The present example of Rainbow Daytona features without a doubt not only flawless condition, but also one of the most interesting provenance among those so far appeared on the public market as it is offered by the Gobbi family. One of the best-known watch retailers in Milan, Gobbi’s history dates back to 1842 when it was founded in Modena. They moved to Milan in 1886, opening the historic store in Corso Vittorio Emanuele. For more than a century, it will remain one of Milan’s landmarks for watch collectors, most notably retailing obviously Rolex but also Patek Philippe (the “Gobbi Milano” Patek Philippe ref. 2499 is a remarkable example dating to the 1950s.).

As it turns out the Rainbow worked its magic even on people who have literally grown up among watches, so much so than in 2021 Serena Gobbi decided to buy the watch as a gift to her mother Daniela. Not only the provenance from the family owner of one of the most important Rolex retailers in Italy is intellectually intriguing, but it furthermore affords the new owner of this timepiece one of the most - if not THE most - complete set of accessories a Rainbow has ever been seen with: it comes with the customary box and Warranty. It also has the additional, and hardly ever seen, layer of the purchase invoice with which Serena Gobbi bought the watch from the company, and the never seen commercial invoice between Rolex and Gobbi! From these documents it can be seen that the watch was sold by Rolex to Gobbi on July 13 2021, and Mrs Gobbi bought it on the 30th of the same month (and at the same price).

As expected by watch connoisseurs of this level, Mrs. Daniela kept the watch purely for its aesthetic and collectible value, to the point of it still retaining the caseback stickers - while the side stickers have been removed as, Mrs. Villa informed us, it was standard procedure at the time the moment Gobbi would received a Rolex watch.

Rolex is an absolute master at incorporating precious materials into their horological masterpieces. Rolex sports watches set with precious stones are amongst the rarest and most in-demand models created by
the brand. Marrying the ultimate tier of luxury in case finishing with the most practical sports models, these pieces represent a contradiction of terms and are today as sought-after by collectors as they are scarcely produced by the brand. While the firm started to seriously integrate diamonds and gemstones with the introduction of the Zenith movement Daytona, it was not until the 2000s that Rolex truly pushed the design boundaries of the Cosmograph Daytona.

The present watch is aptly named "Rainbow" due to its beautiful and impressive bezel, which is set with gemstones that graduate in hue to mimic the color spectrum. The tones range from a vibrant and intense deep red and slowly morph to mauve, orange, chartreuse, green, blue and finally deep purple. The bezel's beauty stems from the well-matched, pure and bright colored gemstones. The colors blend together seamlessly, attesting to Rolex's technical superiority and eye for color. The lugs are furthermore set with diamonds, to enhance the colorful nature of the watch.

While yellow gold and white gold "Rainbow" examples were produced in 2012 and discontinued after a few years, it was not until 2018 that a new version was introduced to the market, using Rolex's propriety pink gold named Everose. Of all the Rainbow versions known to exist in pink gold, the present watch is probably the most classic variant with a black dial and rainbow-hued sapphire markers. Today, the watch has soared to new heights in popularity due to its utter rarity and impressive looks. Due to a lack of supply on the market, the Rainbow Daytona is often not available to those even willing to pay a premium.