Paul Picot Gentleman Arc-en-ciel (Rainbow)

Staying true to its name, the new Paul Picot Gentleman Arc-en-ciel automatic watch displays seven days of week each colored in one of the seven colors of the rainbow.

As you can see on the image below, the day of week indicator is located between 10 and 11 o’clock and is counter-weighted with a similarly shaped “Gentleman” plaque between 1 and 2 o’clock.

For some unknown reason (the watch is named in French and the company is located in Le Noirmont, Switzerland,) the days of week are represented in Italian, making it difficult to understand what day of week it is now, especially if it is “Venerdi” on the 1st of January.

From where I stand, the dial of the watch still looks a little too crude, mainly thanks to its eleven hour markers that seem to be too thick for the hour and minute hands.

The hands, too, look a trifle awkward. The normal dauphine-shaped hands would look totally at home here, but guys at Paul Picot, probably, wanted to make the watch stand out from the rest of the crowd that, when it comes to dress watches, draws its inspiration from the legendary Patek Philippe Calatrava family.

As you can see on the photos, the watch is available in two versions. One (Ref. P2052.SG.3601) sports a black dial and the other comes with a sportier silver-toned dial with blue hour markers. Well, since this is primarily a dress watch, I certainly would prefer the one with black dial.

Since the watch is supposed to look as “classic” as possible, it is issued in a mid-sized round case. Crafted from high-grade stainless steel, the body of the watch is 40 millimeters in diameter (not including the crown) and sports a very thin bezel, which makes it look especially slender.

Paul Picot plans to sell the watch at CHF 2450 (around €1617,) which seems to be more than an adequate price for a timepiece in a stainless steel case powered by a slightly modified base ETA 2834 automatic caliber.

Photos: Paul Picot

Paul Picot Gentleman Arc-en-ciel watch specification

Price range: CHF 2450
Movement: ETA 2834 base caliber, automatic, 25 jewels, 28,800 vph
Complications: Date, day of week
Power reserve: 42 hours
Case material: Stainless steel
Bezel material: Stainless steel
Case shape: Round
Transparent case back: N/A
Case size: 40.00 mm
Case height: N/A
Dial: Black or silvered
Hands: Stainless steel
Water resistance: 50 meters
Strap: Leather crocodile strap on tongue buckle
Crystal: Sapphire, AR-coated