The feeling of playing roulette at a casino in Monte Carlo from anywhere in the world.
A working roulette wheel was first introduced as a watch-dial complication on the Astronomia Casino model in 2019. Now it's making a return to the watchmaking scene on the 2023 Casino Tourbillon model. It's admittedly a more modest display, if it's possible to describe any piece by Jacob & Co. with the word modest.
While the roulette wheel on the Astronomia Casino only served as a backdrop for the rotating biaxial tourbillon, 1-karat diamond, and mini hour and minute subdial, there’s nothing to distract you from the game on the new watch. The roulette has become the dial's main attraction.
By doing away with all the extras playing in the performance, the company has simultaneously managed to significantly lower the watch's price, which has come down from USD 620,000 for the Astronomia Casino to USD 280,000 for the new Casino Tourbillon.
Jacob & Co. feels very confident in this price bracket. As of Q4 2022, the company reported it had sold over 200 Bugatti Chiron units for USD 280,000 and 110 Opera Godfather watches for USD 350,000. All of this has allowed the company to double its sales from 2020 to 2022 with revenue growth of 132%.
The watch's dimensions have also gone down with the price. The watch which has arrived to replace the imposing Astronomia Casino (47 mm in diameter and 24 mm in height) is far easier to picture on the wrist.
It measures 44 mm 16.3 mm. The winding crown doesn't alter the watch's silhouette. That's because there is no crown on this watch: lift-out rotating "bows" on the caseback are used for winding and time-setting.
The watchmaker also made an effort to round the pusher at 8 o'clock for activating the automaton: it's been given a crescent-shaped crown guard. Rose gold is used as the case material. The onyx dial is encircled by the roulette wheel with numbers set in colorful square lacquered pockets.
The ceramic ball is kept between two sapphire plates. The plates are located slightly below the dial and slightly above the wheelhead, which allows the ball to roll freely without interfering with any of the watch's moving components.
The movement controlling the game of chance in the Casino Tourbillon is the new cal. JCAM51, developed using the brand's latest-generation movement as a base with the roulette complication added on. It has enough power reserve for three days.
The movement features a flying tourbillon, which the watchmakers at Jacob & Co. have shifted to the caseback for the first time. The tourbillon has also been given a newly designed carriage, encircled by the roulette-style letters of the brand's name.