Round-UpColours Of Pride Month On These Striking Rainbow Watches

The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York city, was raided by the police on June 28, 1969. Though this was a common occurrence at the time, this particular incident shook the people, resulting in a historical uprising. This, in turn, gave way to the first Pride march in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, in 1970. Thousands of people belonging to the LGBTQIA+ (abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual) community gathered to commemorate the Stonewall riots and demonstrate for equal rights. Since then, every year, the month of June is celebrated as Pride Month.

Whether you are part of the community or an ally, there are many ways to show your support for the movement, such as a simple gesture to wear a rainbow watch—the rainbow flag (and its alternatives) being the symbol of the movement displaying colours that represent the community and sub-communities. To help you with it, we have rounded up a list of striking rainbow watches for you to choose from. But before that, let us learn a little more about the growing trend of rainbow watches.

High-jewellery rainbow watches, as the name implies, are timepieces that flaunt vibrant gemstones on either their bezels, or on their dials, lugs, crowns, bracelets or hour markers. In 2012, Rolex launched two versions of the Cosmograph Daytona Rainbow—one in white gold and the other in yellow gold—paving the way for other watchmakers to follow the trend. Back then, an expensive and vibrant high-jewellery watch of this kind was unheard of, but as time progressed, the industry saw more and more versions of rainbow watches by brands such as Hublot, Zenith, Audemars Piguet, and Patek Phillipe, to name a few.

Currently, the watchmaking industry is witnessing a rise in rainbow watches with several brands jumping on the bandwagon. From Breitling to Louis Moinet, the luxury watch brands are churning out models in the mesmerising hues of the rainbow, illuminating different components of a timepiece

Currently, the watchmaking industry is witnessing a rise in rainbow watches with several brands jumping on the bandwagon. From Breitling to Louis Moinet, the luxury watch brands are churning out models in the mesmerising hues of the rainbow, illuminating different components of a timepiece. The Swiss brand, Breitling, for instance, recently launched the Superocean Automatic 42 and 36 rainbow-dial editions to beat the heat. These watches feature hour markers and hands coated in a gradient of Super-LumiNova hues—yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, red, and orange—to add a pop of colour during the day, along with enabling reading in low-light conditions. The four 42mm models are available in stainless steel cases with rubber straps in turquoise, aquamarine, orange, and yellow. Whereas, the 36mm white model, with a matching rubber strap, is crafted with two-tone materials—stainless steel and 18-karat red gold.

Other recent examples of rainbow watches are by the Swiss independent brand, Louis Moinet. Their unique timepiece, the Astronef Techno—under the ‘Mechanical Wonders’ category—features an iridescent dial, made of a silicon wafer engraved with microelectronic circuits, along with a flying satellite double tourbillon that is run by the LM105 manual-winding movement, with a power reserve of 48 hours. A colourful technological marvel indeed!

And now for a closer look at other notable examples of rainbow watches…

Louis Moinet Geopolis Opal

The unique Geopolis Opal under the ‘Cosmic Art’ category is a stunning spectacle of rainbow colours. Its chromatic hues have been achieved with the inclusion of opal—a semi-precious gemstone that exhibits a play of colours when viewed from different angles. Crafted from 18-karat rose gold, and grade-5 titanium on its inner case, the 40.7mm model features a large opal disc at the centre, ten smaller discs at the periphery, and a twelfth disc at six o’clock, behind the tourbillon cage, emitting a burst of colours. The off-centre flying tourbillon at six o’clock is powered by the hand-wound movement featuring two barrel springs—arranged in a ‘volte-face’ position (one barrel placed upside down over the other)—which can collectively store a power reserve of 96 hours.

The unique Geopolis Opal under the ‘Cosmic Art’ category is a stunning spectacle of rainbow colours

It features a large opal disc at the centre, ten smaller discs at the periphery, and a twelfth disc at six o’clock, behind the tourbillon cage, emitting a burst of colours

The off-centre flying tourbillon at six o’clock is powered by the hand-wound movement featuring two barrel springs—arranged in a ‘volte-face’ position which can collectively store a power reserve of 96 hours

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Jacob & Co Fleurs De Jardin Rainbow

With the idea to recreate a garden on the dial, Jacob & Co introduced a high-jewellery line, Fleurs De Jardin (French for ‘garden flowers’) featuring colourful gemstones constituting flowers. Out of the wonderful models, a watch that stands out for its chromatic hues is the Fleurs De Jardin Rainbow. It features nine flowers with petals made of vibrant sapphire gems using the brand’s signature kite-cut, a butterfly-shaped tourbillon ‘pollinating the flowers’, a central flower with a large Jacob-cut gem surrounded by gem petals, and a bezel fitted with baguette-cut gems. All components, laid out on a mother-of-pearl base, are set inside a 42.5mm case in sapphire crystal and rose gold—in a design that could be likened to a greenhouse, allowing beholders to admire the watchmaking and embellishment effortlessly. The complex mechanism running the show is the JCAM31 manual-winding movement, with a power reserve of 48 hours.

Jacob & Co. Fleurs De Jardin

₹4,72,00,000

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H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Tourbillon

The minimalist Vantablack dial of the H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Tourbillon gets a maximalist upgrade with the colourful stone-studded bezel enveloping it. Displaying a range of hues, the bezel is set with 60 baguette-cut sapphire stones, adding a dazzling personality to a watch with an otherwise classic colour palette. Combining the gem-setting craft with watchmaking prowess, H. Moser’s cushion-shaped 40mm red-gold watch features a rotating flying tourbillon on the dial. The HMC 804 automatic movement within offers a power reserve of 72 hours.

The minimalist Vantablack dial of the H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Tourbillon gets a maximalist upgrade with the colourful stone-studded bezel enveloping it

Hublot Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Black Ceramic Rainbow

With the fourth creative collaboration between the Japanese artist, Takashi Murakami and the Swiss watchmakers, Hublot gave birth to the exemplary limited-edition watch (13 pieces only)—the Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Black Ceramic Rainbow. A burst of colours, this artistic piece features a giant flower with 12 petals—with each petal as an hour marker—on the rhodium-plated dial, along with a smiling core at the centre (a signature feature of the Japanese artist), surrounded by the 45mm black ceramic case. Set with 487 rubies, sapphires, amethysts, tsavorites, and topazes, the watch presents exemplary gem-setting without a doubt! Interestingly, with each wrist movement, the petals on the dial spin with the help of the inbuilt ball-bearing system, creating a mesmerising visual effect. The in-house MHUB1214 Unico self-winding calibre powers the watch, allowing for a power reserve of 72 hours.

Zenith Defy 21 Chroma II Limited Edition

Available in black or white ceramic, with different colour codes—the Zenith Defy 21 Chroma II Limited Edition (500 pieces each) is unique in every sense of the word. While the black micro-blasted ceramic Defy 21 Chroma II consists of primary hues on its hour markers, the white version features a bold colour palette, further brightening the watch. Other than this, the stitching on the cordura-effect rubber strap, the rubber grip ring of the crown, and the 1/100th-of-a-second scale are coloured in both models, making them two of a kind. These watches are run by the El Primero 21 automatic high-frequency 1/100th-of-a-second chronograph movement, which can be viewed through the partially open-worked dial and the sapphire crystal caseback.