Jacob & Co. and Bugatti's New Watch Comes with a V16 Engine
You can now wear a Bugatti on your wrist.
Jacob & Co.'s new Bugatti Tourbillon watch reimagines its hyper sports car counterpart, and packs it with just as many impressive features, continuing Jacob & Co.'s current all-star run of watch releases in 2024.
If you were scrolling on your For You Page anytime in mid-June, there is a good chance that you caught a glimpse of Bugatti's successor to the Chiron.
A luxurious monster of a hypercar from the French automaker, the Bugatti "Tourbillion" (which shares the same name as Jacob & Co.'s watch), includes an 8.3-litre naturally-aspirated V16 engine that’ll rev to 9000rpm and that is supported by three electrical motors.
Even if you don't know what any of that means, just know that the Tourbillion's hybrid powertrain translates to about 1800 horsepower, a top speed of 300 mph, and the ability to accelerate to 62 mph in under 2 seconds.
As for the vehicle's new design, Bugatti drew inspiration from the world of watchmaking, creating a car that is just as visually (and invisibly) complex as a beautiful in-house watch complication — hence the name "Tourbillion."
Jacob & Co. and Bugatti wanted to take the complexity, engineering, and power of the new Bugatti flagship and integrate it seamlessly on your wrist as a timepiece.
The partnership produced the Jacob & Co. Bugatti Tourbillon watch, a timepiece that measures a reasonably wearable 52 x 44 mm and has a 15-mm thickness. The new luxury watch parallels its car analog sharing the same front grilles, side inlets, and even large sapphire side "windows" all in its black PVD titanium case.
But the true, pièce de résistance has to be the watch's Caliber JCAM55 movement. In full panoramic display, the Jacob & Co. Bugatti Tourbillon watch features a replication of Bugatti's V16 engine made from a single block of transparent sapphire, capable of mimicking and functioning like the 16-cylinder combustion engine found in the new Bugatti car.
The watch includes a 30-second flying tourbillon and a twin-power reserve, which are all on display on its car-like "dashboard" face — which also has retrograde hours and minutes that start at zero to mimic an RPM counter.
Say what you want about Jacob & Co. but they know how to inject fun (and a tiny bit of madness) into the world of horology.
This is not Jacob & Co. and Bugatti's first rodeo. The duo teamed up in 2019 to create the Bugatti Chiron 16-cylinder Tourbillon watch for the Chiron hypercar.
Admittedly, it wasn't my favorite watch being too "chunky" for my taste. However, today's streamlined Tourbillion may go down as one of my favorite releases from the brand in years, hitting that sweet spot of engineering and design to create the ultimate statement watch.
As for the price of the Jacob & Co. Bugatti Tourbillon watch, it's going to set you back $340,000 with only 250 units being available to purchase at Jacob & Co.
For me, this works two ways. Either you’re one of the lucky few who are getting your hands on a new Tourbillion car and need a watch to match your new hypercar. Or, you have money, but not necessarily Bugatti money, but still want to have the French brand in your daily rotation.
Regardless of where you sit, this is easily one of the most head-turning watch releases of 2024.
Eager to check out the latest and greatest in the watch world? Be sure to stop by our Highsnobiety Watch Guide or pick up a few watches in our Highsnobiety shop. In the meantime, have you seen Rolex's 2024 novelties?
