The connection seems so evident that one wonders why Jacob & Co. did not attempt it earlier in the company’s 30-year history. Perhaps it is because the production of sapphire crystal cases has only been mastered relatively recently and there are now a handful of brands setting a trend with them. Yet unlike these other brands, Jacob & Co.’s Astronomia collection has more legitimacy in this respect. It has always been a model apart, with its huge sapphire crystal and large, yet light and airy case.
To say that Jacob & Co.’s founder Jacob Arabo has a great passion for diamonds is an understatement. He does not simply like the stones, he devotes great attention to sourcing and sorting them (consider as an example the Billionaire watch. The term “flawless” (referring to the highest grade of diamond clarity according to the GIA diamond grading scale) is therefore one that is undoubtedly close to his heart. For a diamond to achieve this level, no inclusions or blemishes should be visible under 10x magnification. This term is therefore a fitting benchmark to use for Jacob & Co.’s first full-sapphire case for the Astronomia.
To translate the notion of flawless into Jacob & Co.’s flagship complicated timepiece, a number of components that were previously produced in precious metal are now made of sapphire crystal: the one-piece case middle and lugs, the dial (a blue-coloured sapphire) and even the buckle. These changes have added a considerable layer of complexity to the new watch. The production of the case middle alone requires 15 individual steps that account for around 326 hours of work, the case back requires around 297 hours of work, the dial 280 hours and the buckle 295 hours. Add to this the 288 hours required for the production of the domed crystal common to all Astronomia models and you have a total of 37 weeks of work just to produce the sapphire components – excluding engraving!
The manually wound JCAM16 calibre with its triple axis tourbillon, rotating earth and sun and subsidiary hour and minute dial has also evolved. A rose-gold finish has been applied to the titanium bridges and the central axis is adorned with a 1.5-carat Jacob Cut® yellow sapphire, in addition to the 1-carat diamond representing the sun, which also has the 288 facets of the Jacob Cut®. Although the dial appears the same as on other Astronomia models, it is in fact made out of sapphire crystal and has been given a blue coating.
Destined for the finest connoisseurs, the Astronomia models will only ever be strictly limited in production. In the case of the Astronomia Flawless, only nine models will be produced.
