Jacob & Co.’s New Astronomia Revolution Features Their Fastest Ever Rotating Movement

A watch that has a movement that rotates 360 degrees is a pretty insane concept – so insane in fact that Ulysse Nardin call theirs the Freak. However, while the Freak rotates once per hour, Jacob & Co. have repeatedly tried to make their calibres capable of spinning faster and faster and now they’ve achieved the greatest milestone of all, a movement that rotates fully once every minute. The watch that’s capable of doing this is the new Jacob & Co. Astronomia Revolution.

When it comes to design, the Revolution is unquestionably big, brash and bold. How could it not be with a dial made from 18 rose gold mirrors and a case 47mm in diameter? But while that ostentation might be too on the nose in models like the Flight of CR7, none of that seems to matter here. When you watch the piece in motion and witness its many axes of motion, it’s impossible not to be captivated.

The rotating calibre features a flying tourbillon, a ruby tipped seconds indicator, and an hour and minutes dial all rotating on their own axes at the same time. As mentioned, what’s most impressive is that this is the first Astronomia to be capable of making a full rotation every minute. When you take a look back at previous editions you can see the progress they’ve been making towards this goal with the rotation taking even longer the further back in time you look. From five-minute rotations recently all the way up to a 20-minute rotation on the original model.

In order to achieve this high velocity motion, Jacob & Co. have developed a new calibre, the JCAM488 – manual wind, 36-hour power reserve. It utilises a constant force mechanism to ensure the energy provided throughout the mechanical system is consistent regardless of the total power reserve available. This is vital to maintaining a continuous rotation and preventing power surges or lulls from damaging components. There are two main constant force devices in watchmaking, the remontoire or the fusee and chain, however Jacob & Co. have developed a third specially for the Astronomia Revolution.

The new mechanism is known as the whip constant force device and it consists of a star shaped gear within the balance gear train. It activates every 1/6th of a second, matching the frequency of the balance and acts as a buffer between the power from the barrel and the tourbillons. It means that the amount of energy transferred in each 1/6th of a second interval is exactly the same as every other interval, no greater and no less.

As with all Astronomias, it’s being produced in extremely limited numbers and at an extraordinary price. Specifically, it’s $600,000 (approx. £585,500) with 6 pieces produced in rose gold, 6 in white gold and a final six in black DLC coated white gold. That kind of price is to be expected, honestly. Jacob & Co. already operate at the highest end of an Oligarch’s budget, but the Astronomia Revolution is next level. Now we’ll see if they can get that spin time down even lower…