SJX Watches
Hands On: Jacob & Co. Astronomia Revolution
Historically known for its over-the-top jewelled watches and oversized complications, Jacob & Co. recently debuted a watch that is very much quintessential Jacob, but surprisingly novel in mechanical terms. The Astronomia Revolution sticks to the distinctive, extra-large styling that defines the model, but contains an all-new movement that combines several complex assemblies into an even more complex movement, all in the name of a dynamic, fast-rotating display. Carrying the tourbillon and time display, the carousel is impressively quick and completes one revolution a minute, a feat made possible by a one-sixth-of-a-second constant-force mechanism and a differential for the time display. The kinetic nature of the dial means this is unlike any other mechanical watch. Initial thoughts The Astronomia Revolution made it into my list of notable complications unveiled at Watches & Wonders earlier this year: “[The] Revolution seems like yet another variant of the New York jeweller’s bestselling and bulbous timepiece… Except that it is not… While past versions of the Astronomia required between ten to 20 minutes or more for the carousel to complete one rotation, the Revolution does it in one minute [and] functions as a minute hand. To move a component that large at such a speed is unprecedented…” Which pretty much sums it up. It looks like a typical Jacob & Co. watch, but is much more interesting mechanically. That is because the movement goes against the prevailing co...
