Be your own rainbow.
If you’re someone who dresses your mood, your wardrobe may have turned back time to resemble costumes Sir Charlie Chaplin may have worn in a silent feature; a rotating carousel of blacks, whites and neutrals. For those on the brink of technicolour, dip a hesitant toe in — one small, arm-laden rainbow-coloured accessory at a time. Here, we’ve put together our favourite rainbow watches and jewellery pieces of the minute. Brighten up a little and do not fear: they pair well especially well with an all-black ensemble, too.
This article first appeared on Lifestyle Asia Hong Kong.
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The glittering gem-set face of this Hublot watch looks like something akin to sorcery. A total of 290 gemstones in all colours of the rainbow — see: rubies, pink sapphires, amethysts, blue sapphires, blue topazes, tsavorites and yellow and orange sapphires — blend and bleed into a sun-dial of prismatic colour. The precise gradient doesn’t start and stop at the case; the alligator straps extending from either side are also cast in the colours best reflecting the gems they are most aligned with — red for the 12 o’clock strap, dark purple at the six.
Disco-dancing. Studio 54, raucous and loud. Bell-bottom flares and go-go boots. The 1970’s was defined by unapologetic fun; the very same decade that inspired this stunning RM 71-02 Talisman watch, dripping in gemstones. 817 to 971 stones, depending on the model, to be exact.
The sophomore creation of Cécile Guenat in her current role as Director of Creation and Development at Richard Mille, this timepiece is pure decadence, realised in shimmering colour.
Somewhere along the way, sapphires became synonymous with a very specific shade of blue; the very same that coloured Princess Diana‘s ring-finger on the day of her engagement. The sapphire gemstone, however, comes in colours well beyond rich azure. Pinks. Peaches. Oranges. Yellows. Greens. The colours of the rainbow, really.
This bracelet from Pragnell’s Rainbow collection aligns a string of diamonds against another of multi-coloured sapphires in homage to the very meteorological phenomenon the collection is named after.
Unlike most from this listicle, the prismatic display emanating from this Buccellati Macri watch does not derive from that of multi-coloured gemstones. Instead, there is a single source of origin: The dial’s opal composition, shimmering in glowing reds and greens and cyans. There is something poetic about watches’ metallic straps being called ‘bracelets’ in comparison to this watch’s bangle strap — rendered in 18-karat gold encrusted with brilliant-cut diamonds. A true fine jewellery-adjacent timepiece.
The fun, seemingly arbitrary formation of this bangle by Suzanne Kalan belies the full effect of this piece’s total carat weight: Rendered in a staggering scatter of multi-coloured sapphires and white diamonds. The rigid edges carved out by zig-zagging baguette-cut gemstones angles into a composition that looks almost crown-like — fit for royalty.
Joey Wong
Editor
Retired Tumblr girl Joey has written her way through fashion trends, youth culture and luxury retail in New York and Hong Kong. Beyond internet adventures tracking down the perfect vintage find, you can probably catch her tufting rugs, swigging back Bloody Marys — her third, probably — and making fastidious spreadsheets about her Animal Crossing island.
