The esteemed jewelry company, Jacob & Co. has introduced a new Gotham City Wristwatch collection, inspired by the legend of Batman.
Fancy!
This new timepiece is certainly a sight to behold, and might even serve as a very enticing gateway item, to collectors looking to branch out from actions figures and statues.
Let’s go right to the pitch and pictures:
Like the town it’s named after, Gotham City is an architectural construction. Its movement, its case, its layered structure are the result of a comprehensive and advanced design process. It goes beyond aesthetics to enter the realm of symbolism. Every part of the watch, be it visible or hidden, carries meaning. A symbolic capsule, it honors Batman and everything he stands for.
The crown is covered with a rubber band shaped like the Batmobile’s tires. The shape of the lugs is meant to resemble the Batsuit’s multi-faceted design. The flying tourbillon cages are shaped like grappling hooks. And prominently, the central part of the dial is cut from a slab of back onyx and shaped like the Batman’s emblem. Highlighted by a neoralithe outline which glows blue in the dark, this is a tribute to the BatSignal.
Calibre JCFM10 features off-centered hours and minutes, a power reserve topping out at 48 hours and is regulated by twin, flying, sequential, triple-axis tourbillons located at 5 and 7 o’clock. Its highly advanced technical nature is on par with the technological array of tools, devices, machines and equipment Batman has at his disposal.
This 382-component calibre is also part of a broader ambition. Much like everything that composes this timepiece, its design is a tribute to symbols and features of the Batman. The way the tourbillon cages are designed, the fact that they shift from gray to pitch black as they spin, the bat-shaped bridge that occupies the most part of the movement’s back, all carry meaning and participate in making this timepiece a part of the Dark Knight’s toolkit.
Calibre JCFM10 features a pair of triple-axis, sequential, flying, high-speed tourbillons. Each one of them rotates along three different axes. Each axis drives a separate cage. The first, outermost one makes a full turn in 180 seconds, the second one in 24 seconds and the third one, closest to the 3 Hz balance wheel, in 48 seconds. Compared to the traditional one-minute rotation of a flat tourbillon, and to many multi-axis tourbillons, 24 and 48 seconds are very high figures. This explains why Jacob & Co. calls them high-speed tourbillons.
Mounted on the wheel that drives the tourbillon, a spring accumulates energy to allow the cages to jump forward. They don’t just move in small incremental moves, but large ones, creating a series of sequential, very visible moves, with pauses in between.
The tourbillons inside calibre JCFM10 have no upper bridge. Their only grounding in the black-chromium mainplate happens underneath, which makes them flying tourbillons.
Timing is everything
Perhaps the most impressive part of this ultra-impressive Gotham City Wristwatch is the back case, which features art by Jim Lee! Sadly, that particular feature is excluded from the rose gold version, which instead features a clear back.
The Gotham City’s back is covered with a signature drawing. The Batman’s figure Jacob & Co. used comes from a 2003 episode penned by Jim Lee. Perhaps Batman’s most influential artist in the past 20 years, Lee created a seminal and uncompromising portrayal of the Dark Knight. Its rendering is a craft feat in and of itself.
The underside of a sapphire plate is laser-etched with a design of the Batman and the customary brand signatures, that of Jacob & Co. and of DC comics. The hollowed parts of the plate are filled with black lacquer and the rest with yellow.
Truly, these watches are must-haves for anyone who’s a Bat-Fan, or collectors of impressive timepieces.
Images and press release courtesy of Jacob & Co.