Watches Tonight host Tim Mosso recounts the best watches he's seen in 2021. As the year draws to a close, it's time to reflect. Tim leads with the stunning Rolex Daytona "Rainbow" and proceeds to name two versions of the famous Rolex chronograph among the most impressive watches in recent memory. The Cosmograph Daytona is no lightweight, but tonight's lineup goes far beyond stainless steel Rolex sports watches.

The Rolex Daytona 116599RBOW launched at Baselworld 2012, and it became an instant cult watch. Crafted from white gold and studded with diamonds and sapphires, the white gold Daytona with the rainbow bezel was destined to become one of the rarest Rolex watches of all time. Entirely hand-crafted, this gem-set chronograph includes a bezel of sapphires with the full spectrum of rainbow colors. Unlike many luxury watches such as those from Hublot, the Rolex "Rainbow" Daytona uses true natural sapphires.

Due to the challenge of sourcing the correct shades of colored sapphire, the Rolex 116599 and its yellow gold companion reference 116598 were discontinued after short production runs.

In addition to the sapphire-set bezel, the Rolex Daytona "rainbow" includes diamond-paved lugs and crown guards. Unlike all other aspects of Rolex watchmaking, the process of setting gems remains artisanal. The diamond-set case of this Daytona was produced in low volume by Rolex jewelers who specialize in setting gems to precious metal. Inboard of the rainbow bezel, Rolex adds diamonds to the dial as well. For additional grandeur, Rolex uses genuine meteorite on each of the dial's sub-registers.

Internally, this white gold Rolex Daytona is identical to its steel counterpart. Rolex caliber 4130 provides 72 hours of automatically wound power reserve. Rolex watchmakers employ a vertical clutch and column wheel for crisp and precise chronograph action. The movement is a COSC-certified Swiss chronometer, and Rolex adds substantial shock resistance and antimagnetic qualities to the caliber 4130. The screw-down crown and chronograph pushers ensure 100-meter water resistance.

Due to its extreme rarity, the Rolex Daytona Rainbow ranks among the most collectible and valuable Rolex watches of the twenty-first century. In addition to this white gold model and its yellow gold counterpart, a rose gold Daytona with rainbow sapphires was launched at Baselworld 2018. Collecting all three Rolex "rainbow" Daytona chronographs is considered to be among the ultimate achievements by dedicated Rolex collectors.

All of this plus watch collector wrist shots will be featured in this episode of "Watches Tonight!"

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