Watch Paparazzi

Model Ksenia Tsaritsina spotted wearing Jacob & Co

Jacob & Co's Brilliant Flying Tourbillon has become the definitive reference point for what the New York–Geneva manufacture calls 'jewellery watches' — timepieces where the movement is almost secondary to the gem-setting spectacle. Yet secondary is relative: the calibre JCFM01, a manually wound flying tourbillon beating at 21,600 vph with a 48-hour power reserve, is a serious piece of Swiss movement engineering that would hold its own in any haute horlogerie conversation stripped of its stones.

What makes this specific execution extraordinary is the invisible setting technique applied across both the bezel and the entire dial surface. Invisible setting — where stones are mounted on rails cut into their girdles so no prongs interrupt the visual field — is among the most labour-intensive gem-setting disciplines in existence. Jacob & Co's atelier deployed 170 baguette-cut sapphires spanning blue, rose, yellow and purple hues, arranged in concentric radiating rows that produce a dégradé gradient shifting from the periphery inward. Baguette-cut diamonds punctuate the composition. The result is a dial that reads as pure colour and light, with the flying tourbillon cage floating at centre as the sole mechanical declaration.

As a piece unique — a single, unrepeatable commission — this reference sits outside Jacob & Co's standard production catalogue. The 'Purple Dégradé' colourway references the broader Brilliant collection aesthetic but is tailored in stone selection and arrangement to a single client brief. Catalogued list price is approximately $750,000, a figure that reflects both the gem cost and the atelier hours required for invisible setting at this scale. Grey-market comparables for Brilliant Flying Tourbillon pieces unique are essentially non-existent by definition, as these do not re-enter open circulation in any predictable pattern.

Ksenia Tsaritsina, the Russian model known for her presence across luxury fashion campaigns, wore the piece during what appears to be an editorial or high-profile event appearance, pairing it with multicolor baguette jewellery that mirrors the watch's chromatic palette — a coordinated approach that underscores the watch's function as wearable art rather than daily instrument. The sighting reinforces Jacob & Co's continued cultivation of a clientele at the intersection of fashion, luxury jewellery and high watchmaking.