The Jacob & Co Opera Godfather Musical Watch combines the world of ultra-high-end watchmaking with the breathtaking complexity of a mechanical musical box, playing the stirring theme music of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather. The Opera Godfather is powered by its exclusive, 658-component JCFM04 movement, a caliber of absolutely peerless construction and an unmatched capacity to amaze and entertain.
Created in official partnership with Paramount Pictures, the production and distribution company of The Godfather, the Opera Godfather utilizes its bespoke complication of two rotating cylinders with a total of 36 teeth turning against two combs to play a melody of 120 notes of The Godfather theme music.
It isn’t all just about the music: the Opera Godfather relies on a spectacular triple-axis gravitational tourbillon to ensure accurate timekeeping, and to represent Jacob & Co’s cutting-edge watchmaking expertise. A combination of steel, brass, platinum and titanium components in the JCFM04 caliber, as well as their hand-finished decorations, connect the artistic and technical sides of the Jacob & Co Opera Godfather Musical Watch .
This is the first time Paramount has partnered with a watch company in this way and it was a challenge to secure the rights. Once the deal was done, however, Paramount agreed to license the music and the Godfather logo. The brand is now in negotiations with Paramount Pictures for other iconic movie scores for future projects.
Whereas the tourbillon was originally invented to be a single-axis, rotating cage to carry the regulating organ of a mechanical pocket watch for improved timekeeping performance, the Opera Godfather brings this 224-year-old invention to the levels of refinement and complexity that its musical box complication and dial assembly represent.
Composed of a total of 104 components that altogether weigh just 1.15 grams, the triple-axis tourbillon of the Opera Godfather is at the forefront of modern watchmaking. With an average component weight of just 0.011 grams (0.00039 ounces), it is a spectacular constellation of individually barely visible parts that, when assembled and fine-tuned expertly, fulfill the primary duty of a precious timepiece: that of accurate timekeeping.
The triple-axis tourbillon’s delicately detailed assembly rotates on three axes simultaneously: a full rotation on the 1st axis takes 24 seconds, on the 2nd axis 8 seconds, and on the third axis 30 seconds to complete. This makes for a bold new look at how tourbillons can function, when engineered with cutting-edge, ultra-modern technologies and timeless horological heritage in mind.
Chiming mechanisms represent some of the most complicated and challenging in haute horlogerie. The Opera Godfather brings the rarest type of audible complications to front: that of a musical box, engineered into the strict constraints of a wristwatch and designed to play the iconic theme music of The Godfather, recreated into this purely mechanical format in official partnership with Paramount Pictures.
A single press on the pusher situated at the 10 o’clock position of the case – crafted from 18K Rose Gold or Grade 5 Titanium – initiates the chiming mechanism and sets over 600 components into motion. A pair of uniquely crafted cylinders begin to rotate at a finely calculated tempo, brushing their 36 teeth against a pair of combs to evoke a total of 120 notes of the original movie theme.
In unison with the approximately 30-second operation of the chiming function, the entire movement and dial assembly of the Jacob & Co Opera Godfather Musical Watch performs a rotation of 120°, a singular feat that serves as a testament to the powerful engineering that lives inside the JCFM04 caliber. Integrated as part of the music box, the keys of the 18K gold, black lacquered piano contact the pins of the cylinder, producing the music. Because of this, the keys of the piano seem to be moving while the music is playing. Sitting in the very center of the Opera Godfather musical watch is a miniature, hand-engraved and hand-painted figurine of the Godfather himself, listening to the chiming complication and keeping his eyes on the spectacular triple-axis tourbillon. Winding the watch is simple. All you do is unfold the 18K violin-shaped crank and turn it. When finished, refold and return to its place on the side of the watch.
The case, case back and lug structure of the Jacob & Co Opera Godfather Musical Watch is crafted from either 18K Rose Gold or Black DLC Grade 5 Titanium. Its front crystal is uniquely domed so as to reveal the entire construction and every detail of the Opera Godfather’s incredible complications. The side of the case is made up of blocks of transparent sapphire crystal as well, to allow for fascinating new viewing angles to appreciate the functioning of JCFM04 caliber. On the case is the 18K gold winding crank, in the shape of a violin, replacing the traditional crown. This crank charges the power reserve for the movement and for the music box function. The setting is accomplished via a lift-out bow on the case back. Time is displayed on a matte black sub-dial with a linear design executed in highly polished gold. Hours and minutes are indicated by a set of blue finished hands. Thanks to ingenious engineering solutions and a patented differential system working silently inside the JCFM04 caliber, the time display sub-dial always remains in the correct 12/6 orientation while the entire platform of the Opera Godfather rotates during the operation of the musical box complication.
