This Jacob & Co. Bugatti Tourbillon Offers A 360-Degree Look At Watchmaking Excellence
The latest hypercar-inspired timepiece mirrors the instrument panel of a $4.5 million Bugatti.
Jacob & Co. just joined forces with supercar maker Bugatti to rev up an all-new Bugatti Tourbillon Sapphire Crystal timepiece.
Rather than use sapphire crystal merely to top off the watch dial, the haute horologist focused on making an entire timepiece from the “ultimate high watchmaking material,” a move that the company says “elevates the original Bugatti Tourbillon to yet another level of exclusivity.” It’s but the latest lavish release from Jacob the Jeweler, coming on the heels of the musically-inclined The Godfather II Watch that debuted last week.
Attempting to build off the OG Bugatti Tourbillon is an impressive pursuit in its own right, as the Jay Z-approved watch features a V16 “engine” and sub-dial dashboard in a further nod to Bugatti. In fact, the company’s Caliber JCAM55 movement is designed with the same architecture as a Bugatti engine. The hours and minutes hands play off design cues from the car’s RPM counter, while the overall 80-hour power reserve of the movement is tracked by a larger hand within the subdial. Of the precisely crafted V16 “engine block” within, Jacob & Co. notes that it’s “among the longest, most elaborate, and most delicate watch parts ever crafted in watchmaking.”
The Bugatti Tourbillon Sapphire Crystal, on the other hand, retains plenty of the same design character, yet is fully transparent and boasts external blocks cut from corundum (sapphire’s chemical name). The caseback, upper bezel and caseband all begin their journey to watchmaking excellence as a full block of sapphire, while a 30-second tourbillon rests within and marks the fastest tourbillon ever designed by Jacob & Co., yet another homage to a Bugatti’s 276-mile-per-hour top speed.
It’s the latest ultra-luxe timepiece inspired by the powerful, often jaw-dropping and certainly exclusive hypercar maker, and Jacob & Co. certainly knows how to pick its partners. Its collaborations include the likes of a custom edition designed with Tom Brady, while other watches take their enviable design cues from fine cigars, oil derricks and the movie Scarface.
Delivered in both a striking ‘baby blue’ in a nod to its founder (Jacob the Jeweler) as well as signature Jacob & Co. green, the case clocks in at 54 by 44mm and features an astonishing 360 degrees of transparency. Within, the collaboration’s signature built-in V16 engine-shaped automaton is complemented by an auto-inspired tail-light grid and horseshoe-shaped grille, further design details inspired by legendary Bugatti hypercars.
The boundary-pushing watch makes a vivid (and expensive) statement, Jacob & Co. notes, adding that the “Bugatti Tourbillon Sapphire Crystal introduces an entirely new dimension to the relationship: while the car itself will never exist with a transparent body, the watch can.” The Bugatti Tourbillon Sapphire Crystal is undeniably built with a level of watchmaking precision and craft only rivaled, fittingly, by the world’s finest hypercars and for that, it’s going to cost you: $1.2 million, to be precise, with more information on the latest Jacob & Co. feat of timekeeping available online now.