In 2014, Jacob & Co. replica is back with some pretty amazing timepieces sure to impress everyone from traditional watch lovers to the general public. Watch the video below about the new Astronomia Tourbillon and it’s easy to see why the typical reaction to this complex and very interesting timepiece is “wow”. When and if the Astronomia will actually be produced is another question, but even if the timepiece remains a digital video, I’d be happy to create pure concepts.
The whole point of the Astronomia is to give you a “four-armed” movement that has a time dial (which twists to stay upright as the entire movement structure rotates around its axis), a tourbillon (which technically moves on two pivot points ), a rotating seconds indicator, and a rotating sphere reversed seconds indicator. Astronomia Sky more or less retains this performance (albeit differently in design and execution) and adds some astronomical complexity. Look around the perimeter of the dial through the face of the scene, and you’ll see a tiny hand that follows using a 12-month scale that runs along the entire face. Now, look at the center of this four-armed kinematic structure, and on top of it you’ll find a small sphere that looks like Earth. This globe has a hemispherical shield surrounding it as a day and night indicator. There are only two axis points to note here, other than the Earth’s rotation every 20 minutes, which is the 24-hour rotation of the diurnal index, as that is the rotation time of the four-armed movement. The little “world” itself is made of titanium and then hand-crafted Painted and carved. On the flow of this watch below the movement is a celestial star map with a zodiac indicator. This face is made of blued titanium (similar to our long-time favorite De Bethune watches) and features oval “sky indicator” hands. The entire dial actually rotates once a year,
Jacob & Co. was one of the first watchmakers to understand the power of the “crazy swiss luxury replica watches,” as a mechanical watch with an epic complication meant only to impress in a way that resembles the tone and substance of many rap music videos. Impressed. These are designed as “ultra-luxury lifestyle” watches for those who are bored of buying a new yacht and browsing eBay on their phone while waiting for their personal banker to leave the yacht toilet they’re currently sitting on. The only thing about a watch like this is that it should be more impressive than most other watches that rich people can afford.
Nothing I said was meant to be mean or sarcastic. That’s indeed a fairly small target audience for a timepiece like this. We’re talking about that new money, new big money. These consumers are keen to show off their wealth, but sometimes cannot afford to spend it. Having said that, a piece like the Astronomia Tourbillon does have an air of refined sophistication given its haute horlogerie pedigree. While Jacob & Co. may have a “diverse” clientele that represents who you do and don’t want to have dinner with, they certainly have the ability to get things done when they go all out.
There is very little information about the Astronomia Tourbillon at the moment, other than a video and pictures, Jacob & Co. did a great job preparing us for the ‘launch’ of the piece at Baselworld 2014. We hope to see it in person there or eventually. Sometimes best cheap watches like this first debut in computer rendering, only to be actually released a few years later because the time it takes to produce a working movement can be much longer. This may be the case, as the movement in the Astronomia Tourbillon seems very ambitious. While the watch itself is not an astronomical complication, it is themed around them. At the center of the watch is the “sun”, surrounded by four orbiting objects.
These items include the time dial (which remains upright in all positions as it moves around the main dial), a rotating globe model, a rotating spherical crystal (possibly a diamond), and finally, an impressive biaxial tourbillon. This It’s all based around a nifty planetary gearing that any engineering student (or watchmaker) would be proud to have as their semester project.
It’s not clear whether a spinning globe that aligns with Earth’s 24-hour cycle could be clearly used to indicate anything. It doesn’t even matter, because the simple action of it looks fun enough. The dial was probably the most impressive to me at the time, as it was both legible and quite complex in visual presentation.
Jacob & Co. introduces the Astronomia Tourbillon, featuring a large diameter 18k rose gold case with a bezel and glass made from a single block of sapphire crystal. This allows a full view of the dial from all angles. Also note the lack of a crown, which means it’s either on the top of the watch or, more likely, somewhere on the back. The mechanical movement itself is designed to take up only a small portion of the dial to allow for roominess in the case and give the impression that the four “planets” have a lot of room to move. It is most likely hand-wound.
As a pure movement of horological decadence, the Astronomia Tourbillon is certainly a very interesting watch, and its production cost and final retail price may be just as awesome. We at aBlogtoWatch love this thing because it makes owning a simple timepiece so much more fun. We can look at our most basic “classic” watches and imagine that somewhere out there, someone might be wearing an Astronomia Tourbillon and reading at the same time of day, but more ornate.
