The Jacob & Co. x Bugatti Collaboration Roars with Two New Tourbillon Sapphire Crystal Editions

As someone who considers themselves as much a car person as a watch person, it always gets my attention when my passions intersect, especially when they do so in meaningful ways. That is because, all too often, watch/automotive collaborations can be under-inspired and short-lived.

Not only does the ongoing partnership between eclectic watchmaker Jacob & Co. and bombastic car maker Bugatti seem particularly apt given each partners’ relative status in their respective industries, but the results are also decidedly a degree or two more truly collaborative than usual, going beyond the expected, facile use of the phrase “shared values.”

While the collaboration officially started in 2019, with the debut of the Jacob & Co. Bugatti Tourbillon in 2024, we saw not only a shared product name between the superb $340,000 timepiece and the Alsatian automaker’s latest $4.5-million hypercar, but also elements of true, two-way collaboration. You can easily talk about how the design of a luxury auto influences the design of its partner-watch, but the other way around? Not so easy to draw those lines.

With this in mind, let’s talk about the duo’s latest collaborative pieces that manage to defy the humdrum expectations of watch brand/automaker collaborations: the Jacob & Co. Bugatti Tourbillon Sapphire Crystal Editions.

In the two unique-piece versions of the new Jacob & Co. Bugatti Tourbillon Sapphire Crystal Editions we saw in Geneva, inasmuch as the reality of ever seeing a fully transparent hypercar body may never happen, the elegant view through the sapphire crystal case provides a new, high-level of visibility that perhaps leans a little more Jacob than Bugatti. And that’s just fine.
 

With a 54 by 44mm case in the same shape as the 2024 Bugatti Tourbillon but cut from a single piece of clear sapphire crystal, you get a 360-degree view of all the co-developed parallel design efforts, from the distinctive Bugatti grille and body details to a complete view of the 16-cylinder engine block and manifold automaton to the fascinating hand-wound JCAM55 movement’s 30-second tourbillon itself.
 

Astonishingly, each case requires no less than 800 hours of exacting machining to get just right.

The successful “dashboard” design of the 2024 Bugatti Tourbillon’s three top gauges remains (30-second tourbillon at the left, large central retrograde hours/minutes, and power reserve on the right), but the two executions make ample use of the new transparency and use each one’s variant colors and materials to create a pair of different, appealing vibes.
 

In the rose-gold-detailed piece, a Jacob-signature green dominates the case and dial, delivering a decidedly sporty, classic, racing livery-inspired feel. Meanwhile, the lighter, baby blue variant (a favorite shade of founder Jacob Arabo) tells an edgier, modern story with clean, metallic detailing in titanium.

Either way, you can expect to add $1.2 million to your pending Bugatti Tourbillon hypercar order if you want to take home either of the Jacob & Co. Bugatti Tourbillon Sapphire Crystal Editions. For more information, check out the Jacob & Co. website.