An astounding Régulateur from Jacob & Co.

Jacob & Co.’s latest release is a ground-breaking take on the régulateur – the Astronomia Régulateur, with a movement that has a floating, 3D architecture. It makes one full rotation in 60 seconds, offering a near-miraculous effect. This 43-mm, rose gold timepiece has a separate hours, minutes, and seconds display, with a never-seen-before high watchmaking calibre and is offered as a limited edition of 250 pieces

In a world first, the vertical, rotating movement makes one full turn in one minute. The ring-shaped seconds dial spins counterclockwise in 60 seconds. Its flying tourbillon revolves on two axes, both in one minute. A constant force device evens out the energy streaming from the barrels for a perfectly smooth and fast operation.

The 43-mm case is fitted with large panes of sapphire, offering the widest view possible on the domed, translucent blue sub-dials. With their classic fonts and golden hands, they complete this tribute to high precision watchmaking. Combining one of the most classic complications with its signature Astronomia architecture, Jacob & Co. revolutionises the régulateur display and adds “Inspired by the impossible” horological performance.

One of the ways Jacob & Co. is “Inspired by the Impossible” is its ability to reinvent classics. Astronomia Régulateur is such a reinvention, carried out on a rarely seen scale. A régulateur is characterised by an unusual, separate display of the hours, minutes, and seconds in three different locations on the dial. Historically, it is also a very accurate clock, used by other watchmakers to regulate their work. Astronomia Régulateur takes these classic definitions and takes them into a new dimension, the Jacob & Co. way.

Caliber JCAM56 is the slimmest Astronomia-type movement Jacob & Co. has ever designed, an accomplishment given its vertical nature. It features a total of 552 components, high above the average of the high watchmaking movements.

With a diameter of 43 mm and a thickness of 18 mm, the rose gold case offers wrist-friendly proportions. It is a mere frame holding two large panes of transparent sapphire. One is the domed crystal. The other is a ring that occupies the entire caseband. To offer further lightness to the eye, Astronomia Régulateur is fitted with open-worked lugs. Together, they offer the widest view on the movement.

Historical inspiration
Extraordinarily accurate, perfectly readable, régulateurs date back to the early times of industrialised watchmaking. The first manufacturing workshops gathered dozens, sometimes hundreds of workers in the same space. They required a single reference time to regulate their work against – hence the word régulateur. Each workshop had at least one large mother-clock, of the most advanced kind, offering perfect readability from several meters away. To optimise time reading, each of their three indications were separated into distinct locations on the dial. Hours and minutes were cast off in sub-dials. The most vital indication, the seconds, remained in the centre, with the most visible hand.

As time passed, regulators were adapted into pocket watches and in wristwatch format. They left aside the accuracy aspect to focus on the layout they are now known for. With Astronomia Régulateur, Jacob & Co. decided to bring the mechanical achievement that a régulateur used to represent, along with a unique take on the separate hours, minutes, and seconds display: they have become three-dimensional.

The Astronomia legacy
Astronomia Régulateur profits from the years-long experience of Jacob & Co. in rotating, vertical, tourbillon movements. In 2016, Astronomia Tourbillon introduced its revolutionary foundation: its movement is built like a carousel, with several satellites rotating around a single, central axis and on their own. Each arm bears a complication, one of which is a suspended and flying multi-axis tourbillon. Its rotation speed was initially set at 20 minutes, but the idea was always to accelerate it to increase the showmanship and accuracy of the movement. In 2023, Jacob & Co. released Astronomia Revolution, whose rotation speed was 1 turn per minute, an acceleration that was years in the making.

The separate display
Astronomia Régulateur is fitted with Caliber JCAM56, an all-new construction that builds up on the experience of the Astronomia Revolution. It has a rotation speed of 60 seconds and carries three arms. One is a flying tourbillon making one rotation in one minute. Being a part of the vertical platform, it has a second rotation axis, also in one minute. It is therefore a double-axis flying tourbillon.

The other two arms are dedicated to the time display. One sub-dial shows the minutes, recognisable by its printed indications on a fine scale. The other tells the hours. Both are made of a blue, translucent, and light material. Since these sub-dials are attached to the platform, they also spin in one minute. If left alone, they would be unreadable most of the time. Like all Astronomias, the Régulateur uses a differential system to prevent that. This mechanical system spins the dials in the direction opposite the movement’s, at the exact same speed, keeping them upright all the time. Astronomia Régulateur has two differentials, one for each sub-dial.

The seconds
The third indication of Astronomia Régulateur is its most special. The seconds always were the most vital information of a régulateur because watchmakers and workers set their work against it. The seconds indication of Astronomia Régulateur is its most unique characteristic. From the vertical movement’s base, a long, elegant golden hand sticks out. It points to a large, domed, blue and translucent ring: the seconds scale. That ring spins counter-clockwise in 60 seconds, offering a clear and unparalleled way to display the seconds.

Energy management
One minute per 360-degree rotation is a very high-speed considering what’s in motion. It is not just a hand, but more than half a 552-component movement. That weight requires a tremendous amount of energy flowing through a very delicate movement. To regulate that massive flow, Jacob & Co. got creative, researched how to master it, and added a patented, ground-breaking constant force device in the gear train, near the tourbillon.

Constant force is initially used to even out the energy received by the balance wheel to make it more accurate. Astronomia Régulateur makes double use of this patented, very specific device. It not only provides the watch with a steady source of energy, always constant, and helps it be more accurate. This is a direct reference to the régulateur’s original calling. It also smooths the amount of energy that reaches the tourbillon while giving Caliber JCAM56 its spectacular speed. This is how the miracle of Astronomia Régulateur happens: a very elaborate work of horological engineering, made invisible. All that shows is what Jacob & Co. is famous for: exhilaration, unique design, watchmaking performance and exceptional craftsmanship.