Scrabble the Seconds: Over a Decade of Jacob & Co.’s Astronomia
This fascinating astronomical time-telling art piece has provided eye-catching cosmic wrist drama for collectors since 2014, becoming a statement-making object informed by the very intersection of time and space ever since.
By Mike Espindle
Executive Editor
When you think about it, pretty much every analog wristwatch is a very distilled summation of planetary movement: the Earth rotates on its axis, creating the very concept of time and hours in relation to your location’s position towards the Sun. However, there is “distilled summation,” and there is “elaborately explored summation.”
Case in point, when Jacob & Co. released the first Astronomia Tourbillon at 2014’s Baselworld, it was the realization of owner Jacob Arabo’s desire to produce a truly remarkable, decidedly viewable 3D timepiece.
The initial Astronomia – called the Astronomia Tourbillon – comprised a four-spoke animation that mimicked planetary movement, with a free-rotating hour/minute dial opposite a gravity-defying tourbillon and a representation of the Earth opposite a diamond avatar for the Moon.
All of this was presented in an extraordinarily open, window-rich case so the intricate movements could be appreciated from all angles.
Galaxy Quest
Over the next decade and many permutations, that core multi-arm animated approach has become central to the Astronomia DNA as the brand continues to explore a multitude of design angles and embellishments.
In fact, a quick unofficial count yields no fewer than eleven Astronomia variations since its launch, including the Astronomia Dragon, the Astronomia Solar Zodiac, the Astronomia Maestro (which introduced sonnerie tones to the “silence” of space), a sonically similar Astronomia Minute Repeater, the Astronomia Art, a gambling-themed Astronomia Casino, the recent Astronomia Regulator, and the most recent overt ode to outer space age, the Astronomia Revolution.
The above list, by the way, is not exhaustive and in no particular order. Each Astronomia has its own pricing and varying degrees of limited production runs.
Spanning the Cosmos
However, the most recent examples – the Revolution and the Regulator – serve as apt examples of how Jacob & Co. is exploring the possibilities of the Astronomia.
Released in 2024, the Astronomia Regulator retains the dramatic movement and visibility of the cosmic origins of time but leans away from more directly planetary visual references, instead using the multi-spoked design to separate the hours, minutes, and seconds into a very impactful expression of a traditional regulator complication (with a tourbillon, to boot).
The Astronomia Revolution from Watches and Wonders 2023 blasts off in the opposite direction, pushing the envelope on space-related design elements and references. Specifically, the Revolution has more rotating elements than any other Astronomia; meanwhile, the floor of this wrist-borne planetarium is tiled with a highly reflective hexagonal motif inspired by the mirrors on the far-flung James Webb Space Telescope.
Where will the Astronomia take us next? Wherever it is, be sure to pack your space helmet.