ReviewJacob & Co’s Bugatti Tourbillon: A Revolution In Design Integration
Jacob & Co’s new creation drives the ‘car + watch’ collaboration towards an unprecedented level of synergy
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“I don’t want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me.” These words, uttered by one of my favourite characters, Frank Costello (played by Jack Nicholson) in Martin Scorsese’s 2006 film The Departed, could easily have come from Jacob Arabo. A man who, through his sheer force of will, testicular fortitude, unrelenting drive and a flair for larger-than-life design, Arabo has created one of the most exciting watch brands on the planet. While other brands make their bones in the rarefied milieu of watch nerd gatherings, Jacob & Co has, over the past years, staked its claim and waged its game of horological one-upmanship on the one piece of real estate where it is the undisputed champ: the red carpet.
Whether it’s at the Met Gala, the Academy Awards or innumerable movie premieres, Jacob devotees such as Conor McGregor, Matthew McConaughey and Rihanna can be seen brandishing their Jacob & Co ticking finery on their wrists or, in the case of Bad Girl Riri, around her neck at the Louis Vuitton show in Paris. And so it seems that Jacob’s environment—that of the world’s biggest stars—is indeed, very genuinely, a product of him. However, all that megawatt glamour belies some very real horological ambitiousness. Not in the traditional, ‘Geneva Seal, swan-neck regulator, cloisonné enamel’ sense, but by blazing his own path, which I can only say is pushing complications into all-new unexplored directions, yielding watches that are objects of fantasy with a unique contemporary machine-art edge.
Bugatti Tourbillon Debuts
Nowhere is Jacob’s horological drive more apparent than in his collaboration with supercar maker Bugatti, which has resulted in the mind-bending Chiron Tourbillon that features a W-shaped engine-block automaton.
Now, automatons are usually figurines ranging from butterflies to couples caught up in connubial activities and are, in general, whimsical and somewhat backward looking. It was Jacob who first turned the entire concept of automatons on its head by creating a miniature transparent sapphire crystal replica of a Bugatti W16 engine that would ignite into action at the owner’s command. It was, in concept, totally genre defying. It was, in execution, pretty damn visually spectacular. Perhaps most importantly, it was a watch related to a supercar brand that brought a level of ambitiousness and a sense of connection that was truly purposeful.
But the thing to understand about this year’s new Jacob & Co Bugatti Tourbillon is that it was designed in tandem with the creation of Bugatti’s new benchmark-setting hypercar of the same name—which takes the collaboration to an all-time unprecedented level. Says Benjamin Arabov, CEO of Jacob & Co, “This is not design inspiration. This is design integration.”
What he means is that every other ‘car + watch’ collaboration that has come before has followed one of two established patterns. The watch designers take inspiration from a pre-existing car, integrate Giorgetto Giugiaro-like swooping curves to the case, add a fuel-tank-inspired power reserve indicator, festoon the all-important car badge to the dial and, “Voila!” Alternatively, they get the car brand’s creative director to add a few ‘aerodynamic’-inspired carbon fibre foil-like elements to the lugs or crown guard, slap on a strap made from actual race car tyres, a rotor made from a combination of tungsten carbide and carbon ceramic brake disc material, and then ‘Bob’s your uncle!’ But both these paths can be facile and formulaic. Quite honestly, in an age of intense scrutiny and a relentless demand for authenticity, these efforts tend to express the same flatness as heavily oaked new-world Chardonnay served in a plastic cup in premium economy.
In contrast, the new Jacob & Co Bugatti Tourbillon is the very first timepiece I’ve heard of to be created concurrently with the Bugatti supercar, which is also named Tourbillon, thanks to the use of a transparent design that unveils the technical dimensions of the car like a watch movement. From my perspective, this is monumental as it represents the first time that a supercar, let alone one created by one of the most desirable automotive brands on the planet, is directly inspired by a watch. “We have taken great inspiration from watchmaking, both in terms of materiality and complexity,” says Mate Rimac, CEO of Bugatti Rimac.
“In the interior, we opted for a very transparent design that allows a view of the technical details and emphasises the precision craftsmanship and exclusivity of the vehicle. It’s like a very high-quality watch, where you can see the movement. In the art of watchmaking, the tourbillon is known to represent the highest form of complication, and this is exactly what we want to show with the Bugatti Tourbillon.”
Watch Imitates Car Imitates Watch
As I mentioned, the first ‘Jacob & Co X Bugatti’ collaboration, the Chiron Tourbillon was a singularly game-changing timepiece. It is perhaps better described as sheer performance art for the wrist with its miniature sapphire crystal W16 engine block with titanium valves and tiny functional turbo chargers that explode into action, exactly emulating the function of the Chiron’s monumental power plant. Add to this a 30 degree-inclined tourbillon and, in some instances, a full sapphire crystal case, and the result was irrefutably impressive.
But Jacob & Co’s new collaboration ups the ante by creating a sapphire V16 engine that is capable of running for 20 seconds at a time for 10 cycles before the watch needs to be rewound. In addition, it features one of the most creative displays of time with a uniquely shaped control panel that features, from left to right, the watch’s flying tourbillon, the double retrograde hour and minute display, and the power reserve for both the movement and the miniature engine.
Typical of Jacob Arabo, each of these elements represents a step up in his horological game. The tourbillon makes a full rotation every 30 seconds, making it the fastest revolving single-axis tourbillon created by the brand thus far. The underlying logic for a 30-second tourbillon is that with a faster rotating cage, you gain greater autonomy from shock. The hour is represented by a precisely jumping hand that travels over 270 degrees. Both hands are retrograde indicators, meaning that they leap back to ‘zero’.
Says Benjamin Arabov, “This references the tachymeter of the Tourbillon supercar. But the way we executed the hands means this a double retrograde indicator, and we had to make sure that power remained stable even when both hands were jumping at the same time.” Finally, the double indicator for the 48-hour power reserve of the movement and the 200-second power reserve of the engine are mounted coaxially on the same pinion; yet are easy to distinguish. Says Benjamin Arabov, “Its super easy to wind the barrel for both the movement and the engine using the crown at six o’clock.”
Looking at the shape of the black DLC-coated grade-5 titanium case in the new Jacob & Co Bugatti Tourbillon, your eyes immediately goes to the distinct feature gleaned from the Bugatti Tourbillon’s powerful exterior. The form of the front grill is immediately apparent, as are the side radiator inlets and the massive side windows rendered in sapphire crystal.
“Creating the Bugatti Tourbillon with Jacob & Co. was hugely rewarding,” says Jan Schmid, chief exterior designer at Bugatti. “Our goal was to translate the essence of Bugatti’s latest hyper sports car into a timepiece that would have the same enduring appeal. The result is a watch that captures the spirit of beauty and craftsmanship.” What’s nice is that at 52mm by 44mm by 15mm, the new Jacob & Co Bugatti Tourbillon is surprisingly comfortable and ergonomic on the wrist. Because there are no lugs, the dimensions sound larger than they actually are, but the new watch wears comparably to a classic Richard Mille model.
Says the famed watch collector, Bugatti owner and Jacob evangelist who goes by his Instagram sobriquet @santa_laura, “The partnership between Jacob and Bugatti works because you have two brands at the same level pursuing the same goal, which is the highest level of creativity and performance with zero compromise. I’m not surprised that for this new watch Bugatti was inspired by Jacob’s watches and that the technical details come to life because he does this in such a visually compelling and exciting way.”
Says Benjamin Arabov, “Jacob & Co is ushering in a new age of car watchmaking. We’re building up on the incredible success of our Bugatti Chiron Tourbillon timepiece and on a shared frame of mind with Bugatti Automobiles. This high complication, high octane watch sets the highest bar for innovation, design integration and exhilarating watchmaking.”
Jacob’s Language of Automatons
In order to understand why the Bugatti Tourbillon watch is so ambitious, you need to first understand the character of the man whose name is on the brand. In my 2022 article on Jacob, I explained that so powerfully does Jacob Arabo convey the American Dream that if he didn’t exist, the United States would have had to invent him. He emigrated with his family from Uzbekistan and, by 17, became their primary supporter. While still a teenager, he went from working in a jewellery factory to designing and manufacturing jewellery, to becoming the go-to jeweller for the entire hip-hop community. His unique cache was the creation of the contemporary streetwear designs they all craved but executed at an incredible level of quality.
Says watch journalist David Chokron, “The incredible thing about Jacob is [the] relentless pursuit of higher quality, more ambitious projects and with the type of fearlessness to embark on the seemingly impossible with the intelligence, resilience and demand for perfection that underpins his success.”
Not content to have created the single most popular timepiece in the music industry, his famous Five Time Zone watch, Jacob set his sights on true high watchmaking excellence, which he achieved with watches such as the Astronomia, the single most animated amphitheatre for micro-mechanical pyrotechnics in the industry, the Godfather tourbillon musical watch, and the Twin Turbo Furious, the absolutely bonkers double triple-axis tourbillon with decimal minute repeater and chronograph. Jacob and his son Benjamin, who joined as CEO of the company in 2021, are open about working with the best external Swiss high-complication specialists from Concepto to Le Cercle des Horlogers.
With the maturation of his horological voice and the crystallisation of his watchmaking vision, one of the key focuses for Jacob Arabo would be on translating the concept of automatons into the language of the modern world and giving them a new relevance. The term ‘automaton’ comes from the Greek automatos, meaning ‘acting of itself’. They are miniature figurines engaged in some repetitive action and were combined with tower clocks in the mid-14th century in Europe. In 1770, a Swiss watchmaker named Pierre Jaquet-Droz rose to prominence by creating a series of automatons capable of remarkably human-like actions, such as recreating its own signature. Since the ’90s, automatons have appeared on wristwatches to create dial-side animation that accompanies traditional complications like minute repeaters.
Says Jacob, “I loved the idea of a watch that came to life on its own and performed a series of complex actions, as if it was animated by its own will. But my issue was that the automatons that I saw on watches were always backward looking. They were so old-fashioned; they just weren’t cool. When I had the opportunity to develop a watch together with the greatest supercar company in the world, Bugatti, I became determined to create a movement featuring the famous 16-cylinder engine, but one that was fully functional and came to life on its own with the push of a button.” The movement that Jacob conceptualized for the Chiron watch perfectly replicated the famous 16-cylinder turbo-driven engine of the car manufacturer, albeit here driving a 30-degree inclined one-minute tourbillon.
Like its predecessor, the engine in the new Bugatti Tourbillon watch is crafted out of transparent sapphire crystal and inside it sits 16 individual cylinders. Each cylinder features functional pistons that pump up and down as they are turned by a tiny crankshaft. When you set the watch into action, all the pistons begin to fire in perfect replication of the Bugatti Chiron’s actual engine.
Says Jacob, “I want the watch to have the ultimate parallels with the Chiron while still being its own unique object of beauty. But then look at the finish of the movement, look at the polish and execution of the case. I want to make watches that delight the man that has everything including a Bugatti Tourbillon, but I want to make them in an authentic way with respect to all of traditional watchmaking’s techniques and finishing.”
Says Valérien Jaquet, founder and CEO of Concepto and Jacob’s partner in both Bugatti watches, “I’ve never met someone that has challenged me as much as Jacob. But in a positive way. He is always pushing me to explore the limits of what is possible and sometimes to go beyond this. With our one-minute Astronomia, he insisted that the watch carriage should make a full rotation in 60 seconds. This forced me to create a constant force mechanism on the escapement. With the new Bugatti watch, he wanted to create the single most visually dynamic timepiece we’ve worked on yet, and at the same time even more powerfully evoke the elements of the new Tourbillon supercar.”
Seamless Design Integration
The adventure for this new watch started two years ago in 2022. Bugatti privately began the creation of its latest vehicle, the Tourbillon, intended to succeed its incredibly successful Chiron model, featuring a new engine, design and unprecedented levels of engineering and luxury. By January 2023, Jacob & Co had visited Bugatti’s design studio where founder Jacob Arabo, CEO Benjamin Arabov and their team collaborated with Bugatti’s design team, led by Achim Anscheidt and Jan Schmid. The meeting resulted in a seamless integration of car and watch design, culminating in the Bugatti Tourbillon, an extraordinary timepiece created and developed over 18 months, showcasing the innovative synergy between two of the world’s most game-changing brands.
Says Benjamin Arabov, “This is our second major technical launch of the year, following up on the very well-received Astronomia Regulator. The new Bugatti Tourbillon watch takes all the incredible visual and technical firepower of the previous watch and adds to it a truly innovative display in a very wearable size.”
“Working closely with Bugatti is the most exciting experience,” says Jacob Arabo. “I live to push watchmaking to new levels, coming up with designs and complications that no one had even dreamed about. Bugattis are the same. They push everything beyond what everyone thinks is the limit. The Bugatti Tourbillon is our most advanced timepiece, the great achievement of a great partnership.”
“Collaborating with Jacob & Co. on the Bugatti Tourbillon allowed us to really focus on the subtle details that make a great design,” says Achim Anscheidt, senior advisor at Bugatti. “In designing our hyper sports cars, we follow Ettore Bugatti’s mantra that ‘nothing is too beautiful’, and that’s an approach we applied here too. The Jacob & Co Bugatti Tourbillon is a horological celebration of this new era of Bugatti that focuses on the timeless fascination of the mechanical world.”
Technical Specifications: Jacob & Co Bugatti Tourbillon
- Movement: Manual-winding JCAM55; 48-hour power reserve
- Functions: Jumping retrograde hours and minutes; 30-second flying tourbillon; automaton power reserve
- Case: 52mm × 44mm; black PVD titanium; water-resistant up to 30m
- Strap: Interchangeable black rubber strap
- Price: INR 2.84 crore (approximately)
- Availability: Limited to 150 pieces
This story was originally published on Revolution. Revolution is one of the leading watch media titles, placing mechanical timepieces front and centre in a luxury-lifestyle format. Revolution is a global brand reaching a global audience, but with a strong knowledge of local markets and great relationships with top collectors and watch groups worldwide.
