Bugatti and watchmaker Jacob & Co. have announced production of 57 examples of The Jean Bugatti Timepiece, which they call “one of the most complex and innovative chronographs ever created.”
The watch’s complexity, they add, is befitting as a tribute to Jean Bugatti, eldest son of company founder Ettore Bugatti.
“As a child, Jean loved to watch Bugatti’s craftsmen passionately designing and building cars – every single component a work of art,” the news release reports. “Later, Jean would visit his grandfather, Carlo, in Paris, as often as he could, where he was inspired by his furniture creations that mixed styles, cultures and materials.
“Jean would one day lead Bugatti, designing such masterpieces as the duotone Type 50 series, the Type 41 Royale with the longest wheelbase ever created, and the Type 57SC Atlantic. Its signature design feature was its raised seam running vertically from the hinge in the split bonnet to the tail – proportions unknown in the automotive world at the time.”
Each of the 57 watches comprises 470 component parts. The watches are available in rose gold or white gold cases with blue or cream-white dials.