Hublot Rainbow Big Bang Is A Triumph Over Dual Challenges Of Sourcing And Setting

Hublot’s Big Bang Integrated King Gold Rainbow and Time Only Rainbow represent a triumph over two challenges in high jewelry watches. The first is the painstaking process of setting the gems on each surface evenly, within incredibly narrow tolerances so that each stone sits at exactly the same height and angle as all the others. Secondly sourcing so many gems (nearly 1,000 in each of these watches) in precise color matches is almost impossible, given how many brands are now making rainbow watches.

The concept of rainbow sapphire watches is nothing new. Rolex has been issuing a Rainbow Daytona since 2012, but it doesn’t produce one every year, and when it does, quantities are very limited. Hublot, being the master of color in luxury watches, came out with its first version in 2017. After that, the floodgates opened, with several other luxury brands producing watches with rainbow bezels. Hublot leans into the concept like no other brand, though, with more gems in more places – not just the bezel, but also the case, bracelet and dial. Hublot also taps into a greater spectrum of color, with a more gradual transition from one hue to the next. It takes a lot of gems to do this. To be precise, there are 942 gems in the chronograph Rainbow, and 924 in the Time Only Rainbow, including ruby, amethyst, blue topaz, tsavorite, as well as a whole spectrum of sapphires – pink, orange, blue and yellow.

“It’s a lot of stones,” says Hublot CEO Ricardo Guadalupe. “The most difficult part is to gather them in these quantities in exactly the right colors. Today, many people are making rainbow watches, so there is a huge demand for the same gemstones. I think we’re the brand that makes the most rainbow watches, so supply is really an issue for us.”

There are two versions of Hublot’s Big Bang rainbow, a 42mm Integrated Chronograph, and a 40mm Time Only. The cases and bracelets of both are King Gold, a proprietary alloy that contains platinum, which produces a warmer color and greater strength than traditional red gold. The Chronograph is priced at $169,000, and the Time Only, at $158,000.