According to well-known watch industry designer Emmanuel Gueit, it was his father, Jean-Claude Gueit, who invented the rainbow setting now used so frequently in high watchmaking in a rather trendy sort of way.

Gueit, who passed away on May 22, 2020, worked as a watch designer (or stylist as he liked to say) for several companies. One of his most famous creations includes the Piaget Polo, which makes sense because he was Piaget’s main designer from the 1970s until his retirement in 2013.

Emmanuel told me in a recent conversation that he believes his father made the first rainbow-style setting in 1976-1977 for Rolex or Delaneau. “He was freelance working for both brands and the two ladies who were the [respective] heads of design were upset with him that he did not do for their brand first . . . I think it was for Delaneau, and [Christiane] Pandel of Rolex was furious at him . . .”

Pandel, a previous head of Rolex’s creation department, is listed on a relatively large number of jewelry-associated Rolex patents filed in the 1980s and 1990s and worked for the Genevan giant for decades.

Rolex Cellini designed by Jean-Claude Gueit circa 1977

While Emmanuel Gueit hasn’t been able to find the exact Delaneau watch his father designed as the first – Delaneau has been defunct for some years now – he was able to offer an example of the Rolex Cellini model adorned with the style as seen above.

It’s entirely possible that these watches are the origin of today’s relatively ubiquitous rainbow setting, though the current ones have been updated in look, feel, and technology. Still, however, the rainbows are chiefly represented by jewels set on the bezel.

In honor of Pride month, which begins on June 1, and commemorating Jean-Claude Gueit’s now-famous design contribution, here are a few examples of rainbow-set watch models that caught my eye in the last year or two. The Pride movement is symbolized by the joyous symbolism of the rainbow.

Breguet Marine Haute Joaillerie 9509 Poseidonia

In 2020 Breguet introduced a high-jewelry version of the Marine called Poseidonia, which was inspired by the sea, but makes use of the rainbow styling, and there is a specific reason for that.

This model is called Poseidonia in honor of Poseidon (Neptune), Greek (and Roman) god of the sea, but also named for Posidonia, a genus of flowering seagrass that is important for the ecological balance of the waters of the Mediterranean.

Breguet Marine Haute Joaillerie 9509 Poseidonia

Designed by Breguet’s creative director Vincent Laucella, the arabesque representations of seagrass on the dial were inspired by how he envisioned the plant might look deep in the sea. Laucella imagined going deep down, looking up, and being able to see the reflections of it on the water, rays of sunlight providing a rainbow in the water surrounding the grass.

Each dial is set with 85 invisible-set, baguette-cut gemstones appearing to ripple across an iridescent mother-of-pearl background.

Breguet Marine Haute Joaillerie 9509 Poseidonia

There are four variations, each predominately white (diamond), blue (sapphire), red (ruby), or green (emerald). From the dominant hue comes the composition of gemstone colors. Reference 9509BB/5S/984 SD0S boasts a combination of blue sapphires, amethysts, colored sapphires, tsavorites, and diamonds. Reference 9509BB/5R/984 RD0R has rubies, colored sapphires, and diamonds, while Reference 9509BB/5E/984 ED0E is a composition of emeralds, tsavorites, colored sapphires, and diamonds. Reference 9509BB/TD/984 DD0D only has diamonds against black Tahitian mother-of-pearl.

Ultra-thin Caliber 591C is visible through the sapphire crystal case back, a movement marked by three beautiful decorative elements: bridges guilloche by hand with Breguet’s Marine motif, which is inspired by the deck of a ship; a sparkling row of 31 diamonds along the bevel of the white gold rotor; and a piece of mother-of-pearl inlay. “Horloger de la Marine” (“watchmaker to the navy”) is engraved on the case back’s bezel, referring to the title of chronometer maker to the French Royal Navy bestowed upon Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1815.

For more information, please visit www.breguet.com/en/timepieces/new-models-marine/9509.

Quick Facts Breguet Marine Haute Joaillerie 9509 Poseidonia
Case: 35.8 x 10.46 mm, white gold, invisible set with 109 baguette-cut gemstones on bezel, 14 baguette-cut diamonds on crown protection set, one briolette-cut diamond claw-set in crown (total approx. 7.13 ct)
Dial: Tahitian mother-of-pearl set with 85 baguette-cut gemstones (approx. 2.56 ct)
Bracelet: yellow gold set with 282 brilliant-cut diamonds (~8.98 ct)
Movement: automatic Caliber 591C, ultra-thin, hand-guilloche bridges, rotor set with a row of 31 diamonds (approx. 0.09 ct) and a piece of Tahitian mother-of-pearl, 38-hour power reserve, 4 Hz/28,800 vph frequency, silicon balance spring
Functions: hours, minutes
Price: on request
Remark: four gem-set variations available; folding clasp set with 30 diamonds (approx. 0.75 ct)

Bulgari Serpenti Incantati Rainbow

Bulgari’s first Serpenti models were introduced in the 1940s, but the brand has taken to successfully evolving and updating the look of new collections as the years have passed, now boldly latching onto the rainbow trend that has emerged over the last couple of years.

L-R: Bulgari Viper Rainbow, Serpenti Incantati Rainbow, and Serpenti Viper Red Colour Wave

Here, Bulgari’s famous serpent figure snakes around the watch’s bezel, its body comprising various gemstones in different cuts – an unusual combination. This geometrical body is pure technicolor style, focusing on the use of attractive stones not commonly found in watches and usually reserved for high-end jewelry.

Bulgari Serpenti Incantati Rainbow

The Incantati Rainbow and its variations – which you can see in 5 High-Jewelry Bulgari Serpenti Viper And Incantati Rainbow And Colour Wave Models Shimmer In Technicolor – also allow the rainbow settings to give center stage to the long underappreciated spinel family, happily underscoring that sapphires come in more colors than just dark blue.

Quick Facts Bulgari Serpenti Incantati Rainbow
Case: 33 mm, yellow gold, 30 m water resistant
Case setting: 3 round, oval, and square tsavorites in light to intense green (~1.67 ct); 3 round, oval, and rectangle sapphires in yellow to orange (~1.38 ct); 1 round orange garnet (~0.23 ct); 2 orange-red round and square spinels; 2 oval and fancy-shaped rubies in intense to medium red (~1 ct); 7 oval, round, pear, and fancy-cut sapphires in intense to light pink, purple, and blue (~6.56 ct)
Dial: yellow gold set with 150 brilliant-cut diamonds (~0.33 ct)
Bracelet: yellow gold set with 282 brilliant-cut diamonds (~8.98 ct)
Movement: quartz
Functions: hours, minutes
Price: on request

Parmigiani Tonda 1950 Double Rainbow Flying Tourbillon

Most brands in this category use the bezel to display an array of colored gemstones whose hues are arranged to create a rainbow effect. Parmigiani’s Tonda 1950 does that too, but also repeats the rainbow around an inner dial segment.

Parmigiani Tonda 1950 Double Rainbow Flying Tourbillon

Diamonds separate the rainbow-set bezel and frame of the subdial, and here Parmigiani opted for a snow-setting, which gives the dial even more of a texture difference. The contrast with the colored gemstones can seem a bit harsh on the photos, but in real life there is more synergy due to refraction inside the diamonds, which causes internal flashes of scintillating light in different colors.

Parmigiani Tonda 1950 Double Rainbow Flying Tourbillon

Interesting here is that the size of this watch definitely makes it unisex. Many brands, including Parmigiani, don’t market rainbow watches to a specific gender. I strongly feel that watch brands should let consumers of all genders decide for themselves what they want.

Quick Facts Parmigiani Tonda 1950 Double Rainbow Flying Tourbillon
Case: 40.20 x 9.43 mm, pink gold, bezel set with 40 gemstones in rainbow configuration (2.59 ct total comprising 6 blue sapphires, 6 amethysts, 5 pink sapphires, 4 rubies, 6 orange sapphires, 6 yellow sapphires, and 7 tsavorites)
Dial: aventurine, 572 brilliant-cut diamonds in snow-setting (1.402 ct) and 31 gemstones in rainbow configuration (0.31 ct total comprising 4 rubies, 3 orange sapphires, 5 yellow sapphires, 5 tsavorites, 5 blue sapphires, 4 amethysts, and 5 pink sapphires)
Movement: automatic Caliber PF517, 21,600 vph/3 Hz frequency, 48-hour power reserve
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds (on tourbillon carriage)
Price: $178,000 on strap, $196,000 on bracelet

Chanel J12 X-Ray Electro Caliber 3.1

Extending on from 2020’s J12 X-Ray, an exceptional timepiece celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the Chanel J12, this new variation on the theme celebrates the rainbow trend with 12 baguette-cut sapphires to mark the hours. And an array of matching baguette-cut sapphires around the bezel brings an unexpected pop of color in place of the colorless baguette-cut stones on last year’s J12 X-Ray.

Chanel J12 X-Ray Electro Caliber 3.1

The J12 X-Ray Electro Caliber 3.1’s case and three-link bracelet are still made of transparent sapphire crystal, with two links set with 34 baguette-cut diamonds (1.96 ct) and a white gold triple-folding clasp. This bracelet was a world premiere in 2020 and continues to wow me in 2021.

The dial is also made of sapphire crystal and, as mentioned, is set with 12 baguette-cut sapphire hour markers, each stone a different color. And talk about minuscule work: I would not want to be the one to have to drill the tiny holes in that sapphire crystal dial blank to set the stones. That’s a nearly impossible task due to the hardness and brittleness of the material that is also extremely prone to splintering.

Chanel J12 X-Ray Electro Caliber 3.1 front and back

The caliber powering this marvel is a new iteration of Caliber 3 called Caliber 3.1, which also contains several sapphire crystal components, including the base plate and main bridges. The effect is that the visible metal components and synthetic ruby bearings appear to float like Wonder Woman inside her invisible jet. Chanel reports that it takes a week to assemble the delicate parts.

The name “Electro” is derived from Electro culture, an electronic music genre from the 1990s that according to Chanel also evolved into an artistic genre.

For the full story on the Chanel J12 X-Ray, please see Chanel Celebrates 20 Years Of The J12 With The X-Ray: The World’s First Watch With A Full Sapphire Crystal Bracelet.

Quick Facts Chanel J12 X-Ray Electro Caliber 3.1
Case: 38 x 10.7 mm, sapphire crystal with white gold bezel set with 46 rainbow-colored sapphires (6.46 ct), crown set with brilliant-cut diamond (0.17 ct), 30 m water resistance
Dial: sapphire crystal set with 12 rainbow-colored sapphires (0.48 ct)
Movement: manual winding manufacture Caliber 3.1, skeletonized, power reserve 55 hours; 4 Hz/28,800 vph frequency, variable inertia balance, sapphire crystal plates and bridges
Functions: hours, minutes
Limitation: 12 pieces

Piaget Limelight Gala Rainbow

A winner of the Ladies Watch prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in 2016, Piaget’s Limelight Gala has always been a jeweled watch. And now Piaget has cleverly made it part of the rainbow trend in 2021.

Piaget Limelight Gala High Jewellery Black Opal

First in 2020 with the unique piece Limelight Gala High Jewellery Black Opal, which didn’t quite reach the full rainbow spectrum, but was entirely alluring with the way it mixed brilliant- and marquise-gemstone cuts. I imagine it tested the waters somewhat.

For 2021 Piaget brings out a real rainbow as part of its Limelight Gala line of jeweled watches.

Piaget Limelight Gala Rainbow

Though not my focus here, it’s worth mentioning the handmade bracelet on this watch, whose design is a holdover from the 1970s when these were seen much more often than today. I have rarely seen one after the start of the mechanical renaissance.

Piaget Limelight Gala Rainbow

The beautiful bracelet design starts with hundreds of tiny gold links assembled tightly. Then they are soldered together and finally hand-engraved in the Palace Décor style, which takes eight full hours to accomplish. The gold dial is engraved by the same artisan in the same way to ensure a uniform look.

The most difficult part of this watch, though, is sourcing and choosing the perfect stones to complete the progressive coloring of the rainbow styling, which jibes perfectly with the pale pink gold that appears almost yellow to me.

For more information, please visit www.piaget.com/ww-en/watches/limelight-gala.

Quick Facts Piaget Limelight Gala Rainbow
Case: 32 x 7.4 mm, pink gold, bezel set with 5 brilliant-cut green tsavorites (approx. 0.91 ct) and 37 brilliant-cut sapphires ranging from red through orange, yellow, blue, indigo and violet (approx. 7.9 ct)
Dial: hand-engraved pink gold
Movement: automatic Caliber 501P1 (530P base), 3.63 mm in height, 40-hour power reserve, 4 Hz/28,800 vph frequency
Functions: hours, minutes
Price: $102,000

For some people, rainbow watches are a guilty pleasure; we feel we shouldn’t like them, but we do. I know they bring me joy.

Let us know how you feel about rainbow watches in the comments below.

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Parmigiani Tonda 1950 Double Rainbow Flying Tourbillon And The Fun Of Following Scintillating Rainbows

5 Standouts From Hublot’s 2021 Digital LVMH Watch Week: And, Yes, We Have Rainbows

Hublot Spirit Of Big Bang Rainbow: The Trick Is In Making It Look Casually Playful

Chanel Celebrates 20 Years Of The J12 With The X-Ray: The World’s First Watch With A Full Sapphire Crystal Bracelet