Jacob & Co. Bugatti Tourbillon Watch Unleashed

Marking yet another milestone in the history of their partnership, luxury watchmaker Jacob & Co. and exotic automaker Bugatti have teamed up again to give us a new wild timepiece: the Jacob & Co. Bugatti Tourbillon. The watch is inspired by the automaker’s latest hypercar, the Bugatti Tourbillon — a hybrid with 1,800 horsepower. Yes, the car shares its name with a famous watchmaking mechanism, which is in turn named after the French word for “whirlwind.” Aside from the name, Bugatti also borrowed design cues from watchmaking for the new hypercar. For example, a “skeletonized” gauge design provides a view of the technical details — much like a high-end watch puts its movement on display.

Whether the whirlwind car or whirlwind watch, they are both the result of epic engineering, cutting-edge design, and a shared vision between Jacob & Co. and Bugatti for seamless integration of car and watch design. I’ll leave the remainder of the details of the hypercar to seasoned car journalists and will instead offer up an overview of the new Jacob & Co. Bugatti Tourbillon watch.

Jacob & Co Bugatti Tourbillon: The Design Details

The Bugatti Tourbillon car is the successor to the Bugatti Chiron; similarly, the completely redesigned and rebuilt Jacob & Co.’s Bugatti Tourbillon watch now replaces the Bugatti Chiron Tourbillon timepiece.

The Jacob & Co.’s Bugatti Tourbillon sports a 52 x 44mm black PVD titanium case (15mm thick), designed not only after the car’s shape but also to echo some of the vehicle’s features, For instance, the 12 o’clock spear-headed side of the case is home to a front grille, flanked by a pair of radiator inlets, all nestled in the recesses of the case and blanketed with a laser-etched grid pattern. There are also two large sapphire apertures on the case sides (offering a view of the movement), shaped and tinted like the vehicle’s side windows.

The upper portion of the dial of the Jacob & Co. Bugatti Tourbillon is fashioned after a Bugatti dashboard. There’s the subdial on the right side that indicates the power reserves of both the movement and the V16 engine block automaton located on the bottom portion of the dial (more on that shortly). The left side of this car-inspired tourbillon watch has the 30-second flying tourbillon.

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The center subdial was conceived to clearly evoke a tachometer and speedometer. Punctuated with the famous Bugatti logo, this subdial houses the hours, minutes, and seconds hands. However, this isn’t a simple time-telling display; both the hour and minute hands are retrograde. Once they complete their 270-degree arc, they jump back to their respective starting positions to start again. Also note the absence of the customary “12,” which is instead represented as “0” as one would expect on a car’s gauges. Impressively, the trio of subdials are shielded by one sapphire crystal piece. Cutting that piece of Mickey Mouse-shaped sapphire couldn’t have been easy.

Jacob & Co Bugatti Tourbillon: The Engine Block Automation and Movement

The highlight of the Jacob & Co. Bugatti Tourbillon watch is the engine block automaton that takes up most of the real estate on the dial. It’s essentially a miniaturized version of the V16 engine that powers the Bugatti Tourbillon hypercar.

Made from a single block of transparent sapphire drilled with 16 cylinders and driven by a single-axis crankshaft, the titanium pistons move up and down to mimic an internal combustion engine. The automaton is activated by pressing the pusher inside the control knob-like crown at 6 o’clock and the choreographed sequence lasts up to 20 seconds. The engine block automaton can execute 20 consecutive animation sequences on a single, full wind of the movement.

The hand-wound movement inside the Jacob & Co. Bugatti Tourbillon is the Caliber JCAM55, which operates at 21,600 beats per hour (3 Hz), supplies 48 hours of power reserve, and comprises 557 components.

Jacob & Co. Bugatti Tourbillon Watch Specs

Model	Bugatti Tourbillon
Case Material	Black PVD Titanium
Case Dimensions	Diameter: 44mm Thickness: 15mm Lug-to-lug: 52mm
Functions	Off-centered Jumping Retrograde Hours and Retrograde Minutes 30-second Flying Tourbillon Single-axis Movement Power Reserve and Automaton Power Reserve V16 Engine Block Automaton in Transparent Sapphire
Movement	Caliber JCAM55 Manual winding 48 hours power reserve 21,600 bph (3 Hz)
Water Resistance	30 meters
Limited Edition	150 examples in black titanium 250 total run (other materials to come)
2024 Retail Price (MSRP)	$340,000

Price and Availability

Like the Bugatti Tourbillon hypercar, the entire production run of the Jacob & Co. watch will be limited to 450 units. This first version, in black PVD titanium, is limited to 150 pieces and other materials will join the collection in the near future.

The price of the Jacob & Co. Bugatti Tourbillon in black titanium is $340,000. To learn what Jacob & Co. might have in store for the future, you can see Luxury Bazaar’s founder Roman Sharf’s interview Jacob & Co. CEO Benjamin Arabov.

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