30 years of ground-breaking watches

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30 years of ground-breaking watches - Jacob & Co.
The Astronomia Meteorite is the latest in the hugely complicated Astronomia collection and, like its predecessors, sets a new benchmark in the combination of watch and jewellery expertise.

Building on 16 years of success in the jewellery business, Jacob & Co., the brand that was born of the passion of Jacob Arabo, presented its first timepiece in 2002. Already, this first piece was audacious, presenting no less than five different time zones on the same dial and setting the standard that would be followed by many of the brand’s high-end complications over the next decade. In 2006, Jacob & Co. introduced the Quenttin model – the first watch equipped with a 31-day power reserve and a vertical tourbillon. In 2013 the Jacob & Co. Epic SF 24 ushered in a new and hitherto unique style of second time zone display, inspired the old mechanical flip-board displays at airports and railway stations. Two years ago the brand presented its most audacious and most complicated model yet, the Astronomia with an orbiting triple-axis tourbillon on one of four central axes on the movement, with the other three housing a rotating Earth, moon and hour and minute subdial, all visible beneath a huge domed sapphire crystal.

Jacob-Co-workshop

To celebrate the brand’s 30 years, Jacob & Co. brings the total production in its mind-boggling Astronomia collection to 99 pieces with the addition of a brand-new Astronomia Meteorite model. All the models in this collection differ mainly through the interpretations used for the part of the case back visible beneath the huge dome of sapphire crystal that covers the levitating movement. On the original Astronomia Tourbillon model this was in 18-carat gold covered with a layer of aventurine overlaid by an 18-carat gold lattice structure. In the Astronomia Tourbillon Black Gold model it was adapted to the dark tones of the case, keeping the aventurine but adding a black DLC coating to the white-gold latticework to match that of the case. In the baguette version, the aventurine was replaced by 16 carats worth of baguette diamonds on the back and lugs of the case, while in the Astronomia Sky, the celestial theme of the movement was carried through on to the base with a faithful depiction of hand-applied stars and signs of the zodiac. An Astronomia Clarity accentuated the illusion of levitation by using a sapphire crystal case back that showed off the movement rotating in space from all four sides.

Jacob & Co astronomia Sky

Despite what the name suggests, the Astronomia Meteorite follows the aesthetics of the other jewellery models and dispenses with the aventurine base plate. Here, the base plate, case sides and lugs have been set with no less than 357 triangular-cut diamonds (133 on the base, 124 on the case and 100 on lugs) for a total of 35.30 carats by weight. But what is more impressive here is the hidden figure behind this weight of diamonds, since the triangular cut is notorious for the high amount of rough stone that is lost in the cutting process. The JCAM10 manually-wound calibre with its four separate axes, each of which bears a rotating element at the end, is thus bathed in an unparalleled sparkle of light bouncing off these 357 diamonds that surround it. In the year of the brand’s 30th anniversary it is a fitting tribute to Jacob Arabo’s knack of pushing the boundaries in his two passions to create the ultimate in high-end jewellery watch creations.

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