This new Jacob & Co. timepiece in rose gold incorporates a classical flying tourbillon complication and a playful roulette mechanism in an elegantly designed 44mm diameter case.
Casino features Jacob & Co.’s first-ever flying tourbillon located caseback-side. This timepiece with an eye-caching black onyx dial stands out with its high-end finishings and sophisticated material details. It also houses a fully functional, free-spinning roulette, complete with 37 pockets and a white ball.
In 2019, Jacob & Co. launched Astronomia Casino, one of the most successful versions of the Astronomia series.
As an integral part of the Astronomia collection, it offers a 10-minute rotating platform, a triple-axis tourbillon, a magnesium Earth globe and a spinning 288-facet, Jacob-cut diamond.
Jacob & Co. has managed the design and technical feat of adding a fully working roulette to this already highly functional ensemble. The module which operates that roulette mechanism has been plugged inside the new Casino watch, thus giving it a unique personality.
The Casino 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 diameter case body in 18K rose gold is thoroughly polished. The caseband is curved, the bezel steep and the sapphire crystal generously domed, all of which creates 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 Jacob & Co Casino Roulette Tourbillon shares with its forbearer the absence of a crown. Time-setting and winding are both operated with bows placed against the caseback. The distinct Roulette pusher at 8 o’clock is square and large so as to offer the best finger contact possible. To blend it with the Casino overall case profile, it’s surrounded by a long, crescent-shaped crown guard.
This pusher is the heart of the Jacob & Co Casino Roulette Tourbillon as it operates its signature function, elevated to the rank of an actual watchmaking complication. Casino 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 wheelhead, complete with 37 pockets, 1 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 wheelhead 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 diamonds-shaped deflectors.
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 wheeltrack 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.
A space large enough for the entire dial and wheeltrack to act as one continuous ensemble, but small enough for the ball to stay down and end up in one of the 37 pockets.
The manual-winding Cal. JCAM51 is an entirely new movement with a power reserve of 72 hours. The Roulette module rests on a last generation base calibre. It’s regulated by a flying tourbillon located on the back side of the case.
Its carriage ushers in a new Jacob & Co. design as its arms are engraved and lacquered in the exact same way as the wheelhead. This black and red pattern is also laid out on two applied plates, screwed on the caseback 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 Casino.