Jacob & Co. Stages a Fireworks Display of Art with its Mystery Tourbillon Twin Dragons

At the stroke of midnight, Chinese New Year kicks off with a magnificent display of fireworks and firecrackers to scare away evil spirits and welcome the Year of the Dragon. In true Jacob & Co. style, the brand releases a spectacular dragon-themed model on the eve of China’s most important festivity bristling with horological fireworks. This unique Mystery Tourbillon Twin Dragons features not one but two exquisitely crafted dragons slithering around a twin, triple-axis, back-to-back flying tourbillon.

As the brand points out, dragons are something of an in-house mascot and have been popping up in timepieces for the past seven years. For a brand renowned for its unabashed showmanship and outrageously complex movements, the Mystery Tourbillon Coiled Dragon lives up to its reputation. Featuring two beautifully handcrafted dragons in perpetual motion combined with Jacob & Co’s. twin triple-axis back-to-back flying tourbillon, and the result is nothing less than mesmerising.

Handcarved in rose gold and lacquered by hand, the miniature dragon sculptures float among stylised clouds. Abiding by the legend, the dragons are depicted in perpetual pursuit of the Pearl of Wisdom, in this case, represented by two large Jacob-cut spherical diamonds with 288 facets (read miniature golf balls!). The ‘mysterious’ part of the watch’s name corresponds to the hour and minute rings. The larger dragon on the periphery chases the faceted diamond, representing the minutes, while the dragon coiling around the tourbillon moves at a slower pace in his pursuit of the hours, also represented by a spherical diamond. Indicating the hours are 12 baguette-cut diamonds on the bezel.

Adding to the spectacle of two dragons moving at different paces around the dial is the extraordinary horological complication dreamed up by Jacob & Co. Like the Twin Turbo, this model is equipped with two triple-axis flying tourbillons. However, unlike the Twin Turbo, the tourbillons are not mounted separately but placed back-to-back, a feat the brand claims is world-exclusive. Placed in a deep well in the centre of the dial, the first axis performs a rotation in 60 seconds, the second in 120 seconds, and the third in 120 seconds.

To accommodate the players, Jacob & Co. has selected a 50mm 18k rose gold case with a height of 25mm. Since precious gemstones are a necessary part of the scenery, the flanks of the case and lugs are invisibly set with 192 baguette-cut and hexagonal-cut diamonds.

The hand-wound movement – JCAM32 – has 430 components, a frequency of 21,600vph and a power reserve of 60 hours – quite a lot of gas, given the animation on the dial.

Unique Piece

The one-off Mystery Tourbillon Twin Dragons timepiece comes with a red alligator strap and an 18k rose gold folding buckle. As they say, if you have to ask the price, you probably can’t afford it!

For more inforamtion, please visit jacobandco.com.