Excellence in artistry and mechanics are two things timepieces and luxury cars have in common, and when it comes to Jacob & Co. and Bugatti, that’s a match made in heaven.
The jeweler and automobile company have teamed up to launched a new watch titled the “Jean Bugatti” in honor of the car-maker’s vision. This tribute piece retails for $250,000, with the company’s partnership symbolized in many of it’s parts.
Jean Bugatti, the son of the company’s founder, was best known for his role as an automotive design and test engineer. In a released statement, Jacob & Co. described Bugatti’s sense of automotive design as “outside the box,” and the namesake watch keeps that ethos at its heart.
Limited to 57 pieces, the timepiece comes in two different styles: a rose goal case with a cream-white dial or a white gold case with a blue dial.
The overall design is modeled after the dashboard of a collectible Bugatti car. The dial is formed like a 1930s Bugatti roadster grille, with an opening at the bottom that mimics the headlights of a 1930’s coupé from Molsheim.
Inside the openings, Bugatti’s EB logo is manufactured in polished steel held only by their underpinnings. Both the white gold and blue versions of the Jean Bugatti feature an elegant dial with rose gold appliques and a pair of one-minute flying tourbillons.
When the watch is activated, the hands start moving similarly to a car’s dashboard counter, as well as moving back as the gears change. When revving up, one hand moves between 0 and 10, while the other reaches 60 and heads back to the 0 marker.
When the chronograph is stopped and reset, the second hands continue on course to their final position, instead of moving backwards. To manage this system the timepiece is fitted with a double set of regulating organs.
Two short red hands provide the correct time, pointing inwards outside the rim of the dial. While the hands must cross paths, a difference in elevation for both allow for a smooth passage 24 times a day.
See more images of the Jean Bugatti watch below, and learn more at jacobandco.com.