It is somewhat counterintuitive to think that New York-based jeweller Jacob & Co. is one of the fastest growing brands in the mostly stagnant Swiss watch industry. In fact, Jacob & Co. is now a watchmaker first and a jeweller second by turnover – watches account for 75% of the brand’s revenue today.

This success is party due to the brand’s open-minded approach to movement making and the surprising (and often risky) projects it has produced, from the first 31-day wristwatch in 2006 to the world’s fastest tourbillon in 2026.

One of Jacob & Co.’s specialties is dial-side automata — micro-mechanical sculptures that that can be activated on demand.

Alongside the launch of the flagship Godfather II, Jacob & Co. expanded its range of automata watches with new sapphire editions of the Bugatti Tourbillon, a malachite-dialled Casino, and new editions of the provocative Oil Pump.

The Bugatti Tourbillon Sapphire

Jacob & Co. is not the first watch brand to collaborate with celebrated carmaker Bugatti, but the collaboration is more than a mere commercial tie-up. In fact, the two companies share a manufacturing partner — Concepto — a La Chaux-de-Fonds-based specialist in components and white-label movements.

Bugatti enlisted Concepto to produce the fully analogue instrument cluster of its latest hypercar — the aptly named Tourbillon. This was a delightful return to tactility in a world of digital displays and ubiquitous touchscreens.

This three-way collaboration continues with a trio of unique Bugatti Tourbillon Sapphire Crystal wristwatches available in lime green, electric blue, and rose gold, and priced at US$1.2 million each — about a quarter of the car’s cost.

Bugatti’s hypercar and Jacob and Co.’s hyperwatch have a few other things in common. Amusingly, both only run in one direction — as the Bugatti lacks a reverse gear — and both have prominent V16 engines.

But the Bugatti Tourbillon wristwatch is powered by a traditional mainspring. Its sapphire crystal V16 — which provides a stunning view of the entire machine in three dimensions — is an automaton separate from the timekeeping mechanism and can be revved up on demand with a pusher in the crown.

Decorative exhaust manifolds flank the engine block, and the pipes are DLC-treated to match the accent colour.  It is also worth mentioning that Jacob & Co. matches its engine configuration to that of its namesake car – the Chiron models used a tiny W16 engine.

The automaton features its own mainspring barrel, which drives the engine through the crankshaft. Pressing the button in the crown unlocks this barrel causing the cylinders to pound away furiously for about 20 seconds, while the watch itself will run for 80 hours. Both mainspring barrels are wound by the same crown and feature grande sonnerie-style winding clicks.

As a result of this mechanical configuration, the Bugatti Tourbillon has two coaxial power reserve indicators, showing how much “gas” each barrel has left in the tank. To tie the watch in with the Tourbillon car’s mechanical instrument panel, it uses retrograde hour and minutes hands that jump back after reaching the end of a 270° arc.

Making entire cases out of sapphire, even relatively simple ones, is infamously tedious. Jacob & Co. shared that each case for the Bugatti Tourbillon Sapphire takes about 800 hours to produce — much of that time is spent on polishing. While this might seem like an exaggeration, sapphire cannot be milled away like most materials. Instead, it must be ground down.

Normal round sapphire crystals are cheap and plentiful thanks to their economies of scale. In contrast, just three of these cases will be made.

The electric blue example pictured was photographed prior to the final polish of the sapphire, which means the slightly opaque sections of the crystal will in fact be crystal-clear when the watch is delivered.

The Bugatti Tourbillon also features an unusually fast 30-second tourbillon, which completes two rotations per minute rather than the usual one. The tourbillon cage is partially sapphire, so the balance’s upper support appears to float freely, though the illusion is partly broken by the cutouts allowing a watchmaker to access the curb-pin regulator for adjustment.

Though this type of curb-pin regulator might seem out of place in a seven-figure watch, fixating on this detail largely misses the point of the Bugatti Tourbillon. Jacob & Co. is growing in a declining market precisely because it understands mechanical spectacle. The common approach to adjustment detracts little from its raison d’être — namely its V16 automaton — which is unique in watchmaking.

The Casino

The Casino line is almost minimalist by Jacob and Co.’s standards. It debuted back in 2023 with a jet-black onyx dial, which remains in the catalogue, now joined by green malachite, as well as a new natural and DLC-coated black titanium case options.

If the stone dial is too restrained, a fully gemset variant is on offer with matching bracelet. In total, it sports 293 baguette-cut diamonds on the case (14.61 carats), 96 on the dial (3.36 carats) and 500 on the bracelet with no links removed (25.57) carats.

As diamond-set watches go it’s a winning combination well-suited to the roulette theme, capped with 12 vivid green tsavorites to mark the hours.

With all links insalled this Casino has 43.54 carats of white diamonds and .07 carats of tsavorites. Only nine examples will be produced.

The watch’s signature animation is charged by a button at eight o’clock, which sends the roulette wheel flying. When it stops spinning, the white ceramic ball will rest on a random number, making the watch a fully function roulette wheel.

The roulette automaton isn’t an entirely novel idea. Franck Muller attempted it with the once-popular Las Vegas, but the Casino features the most striking and refined implementation of the concept yet, and is probably the go-to choice for high rollers.

To put to rest any illusions of restraint, the movement features a flying tourbillon visible through a porthole in the case back. The discreet location of the tourbillon makes it an appealing Easter Egg, and shows illustrates the brand’s maximalist approach to even its most minimalist models.

The case back is also home to flip-up tabs for winding and setting, keeping the case band free of clutter save for the button used to activate the automaton.

The tourbillon cage’s decoration is noteworthy, continuing the roulette wheel motif using green and red lacquer infill.

The Oil Pump

The Oil Pump is among Jacob & Co.’s more provocative automatons, and is arguably more relevant than ever in light of rising oil prices. Though we’ve seen an industry-wide pivot toward more moderately sized watches, the Oil Pump’s namesake automaton is displayed in a vitrine-like case that’s 49.5 mm and stands 20 mm tall.

While the only thing ‘green’ about this piece unique is its colourway, the twin derricks operate sustainably, powered by a pusher at one o’clock. The charging and release action is identical to that of the Casino, meaning the automaton can be activated any number of times whether or not the watch is running.

The industrial inspiration differs greatly from the usual, and more romantic subjects that typify the genre, including animals, men striking bells, or erotic acts. The image of industrial machinery at work is refreshing in its originality, but will likely appeal to a narrower audience.

Once activated, the pair of oil derricks lurches to life, pumping away to extract fictional oil. Those derricks are made of rose gold-plated base metal to reduce their mass, but the miniatures pipes, valves, and barrels are solid 18k gold. One of those pipes meets a pressure gauge which acts as an on-theme power reserve indicator. It’s a distinctly steampunk look — or perhaps ‘gaspunk’ might be more apt.

Aside from the namesake automaton, the Oil Pump features a double-axis tourbillon at the traditional six o’clock position, visible from both the front and sides thanks to generous sapphire crystal windows in the case band. The tourbillon is notable for the shape of the cage, which takes the form of the ampersand in the brand’s wordmark. This detail is especially striking viewed in isolation through a porthole in the case back.

In addition to the full-size 49 mm one-off edition pictured, the smaller 43 mm format expands with two 99-piece limited editions in titanium for the first time, one of which is blackened with a DLC coating. The smaller size retains the signature oil derrick automaton but simplifies the regulating organ, opting for a single-axis flying tourbillon that floats above the offset time display.

Closing thoughts

Automata represent a tiny niche within the overall horological landscape. The relatively small addressable market means that most of the automata produced today are built using the same few movements, and many execute the same motions regardless of the decorative theme. Jacob & Co. challenges that norm — each of these three watches features an entirely different animation, demonstrating the brand’s creative and commercial ambition.

Jacob & Co. Bugatti Tourbillon Sapphire Crystal Edition

Diameter: 54.8 mm by 44 mm
Height: 15 mm
Material: Sapphire
Crystal: Sapphire
Water resistance: 30 m

Movement: Cal. JCAM55
Functions: Retrograde hours, minutes, power reserve indicator, V16 engine automaton
Winding: Hand wind
Frequency: 21,600 beats per hour (3 Hz)
Power reserve: 48 hours, 20 full automaton sequences

Strap: Rubber strap with titanium deployment buckle

Limited edition: 3 pieces (one in each colour)
Availability: At Jacob & Co. retailers and boutiques
Price: US$1.2 million excluding taxes

Jacob & Co. Casino Tourbillon

Diameter: 44 mm
Height: 16.3 mm
Material: 18k rose gold or white gold
Crystal: Sapphire
Water-resistance: 30 m

Movement: JCAM51
Functions: Hours, minutes, roulette mechanism activated by pusher, and one-minute flying tourbillon
Winding: Hand wind
Frequency: 21,600 beats per hour (3 Hz)
Power reserve: 72 hours

Strap: Alligator with folding clasp

Limited edition: 7 pieces in rose gold, 18 pieces in white gold, 9 pieces fully gemset
Availability: From Jacob & Co. boutiques and retailers
Price: Upon request

Jacob & Co. Oil Pump 49.5 mm

Diameter: 49.5 mm
Height: 20 mm
Material: Titanium
Crystal: Sapphire
Water-resistance: 30 m

Movement: JCAM33
Functions: Hours, minutes, power reserve, oil derrick mechanism activated by pusher, and double-axis tourbillon
Winding: Hand wind
Frequency: 21,600 beats per hour (3 Hz)
Power reserve: 60 hours

Strap: Alligator with titanium folding clasp

Limited edition: Unique piece
Availability: From Jacob & Co. boutiques and retailers
Price: Upon request

Jacob & Co. Oil Pump 43 mm

Diameter: 43 mm
Height: 18 mm
Material: Titanium
Crystal: Sapphire
Water-resistance: 30 m

Movement: JCAM53
Functions: Hours, minutes, power reserve, oil derrick mechanism activated by pusher, and one-minute flying tourbillon
Winding: Hand wind
Frequency: 21,600 beats per hour (3 Hz)
Power reserve: 60 hours

Strap: Alligator with titanium folding clasp

Limited edition: 99 pieces in each colour
Availability: From Jacob & Co. boutiques and retailers
Price: Upon request

For more information, visit Jacobandco.com.

This was brought to you in partnership with Jacob & Co.