Jacob & Co. Bugatti Tourbillon Sapphire Crystal

With a new sapphire crystal case, the Bugatti Tourbillon goes fully transparent. The caseband, bezel, and caseback are each machined from a single block of sapphire, leaving the movement and its V16 automaton visible from every angle. Sapphire ranks 9 on the Mohs scale, just below diamond. Machining it is unforgiving: too slow and the tool stalls, too fast and the block cracks. A single case takes over 800 hours to complete.

The movement reimagines Bugatti's V16 engine. At its centre sits a miniature engine block, carved from a single piece of sapphire and drilled for 16 titanium pistons that rise and fall in sequence along a single crankshaft, fed by a 16-pipe exhaust manifold in coloured PVD. A pusher in the crown at 6 o'clock runs the automaton for 20 seconds, and it can perform up to 20 sequences on a full wind. To the left, a 30-second tourbillon turns under a sapphire bridge, six times faster than a conventional one-minute tourbillon, a nod to the car's 276 mph top speed.

The display reads like the car's dashboard. Hours and minutes sit at the centre in the place of the rev counter, both retrograde: each hand sweeps a 270-degree arc, then snaps back to zero. A second power-reserve hand tracks the automaton alongside the movement's 80 hours. On this piece, the subdials and exhaust are finished in Jacob & Co.’s signature green, matched to the louvered rubber strap.

Offered as six unique pieces.