Watch Paparazzi

Musician Michael Blakey spotted wearing Jacob & Co

Michael Blakey, the British-born musician, producer and entertainment entrepreneur known for decades of work across the music industry, surfaced in a recent social media post wearing what immediately stopped the watch community cold: a Jacob & Co Astronomia Tourbillon Baguette in 18-karat rose gold. The sighting was captured during a casual at-home video, but the watch on his wrist is anything but casual — it is, by almost any measure, one of the most complex and jewel-intensive timepieces commercially available today.

The Astronomia Tourbillon Baguette, reference AT800.40.BD.BD.A, is built around Jacob & Co's proprietary JCAM09 hand-wound movement, which drives a four-arm rotating carousel completing one full revolution every 10 minutes. Mounted on those arms are a three-axis tourbillon cage (rotating on its own axis every 60 seconds), a differential-geared hour and minute display, a 1-carat Jacob-cut diamond acting as a seconds indicator, and a hand-painted miniature Earth globe. The orbital time display means the watch has no conventional dial — reading the time requires interpreting the position of the blue-tipped hour and minute hands as they orbit the movement architecture. Power reserve stands at approximately 60 hours.

What elevates the Baguette variant above the already extraordinary standard Astronomia is the invisible setting of 342 baguette-cut diamonds across the case, lugs, and movement bridges — a feat of lapidary craftsmanship that took Jacob & Co's gem-setting team months per piece. The diamonds are fitted so precisely that no metal prongs are visible from the front, creating an uninterrupted field of ice across the rose gold architecture. Production is limited to just 18 numbered examples globally.

Blakey's ownership of this piece is consistent with his long-cultivated image as a connoisseur of extreme luxury. His career has intersected with some of the biggest names in global music, and he has never been shy about his appreciation for high-end timepieces and lifestyle objects.

On the secondary market, the Astronomia Tourbillon Baguette rarely surfaces — its 18-piece limitation and the reluctance of owners to part with them keep grey-market data thin. When examples do appear at auction or through specialist dealers, they command prices at or above the official retail figure, which itself sits at approximately one million US dollars. For collectors tracking the outer limits of horological ambition, a sighting on the wrist of a working industry figure like Blakey is a genuine rarity.