Rolex’s website proclaims that the venerable Cosmograph Daytona was “born to race.” So . . . what driver in his right mind would wear the Rolex Rainbow Cosmograph Daytona variant in a race car? After all . . .
One of the 36 baguette-cut sapphires surrounding the bezel, the 11 sapphire hour markers, or the 56 brilliant-cut diamonds covering the lugs might jar loose!
But you’ve got to give the $100k Rolex credit for not being as horrifically bling as Richard Mille’s diamond-encrusted abominations. You might even say that the celebrities charging their people with securing a Rolex Rainbow Cosmograph Daytona (e.g., Adam Levine, Antoine Griezmann, Mark Wahlberg) are showing admirable aesthetic restraint.
And unlike non-Rolex modified Rolex – whose makers are currently facing the wrath of Rolex’s deep-pocketed lawyers – well-heeled Cosmo buyers also don’t have to worry about warranty issues. As in an Authorized Dealer saying they won’t touch their watch with a ten-foot pole.
Are such practical considerations even on the radar of celebrities, people notorious for wretched excess, buyers of luxury goods without the slightest thought of a less glamorous, less income-rich future? Doubtful. Especially as the Cosmo will hold its value as well or better than any of the high-end cars parked in celebs’ heated garage.
Far be it for me to judge anyone’s personal taste, but I reckon the real crime here is against aesthetics and branding. As subtle as it almost is, the Rolex Rainbow is still a betrayal of Daytona’s racing DNA, best seen in the eternally unavailable $12,600 Oystersteel version.
Not to put too fine a point on if, the Rainbow model’s bedazzling turns a tool watch into a piece of horological frippery. I know: anyone who wears a Cosmo doesn’t “get it” (i.e. care). And anyone without stacks of cash and pull with Rolex won’t get one, period.
Ulaş Utku Bozdoğan