The Jacob and Co. Brilliant Art Déco is an exquisite timepiece mixing the best of high jewelry and horology. This sumptuous masterpiece has a noble composition of 18 carats gold and diamonds, a treasure chest for the hypnotic mechanical sensual beauty of the hand-finished openwork Jacob & Co. JCAM05 Caliber.
Jacob & Co. is one of the few brands that has the legitimacy to create high and fine jewelry, as well as high-end watches.
The diamond and gemstones industry is a closed society, and it is really a relationship business. Sourcing the very best diamonds and gemstones depends on reputation and personal connections, and thankfully Jacob & Co. has solid, decades-long relationships.
As a result, Jacob and Co. Brilliant Art Déco has access to the very best sources of diamonds and gemstones from all over the world. Many of the gem-set timepieces, like the Brilliant pieces, require meticulous care in the choosing of stones for quality, cut, clarity, and matching color. For a piece like this Brilliant Art Deco Arlequino, this can take many months or years, depending on the exact colors needed.
Jacob & Co. is also an expert in the setting of these stones, working with the very best gem setters in the industry.
Skeletonizing is an age-old tradition in watchmaking. The challenge is to remove enough material from the movement to make it nearly transparent, without impacting its performance, precision, or robustness.
Jacob & Co.’s watchmakers have been skeletonizing movements for decades, so they understand exactly where and how much to remove, and the result is a nearly see-through movement, set up to maximize the beauty of this little engine on the wrist.
Underlying all this beauty lies the legendary timepiece workmanship for which Jacob and Co. Brilliant Art Déco is famous. The tourbillon was originally invented to be a single-axis, rotating cage secured from above as well as below to carry the regulating organ of a mechanical pocket watch for improved timekeeping performance. The version in the Brilliant Art Deco Arlequino presents this more than 225-year-old invention in a yet more spectacular way.
The one-minute tourbillon features a delicately decorated cage that encapsulates the balance wheel, hairspring, escape wheel and a number of other crucially important components. This open-worked cage not only features an elaborate web-pattern in its architecture, but allows for an unobstructed and full view at the ultimate refinement of its detailing and operation. It is a constellation of superbly finished components that, when assembled and fine-tuned expertly, allows the JCAM05 movement to keep accurate time throughout its 72-hour power reserve.
The movement uses sapphire crystal plates to make the movement even more transparent, and the bridges of this spectacular movement are set with 177 multi-colored sapphires and one brilliant-cut white diamond.
The 47mm 18K gold case, inner bezel, and crown of the Jacob and Co. Brilliant Art Déco Skeleton Collection is invisibly-set with baguette-cut sapphires (the crown has a rose-cut sapphire on the top), while the inner bezel is set with baguette-cut white diamonds. Covering the front and back of the timepieces are anti-reflective sapphire crystals, putting the beautifully skeletonized movements on full display.
The beauty of skeletonized watches is that there are no dials – instead the highest quality sapphire crystals expose the details of the movement, including the wheels, gears, balance, bridges, and mainspring barrel. The leaf-shaped hands in the center, indicating the hours and minutes, float over the mechanical splendor.
