This astronomical masterpiece by Jacob & Co. is even better that it’s predecessor (the Astronomia), but to fully understand this latest Astronomia model we must first understand it’s history. The first Astronomia version functioned as a star chart that accurately kept track of time & rotations of, and around the Earth. It featured an hours, minutes, and seconds display, a tourbillon, and a representation of the Earth & moon that rotates on spokes around a central axis (which is all palpable beneath a broad sapphire dome). The Astronomia kicked off a craze toward conservatism in the latest timepieces, drawing in many supporters within the Swiss watchmaking enterprise, but because the watch is such an unconventional timepiece it has also come across some cynic’s as well.
Luckily Jacob & Co. has stopped most of this criticism with their new and improved version, the Astronomia Sky. This timepiece includes a sidereal-time display that follows the movement of stars with zodiac signs. There has never been another watch that brings in as much gravitas as the sidereal-time complication, which has only ever been attempted on the most prestigious and most intricate watches in history. Luca Soprana (the watch development specialist who’s handiwork was unveiled by Jacob & Co. in 2014) said Jacob & Co.’s founder and chairman, “Jacob Arabo’s idea was really to create a sort of planetarium with all the stars and planets going around.”
The Astronomia Sky has it’s star chart resting under an upended dome over the movement, with a roaming oval signifying the stars above the Geneva latitude. The dome gradually rotates at about one degree per day in regards to the orbit of the Earth around the sun that diversifies a sidereal day (approximately 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4.1 seconds) from a solar day. Luca Soprana said “The best thing about working with Jacob, is that he is not a watchmaker at all. He is concerned with the aesthetical quality of the piece and asks for things technical people would never request. He asks for a totally different approach, and for me, its very interesting to work this way.” This out of the world piece of haute horology is priced around $690,000.
For more information visit: Jacob&Co.com
