Top clocks (and semantics).
From jewelers to royalty and rappers, Jacob & Co. luxury is behind some of the most daring timepieces in watchmaking. While its jewel-encrusted watches have kept the brand in the public eye, Jacob & Co. has applied its fashion sensibilities to complicated watches that aren’t for the faint of heart.
Launched earlier this year, an extreme example of its ultimate taste, the Twin Turbo Furious, which not only stacks complications – minute repeater, chronograph and double tourbillon – but also does it in an exotic way they. The minute repeater is decimal, while the tourbillon regulator is flying, triaxial and high-speed.
This mighty watch is actually a follow-up to the original 2016 model, it’s just a twin-turbo; the “Furious” suffix refers to the addition of a single-button chronograph with a reference time difference indicator, the third in-house Unusual complication. In short, it’s a watch that someone inclined to modesty might describe as quite a lot. In fact, it can be said to be a veritable replica watches on sale. Complications are as large as cases.
Unusually, the Twin Turbo Furious movement was conceived by Neuchâtel-based specialist Le Cercle des Horlogers, not the Ateliers 7h38 responsible for most of Jacob & Co.’s complicated watches.
The bulbous trapezoid case alone is made up of a staggering 88 components and measures 57mm wide, 52mm lug-to-lug and 17mm high. Pictured is an all-black prototype with diamond-like carbon (DLC)-coated titanium and carbon composite sides, but the production watch is actually a combination of red gold and carbon fiber, which makes the watch even more eye-catching. However, titanium and carbon composite cases are available as custom orders.
On the right side of the case is an unusual crank used to wind the movement, while the other end houses the slider for activating the minute repeater. On top of the case is a piece of expansive smoked sapphire glass that curves down at the front edge of the case, following its curvature, while the dial itself is also made of sapphire crystal.
The watch’s most striking feature is the pair of three-axis flying tourbillon regulators, which sit at the bottom of the dial (with a small power-reserve indicator between them). Contrary to a traditional tourbillon that rotates around a single axis, a three-axis tourbillon rotates simultaneously around three different axes. In a refinement of the earlier twin-turbo, the tourbillon was accelerated. Both spin like crazy – it takes 24 seconds to make one revolution on the first axis, 8 seconds on the second axis, and 30 seconds on the third axis.
The multi-axis rotation means that each balance wheel is never in the same position, so theoretically it is not affected by any gravity. The two tourbillons are connected by a differential, resulting in a single average rate, making the movement’s timekeeping more stable than with a single regulator. But most importantly, the tourbillon offers the highly appealing visual spectacle expected of an oversized watch.
The Twin Turbo Furious also features a decimal minute repeater, which might be appropriate for such a clearly advanced watch. The decimal system is a modern invention that is more intuitive when striking the time, just like how an analog watch is read.
Unlike traditional minute repeaters, the decimal minute repeater strikes the hours, minutes and individual minutes in 10-minute increments, making it easy to interpret. Like many modern daily repeaters, it has a built-in safety mechanism that disconnects the time-setting mechanism when striking and vice versa.
The third complication is the monopusher chronograph, whose construction is rather traditional, relying on a column wheel and a horizontal clutch. But related to the chronograph is the most novel complication in a watch: the reference time difference indication. It was inspired by the timing panels used in racing cars to show drivers the difference between their reference lap times and their actual lap times.
The reference time is set via the crown and displayed in two adjacent windows at six o’clock (“Board” in the image below). The larger number shows the minutes, and the aperture on the right shows the seconds, showing up to 5:59. fashion Jacob & Co.
Once the chronograph is started and stopped, the “pit plate” wheel that surrounds the dial indicates the time difference between the recorded time and the reference time. Positive jet lag times are indicated by red numbers on the wheels, while negative jet lag times are indicated by yellow.
The striking movement is the hand-wound calibre JCFM05, which runs at 3Hz and has a power reserve of 50 hours. It consists of a staggering 832 parts.
From the back, the construction of the movement looks as complicated as it actually is. The style is reminiscent of Richard Mille and Audemars Piguet’s concept watches, but it’s still fun.
Its construction is fairly symmetrical, with the hammer of the decimal minute repeater at the top center. Directly below is the timing mechanism, including the column wheel on the left, directly opposite the repeater’s regulator. At the bottom are a pair of gold-plated skeletonized wheels that drive the tourbillon.
The movement decoration is also exquisite, with hand-chamfered bridges with a black polished finish, rounded textures on the wheels, and polished countersinks for the jewels. replica limited edition watches
