The Astronomia Tourbillion, the timepiece that revolutionized what is possible in luxury timekeeping. continues to push the boundaries of high watchmaking.

This year Jacob & Co. is introducing the Astronomia Tourbillon Typhoon, featuring an on-demand animation that literally takes you for a spin.

The Astronomia Tourbillon was introduced in 2014, taking the industry by storm. At that time, the four satellite arms turned in 20 minutes, while the magnesium globe and the 288-facet Jacob-Cut diamond turned in 60 seconds.

In 2017, Jacob & Co. sped things up, with the satellite arms turning in 10 minutes and the globe and diamond turning in 30 seconds. Earlier this year, the brand introduced the Astronomia Five Minute, the satellite arms rotating in a sped up five minutes and the globe and diamond turning in 15 seconds.

How, even more is going on. When you turn the winding wheel at nine o'clock, you wind the watch and start the animation. Watch the four satellite arms closely - they speed up, making one revolution in four seconds, four revolutions in 16 seconds.

It's really something to see, and very difficult to realize.

The Astronomia movement, designed by and exclusive to Jacob & Co., revolutionized watchmaking. Until 2014, tourbillons were all flat, but the Astronomia changed the way people perceived high watchmaking forever. For the first time ever, Jacob & Co. turned the tourbillon into a multiple-axis, vertical marvel, constantly in motion. Captivating and mesmerizing, the Astronomia movement is an icon in the world of horology.

Whereas the tourbillon was originally invented to be a single-axis, rotating cage to carry the regulating organ of a mechanical pocket watch for improved timekeeping performance, the Astronomia Tourbillon brings this 224-year-old invention to breathtaking levels of modern refinement and complexity.

The triple-axis tourbillon of the Astronomia Tourbillon is at the forefront of modern watchmaking. The triple-axis tourbillon's delicately decorated cage encapsulates the balance wheel, hairspring, escape wheel and a number of other crucially important components. Characterized by this open-worked cage, this outstanding tourbillon rotates on three axes simultaneously. It is a constellation of superbly finished components that, when assembled and fine-tuned expertly, allows the JCAM10 to keep accurate time throughout its 60-hour power reserve.

A full rotation on the 1st axis takes exactly 60 seconds, as a nod towards the traditional single-axis tourbillon. The 2nd axis of rotation requires 5 minutes to complete, while the 3rd axis of rotation is made possible by the 20-minute, four-arm rotating platform of the Astronomia Tourbillon. This makes for a bold new look at how tourbillons can function, when engineered with cutting-edge, ultra-modern technologies and timeless horological heritage in mind.

When you turn the winding wheel at nine o'clock, you wind the watch and start the animation. Watch the four satellite arms closely - they speed up, making one revolution in four seconds, four revolutions in 16 seconds.

The key to the fast revolutions is to separate the four satellite arms from the 617-piece movement, so they can move independently of the timekeeping. The tourbillon and the time display disengage from the base movement while they spin, then reconnect when they stop spinning, with no timekeeping lost.

It's an amazing system, one that took the designers at Jacob & Co. more than a year to perfect.

When the famous Astronomia four-arm tourbillon movement spins, four times in about 16 seconds, the entire assembly comes back right to where it began, and the timekeeping stays precise.

The base dial of the Astronomia Tourbillon Typhoon is aventurine, set with seven cabochon-cut semi-precious stone planets -- White Granite for Mercury, Rhodonite for Venus, Red Jasper for Mars, Pietersite for Jupiter, Tiger Eye for Saturn (18K Rose Gold applique for the rings), Blue Calcite for Uranus and Lapis Lazuli for Neptune.

The Jacob-Cut diamond starts out as a much larger rough diamond. First, a rough diamond big enough has to be found, and the purity, clarity, and color has to be of the highest quality both inside and out, and there can be no inclusions. If they start to cut the diamond and find an inclusion, the entire piece will be ruined.

Next, the diamond is cut by machine into a round shape, close in size to the final diamond.

Then, the gem cutter shapes the stone by hand, cutting each individual facet (of 288). This has to be done slowly and carefully, as the stone has to be perfectly round and symmetrical. The danger is that the stone will become oblong and not round. To be used in the Astronomia Collection, the Jacob-cut diamond has to be completely round and weigh exactly as much as the other three satellites (time display, triple-axis tourbillon, magnesium globe).

During the process, if the gem cutter puts slightly too much pressure while adding the facets, too much of the diamond will be cut away, and the ball will end up smaller than the desired diameter. The cutting process takes at least two weeks of dedicated, painstaking work.

To make the final one-carat, Jacob-cut diamond with 288 facets, more than half of the initial rough diamond will be cut away.

The complexity of cutting the 288 facets by hand and making sure everything is symmetrical and the diamond is absolutely round, is what makes the Jacob & Co. diamond used in the Astronomia collection so special.

On top of the entire movement, just underneath the domed sapphire crystal is a spectacular 2 carat Yellow Sapphire of the highest quality.

The globe is made of blue-lacquered magnesium with white gold continents to ensure consistency in weight, as all four satellites have to weigh exactly the same. The globe rotates on itself in 30 seconds.

The Astronomia Typhoon's case measures 50 millimeters in diameter and 25 millimeters thick between the highest point of its specially curved front sapphire crystal and the lowest point of its case. Crafted from 18K white gold, the case features four sapphire crystal windows installed throughout the periphery, allowing for unhindered viewing of the spectacular caliber.

The time display sub-dial of the Astronomia is driven through an infinitesimal differential system that allows it to always remain in the correct, 12/6 position as it rotates together with the movement's four-armed platform across the front of the Astronomia. The Roman numerals on the skeletonized dial are hand-engraved and filled with black lacquer, while the hand-finished hands appear in gun blue metallic.

Iconic gravitational triple-axis tourbillon

Typhoon function disengages the movement from the satellites, allowing them to spin faster, four times in an incredible 16 seconds

50mm 18K gold and sapphire crystal case

All four satellites constantly turn around the dial in 10 minutes

288-facet Jacob-cut diamond turning in 30 seconds

Magnesium globe turning in 40 seconds

Unique differential always keeps the time display in the correct 12/6 orientation, no matter where it is the rotation

Domed and curved, anti-reflective sapphire crystal

2 carat Yellow Sapphire on top of the movement

Rose gold base dial invisibly-set with baguette-cut white diamonds

Unique crown-less design; winding and setting lift-out bows on the solid 18K gold case back