Looking for a unique timepiece that combines exquisite Swiss craftsmanship and horological brilliance of decoration, then choose the Jacob and Co. Astronomia Solar Watch. The timepiece allows the visual of each element as it is constantly in motion, all beating from the oscillator at the heart of the three-axis tourbillon, displaying the celestial world and the orbital display of hours and minutes. This brand is known for some of the more striking and bold timepieces on the market, as well as some of the priciest.
Looking in detail at this remarkable timepiece, the case design is rather normal with 44.5mm, 18k rose gold, filling the spaces with sapphire to allow that unobstructed view of the brilliance of the movement within. The thickness was crafted at 21mm, which might seem thick, but with the three-dimensional movement and the domed sapphire crystal there is no other design choice. This makes the timepiece very apparent on your wrist and allows others to take notice. There is no visible crown on the watch, and setting the time as well as winding the movement happens using two fold-out 18k rose gold ‘bows’ on the case back. The real eye catcher on this timepiece however is not on the back, but on the exquisite and elegant dial face.
The exposed movement is open for everyone to view on the dial. The movement itself has been crafted with three separate arms, one that leads to a sub-dial which displays the time, then a second that leads to the flying tourbillon and the third that leads to a globe. Featuring a very legible time, each of the blued hour and minute hands are designed pretty large, and also have a magnificent contrast against the 18k rose gold skeletonized sub-dial.
The tourbillon carries the logo of Jacob & Co. on the bridge and it rotates on two axes. You might be surprised that this Astronomia Solar Watch is a bi-axial tourbillon. The rotations on this movement are crafted with the horizontal rotation every 60 seconds and vertical every 10 minutes. The globe that has been beautifully created with rose gold and blue lacquer, rotates on its own axis every 60 seconds, as well as a rotation around the dial every 10 minutes, as the entire movement rotates clockwise and makes a full rotation every 10 minutes. The aventurine base has been highly decorated to resemble the night sky, and reflect the solar system in a timepiece.
The Astronomia Solar Watch that Jacob & Co. has created is just breathtaking with the large 1.5 carat Citrine crystal sitting in the middle of the dial, and cut to represent the sun, and then is set using three other stones, amethyst, garnet and smoked quartz to represent the other planets. If that alone is not spectacular enough, the functionality design has these planets rotating along with the movement, to depict a mini solar system on your wrist. The in-house caliber JCAM19 that is equipped with 444 components is quite unique in that it is mostly constructed out of titanium. This choice was made because of the large number of rotating components and finding a way to lessen the load on the mainspring. Beating at 4Hz, the tourbillon has a power reserve of 48 hours and finished with such beauty, sand-blasted and beveled bridges, gear train components that have circular graining and polished countersinks and screws.
The Jacob & Co. Astronomia Solar Watch is a limited edition timepiece that truly allows you to have the world on your wrist.
