Based on the most thorough technical paradigm, the new Casino Tourbillon features Jacob & Co.'s first-ever flying tourbillon located on the case's back side with high-end finishings and sophisticated material details. Leaving its entire expression space to a fully functional, free-spinning roulette, complete with 37 pockets and a white ball, the Jacob & Co. Casino Tourbillon is designed for play, hopes for luck, and to bring supreme exhilaration while on the wrist.
The Casino Tourbillon case takes its inspiration from the original roulette timepiece by Jacob & Co., the Astronomia Casino. Yet its dimensions, shape, movement, and construction are entirely new and dedicated to this specific piece. The 44 mm case is crafted out of 18K rose gold and thoroughly polished. The caseband is curved, the bezel steep, and the sapphire crystal generously domed, all of which create a single harmonious line. It's fitted with four full and wide lugs, whose shape initiates the black alligator strap curve. These angles and this elaborate construction aim at slimming down the Casino profile and make for a more comfortable and ergonomic fit with wrists of all sizes.
One of the attributes the Casino Tourbillon shares with its forbearer the Astronomia Casino is the absence of a crown. Time-setting and winding are both operated with bows placed against the case back.
Seen from above, Casino Tourbillon is therefore as smooth as possible given the presence of an essential appendage, which is the Roulette pusher at 8 o'clock. The pusher itself is square and large so as to offer the best finger contact possible. To blend it with the Casino's overall case profile, it's surrounded by a long, crescent-shaped crown guard. This pusher is the heart of the Casino Tourbillon as it operates its signature function, elevated to the rank of an actual watchmaking complication as the Casino Tourbillon is a genuine Roulette game.
Once laid out flat on a table, it operates as a fully random game of chance. The pusher propels the wheel head, complete with 37 pockets, one green, 18 red, and 18 black. The mechanical construction of this movement part rests on a set of ceramic ball bearings of extremely high quality. The wheel head spins with high speed and very little friction.
Meanwhile, a white ceramic ball bounces inside Casino. It flies throughout the lower part of the dial and flange, which is fitted with eight diamond-shaped deflectors. Randomization is at its best and makes the Casino a true portable game, not just a testament to the wearer's love for Roulette, taking chances, or any other symbol they may see in Casino.
The gambling establishments Jacob & Co. used as an inspiration for Casino are the likes of the high-stakes room at the Bellagio and the plush carpeted floors of the Monte-Carlo Casino. The finishings and details of this timepiece set the same tone. The hours and minutes dial is made of a single slab of black onyx, mirror-polished, and fitted with applied, 5N gold indices. Their kite shape is a nod to the kite-cut sapphires, used in several Jacob & Co. creations.
The black PVD flange contains eight diamond-shaped deflectors, which aim at rising the variance level of the roulette game. The wheel track flange, that small wall at the foot of the upper side of the dial, is mirror polished, like on an actual roulette, and leaves a small space between the dial and the sapphire crystal. The space is large enough for the entire dial and wheel track to act as one continuous ensemble, but small enough for the ball to stay down and end up in one of the 37 pockets.
Although Casino offers a familiar face to those who already know Astronomia Casino, the manual wound calibre JCAM51 is an entirely new creation. The Roulette module rests on a last-generation base calibre, with a comfortable and ‘week-end-in-Vegas-proof’ power reserve of a total of 72 hours. The flying tourbillon is located on the back side of the case and its carriage ushers in a new Jacob & Co. design as its arms are engraved and lacquered in the exact same way as the wheel head.
This black and red pattern is also laid out on two applied plates, screwed on the case back on either side of the bows acting as winding and time-setting crowns. The numbers appear in the same order as the ones on the opposite side of the Casino. The Jacob & Co. Casino Tourbillon is delivered on a black alligator strap with an 18K rose gold deployant clasp and this watch is limited to 101 pieces.
Sticker Price $280,000 USD. For more info on Jacob & Co. click here.
