturer: Rolex
    Year: Circa 2013
    Reference No: 116598RBOW
    Movement No: 5G’064’5W6
    Case No: 9X’452’665
    Model Name: Cosmograph Daytona “Rainbow”
    Material: 18K yellow gold, sapphires, diamonds
    Calibre: Automatic, cal. 4130, 44 jewels
    Bracelet/Strap: 18K yellow gold Rolex Oyster bracelet, max length 220mm
    Clasp/Buckle: 18K yellow gold Rolex deployant clasp, stamped 5FA
    Dimensions: 40mm Diameter
    Signed: Case, dial, movement, and bracelet signed.
    Accessories: Accompanied by Rolex international guarantee card dated April 17th, 2013, guarantee manual, leather cardholder, instruction manual, hangtag, wax seal, large fitted presentation box, and outer box and packaging.

  • Catalogue Essay

    During the 1980s, Rolex began to adorn their sports watches with precious gemstones for its most exclusive and demanding clientele. Among these first, early gem-set sports watches are the manually-wound Daytona references 6269 and 6270 (the former with brilliant-cut diamonds at the bezel and the latter with baguette-cut diamonds), and the GMT-Master reference 16758 "SARU" set with rubies, diamonds, and sapphires. In the late 1990s through the 2000s, Rolex specifically used the ultimate luxury tool watch, the Cosmograph Daytona, as a vehicle for gemological experimentation, always in very small quantities and with extreme attention to quality and execution.

    Set with 36 rainbow-hued sapphires, 56 diamonds adorning the lugs and crown guards, and diamonds indicating the hours, to call the Rainbow Daytona luxurious and lavish is an exercise in understatement. Each sapphire – every single gemstone used is internally flawless - is perfectly cut to fit without prongs into the bezel, and selected with the right color for transitioning to the stones on adjacent sides, so that rather than seeming like 36 individual stones, they blend into one another. The subsidiary dials are made of gold crystal, and the hour markers accentuated with bezel set, internally flawless diamonds. Due to the difficulty in sourcing these stones, subjecting them to Rolex’s high standards, and then fitting them into the watch, production numbers remain extremely low and only few examples have surfaced at auction.

    The sheer audacity of such a watch cannot be overstated, and neither can the effect the Rainbow Daytona has had on popular culture. When first introduced, they did not gain the traction they rightly deserved, but over the past decade, collectors’ tastes have evolved and matured in order to fully appreciate the precedent of boldness and eclectic style set forth by Rolex’s introduction of the reference 116598RBOW. This particular example is offered in stunning, hardly-worn condition with many of its original case and bracelet stickers still attached, complete with its complete suite of original accessories.

    All iterations of Rolex's Cosmograph Daytona "Rainbow" are recently discontinued as of this writing, making this triptych of Rainbows an exciting opportunity to acquire this unobtainable model.

  • Artist Biography

    Rolex

    Swiss • 1905

    Founded 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.

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Ref. 116598RBOW
An exceptionally well-preserved and audacious yellow gold and multicolor sapphire-set chronograph wristwatch with diamond-set dial, bracelet, guarantee card, and presentation box

Circa 2013
40mm Diameter
Case, dial, movement, and bracelet signed.

Estimate
$180,000 - 300,000 
CHF162,000-270,000
€166,000-277,000
HK$1,410,000-2,350,000
S$242,000-403,000

Sold for $304,800

Contact Specialist

Paul Boutros
Head of Watches, Americas
+1 (212) 940-1293
WatchesNY@Phillips.com
 
Isabella Proia
Head of Sale, New York
+1 (212) 940 1285
iproia@phillips.com

The New York Watch Auction: EIGHT

New York Auction 10 - 11 June 2023