Jacob & Co Epic X Tourbillon Barcelona 44mm

Jacob & Co and FC Barcelona have built a skeleton tourbillon in rose gold to mark 125 years of the club’s existence. The decision was not to apply a crest to an off-the-shelf design but to rethink the watch around the club’s colours—blue and garnet rendered through the exposed movement itself—and to commit to a limited production run that treats the piece as a collaboration between two houses that both demand precision at the highest level. Arnie S Hira watched Jacob Arabo’s team engineer this partnership, recognising in it the kind of thinking that separates true manufacture partnerships from sponsorship applied to existing templates.

The dial opens to reveal the tourbillon at its centre, the rotating cage housing the balance wheel completely visible. The skeleton work that frames it pulls the blue and garnet of Barcelona throughout the face, with the club’s crest positioned at the upper dial and the founding year 1899 marked alongside 2024. The legend “125 Years” sits between them. The case measures 44mm in diameter, substantial enough to command the wrist and allow the dial architecture to breathe. Rose gold catches light without flash, warm and visible rather than withdrawn. The perforated blue rubber strap, drilled with hexagonal apertures, echoes both the textile traditions of kit manufacture and the philosophy of the open dial.

Jacob Arabo founded the house in New York in 1986 and built its reputation on refusing restraint: tourbillons exposed, movements open, proportions generous. The Epic collection represents his commitment to that language. The X variant introduces the skeleton architecture, the stripped back frame that allows the movement to read almost as sculpture. This Barcelona edition is limited in production. The watch carries a retail price of $145,000 USD, positioning it within the haute horlogerie segment where Jacob & Co’s skeleton tourbillons typically sit.

Jacob & Co, founded in New York, has built its reputation on watches that refuse restraint. The house moves toward complications and visibility: tourbillons exposed, movements open, proportions generous. The Epic collection represents the manufacture’s commitment to that language. The X variant introduces the skeleton architecture, the stripped back frame that allows the movement to read almost as sculpture.

The perforated blue rubber strap, drilled with hexagonal apertures, echoes both the textile traditions of kit manufacture and the openworked philosophy of the dial. It is a watch that knows its subject. The collaboration does not subordinate watchmaking to sponsorship. Instead, it recognises that both football and horology share an obsession with precision, timing and the pursuit of something larger than the moment.

The watch functions as a document of shared ambition, wearable proof that excellence, whether measured in goals or revolutions per minute, demands the same commitment to craft. This is watchmaking as performance art, the piece functioning not simply as a device to mark time but as a working illustration of how precision operates when the stakes are highest.

Jacob & Co was founded in 1986 by Jacob Arabo in New York and has become known for bold, complications-focused watchmaking that prioritises visible movement architecture. The Epic X Tourbillon FC Barcelona is limited in production, with the exact number of pieces confirmed through the brand’s official channels. The watch carries a retail price of approximately $145,000 USD, positioning it within the haute horlogerie segment where Jacob & Co’s skeleton tourbillons typically sit. Collectors and enthusiasts can purchase the piece directly through Jacob & Co’s boutiques in New York, Beverly Hills and select international locations, as well as through authorised retailers specialising in independent watchmaking.

The partnership between Jacob & Co and FC Barcelona reflects a broader shift in watchmaking collaborations, where manufacture-led design takes precedence over celebrity or sporting endorsements applied to existing templates. Jacob Arabo’s approach to complications remains rooted in the principle that movement visibility should enhance rather than diminish legibility and mechanical integrity. The rose gold case undergoes finishing processes that ensure the warm metal tone does not obscure the skeleton dial’s architecture, with the sapphire chamber protecting the tourbillon cage from the elements while maintaining optical clarity. The hexagonal perforations on the blue rubber strap recur throughout watchmaking design language as a motif connecting textile performance to horological function.

The Epic X collection, of which this Barcelona edition forms part, represents Jacob & Co’s evolution toward skeleton architecture as a design language rather than a singular showcase piece. The 44mm case diameter adheres to contemporary proportioning for skeleton watches, balancing dial real estate against wearability. The movement inside operates at a frequency of 4Hz, with the tourbillon completing one rotation every 60 seconds, visible through the sapphire chamber and readable against the open dial architecture. The watch functions with a power reserve of approximately 50 hours, a standard specification for tourbillon-equipped movements of this complexity, and carries water resistance to 30 metres, suitable for daily wear without exposure to aquatic environments.

Imagery courtesy of Jacob & Co (@jacobandco).