Three months after a Jacob & Co. Astronomia Tourbillon Bucherer Blue triple-axis tourbillon returned to Earth after seventeen days on the International Space Station, the watch has started another tour, this time in New York City.
On July 26 at Sotheby’s the watchmaker is auctioning the watch to benefit the Davidson Institute of Science Education, an Israeli non-profit organization that serves as the educational arm of the Weizmann Institute of Science. Until then, the watch, a spectacular 50mm sapphire-cased tour-de-force, is available to see at the Bucherer 1888 TimeMachine (from July 11 to July 17), and will be on exhibit at the Sotheby’s New York galleries from July 21 to July 25.
The Astronomia Tourbillon Bucherer Blue was worn on the wrist of philanthropist Eytan Stibbe during the Rakia mission, which returned April 25. Stibbe and the watch orbited Earth 273 times during that period, clocking more than 7 million miles.
The watch features four orbs that are in constant motion: the dial, tourbillon cage, a spherical diamond that reflects the moon, and a magnesium-lacquered globe that reflects the Earth. All are finished in the Bucherer Blue color, meant to reflect its place in the retailer’s collection of custom-made, similarly hued watches made in partnership with a wide range of Swiss watchmakers.
“The Astronomia tourbillon is a truly unique, groundbreaking timepiece that elevates the art of watchmaking above the Earth, above time,” says Jacob Arabov, Founder & Chairman of Jacob & Co. “So the very idea of sending this special Astronomia into space, as you can imagine, was very exciting. It’s only fitting that the Astronomia Bucherer Blue ends up revolving around the Earth. The watch had the same viewpoint on us as we usually have on it. This reversal is typical of the way I envision the creation of timepieces.”
EpicX Blue launches
Along with the Astronomia tourbillon auction, Jacob & Co. and Bucherer are also launching the EpicX Bucherer Blue Edition, a manual-wind skeleton watch inspired by the International Space Station mission.
This watch, a limited edition of eighteen, will be available exclusively in the U.S. at Bucherer (pricing coming soon). It features a titanium caseback with an engraving of an astronaut, clad in a spacesuit and helmet, eyeing the Earth from space.
Comments are closed.