In 2022, Jacob & Co. partners with Comics powerhouse DC Comics to design an entirely new timepiece. Jacob & Co. Gotham City is a batman-themed watch that draws inspiration from Jacob Arabo’s personal taste and preferences. He is a fan of the Batman, just like Benjamin Arabov, Jacob & Co.’s CEO. This timepiece is the result of deep individual involvement and a symbol of what Batman and Bruce Wayne represent. In the mind of creator Bob Kane, vertical and dark Gotham City is a stand-in for New York City, whence Jacob & Co. was created and operates.
The Jacob & Co. Gotham City is destined for a Jacob & Co. audience that also relates to his secret identity : that of a playboy billionaire, nonchalant and gifted with extremely good taste. The duality of the comic’s character invented by Bob Kane is furthered in the Gotham City. The 18K Rose gold version of the Gotham City is edited as a 36-piece limited series. Like the town it’s named after, Jacob & Co. 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 both Batman and Bruce Wayne, and everything they stand 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 bat-shaped bridge that occupies the most part of the movement’s back, all carry meaning and participate in making this timepiece a creation halfway between the Dark Knight’s toolkit and Bruce Wayne’s attire. 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.
