Jacob & Co. has entered into a partnership with Paramount Pictures and acquired the rights to The Godfather. Jacob & Co. has gained access to the name, imagery, narrative and music from the iconic motion picture. These have become the inspiration for the ultimate movie tribute timepiece.
Opera Godfather Baguette is a tribute piece and a music playing timepiece. The 49-mm case contains visual, symbolic and graphic elements directly taken from the movie. A miniature sculpture of Don Vito Corleone sitting on his chair. The puppeteer strings from the movie poster. A piano and a violin-shaped crank as a reference to the ubiquitous Nino Rota soundtrack, whose main theme the music box plays on demand.
The Godfather was the first movie Jacob Arabo saw in a movie theater after coming to the U.S.A. The Godfather is not just a watchmaking achievement. It is a deeply personal creation, a uniquely entertaining timepiece and a thrilling concept.
The Opera Godfather Baguette is its high jewelry version, invisibly-set with baguette-cut gems. Developing a high complication timepiece that has no equivalent is one of Jacob & Co.’s signature skills. Making a high jewelry version of it is another. Adding hundreds of exquisite, baguette-cut gems to a 650+ component watch is built in Jacob & Co.’s culture.
Caliber JCFM04 is a movement like no other. It combines high watchmaking and The Godfather's actual music. Made of a total of 658 components, the movement rotates as it plays the movie's famous main theme. Two sets of combs and blades play the notes of that 30-second tune, which resonate far outside the case.
Caliber JCFM04 also includes a triple-axis, flying tourbillon. This extremely rare complication is made even more special as it rotates along with the rest of the movement when the on-demand melody is activated. Such a set of complications and structure are entirely unique.
It takes the best hands, the best gems and the best know-how to set an Opera Godfather Baguette. The case is covered in 305 gems. Each one is baguette-cut and prepared for the invisible setting. As are several other hundreds dress-up the décor elements, such as the piano and violin crank handle. 666 more cover the music box cylinders
The gem selection and setting process devised by Jacob & Co. is extremely demanding. Drawing from a 30-year experience in high jewelry, it results in a perfectly smooth, seamless surface of gleaming gems.
The 654-component Opera Godfather movement is built on top of a rotating base. It tells time with an off-centered rotating dial. It features a flying, high speed, triple-axis tourbillon. This contemporary complication is mastered only by the most qualified movement constructors and watchmakers
The energy required by the music box and rotating movement is very high. The Opera Godfather is wound by hand, using the crank at 3 o'clock. Jacob & Co. designed it like a violin, whose neck folds and spins. With a pusher at 10 o'clock, the caseband of the Opera Godfather is highly unusual. The time-setting crown is located on the caseback, a frequent feature in Jacob & Co. complicated watches.
The musical part of caliber JCFM04 is its unique signature. It plays The Godfather's main theme by Nino Rota with a music box mechanism. It relies on a pair of cylinders, tilted at a 20-degree angle. They're covered with steel pins that lift the music comb blades. The melody lasts 30 seconds in a unique setting.
When the music box pusher is activated, the melody starts and the entire movement dances along. It rotates on a central axis. The tourbillon, the cylinders, the central miniature sculpture, all the visible elements are in play. That includes the off-centered hour and minute dial, which spins counterclockwise at the same speed as the movement goes clockwise, and so remains upright.
Don Corleone wearing a red rose on his lapel is a reminder of The Godfather’s movie poster. It’s one of the key symbols of the character, and this is the way he is being depicted, as a three-dimensional figurine, sitting in the center of it all.
The tourbillon fitted in caliber JCFM04 is of an exceptional type. It's held only by its lower end, with no upper bridge. This makes it a flying tourbillon. The carriage is shaped like a sphere, rotating along three axes. This triple-axis structure enhances the benefits of the tourbillon.
In all Opera Godfather timepieces, one of the covers of the music box is designed as a piano. It’s also covered with an engraving of the movie’s famous puppeteer strings and logo.
Opera Godfather Baguette is dedicated to the namesake motion picture, its actors, its authors and fans. It's also a statement piece, showing what luxury watchmaking becomes when freed from conventions, limitations, and illuminated by the art of invisible setting.
