SimplyAbuDhabi XL

F ans of Jacob & Co. will know that the luxury brand doesn’t do understated. Everything they do is fuelled by creativity and possesses that certain “wow factor”. Even by their usual standards, Jacob & Co. have produced a true showstopper with the Oil Pump Tourbillon Automaton – a gold watch featuring an actual working oil pump (with a 100% environmentally friendly mechanical power source, of course). The tradition of automatons in watchmaking is long and varied, but historically they’ve had a very traditional focus. Jacob & Co. excels in traditional watchmaking with a modern twist, which perfectly describes the Oil Pump. It’s a traditional automaton with a contemporary subject - the oil industry. “I have many, many friends in the oil business, who came to me to develop something special for them,” says founder Jacob Arabo. “I saw what was on the market and I knew they wanted something more interesting and cooler. I had been talking with my engineers for three years to design this. What we have come up with is the real thing, it takes you straight to the oil fields.” Like its real-world counterpart, the automaton rig is made up of derricks, pipes, an anvil-shaped head, an oil gauge and a reservoir tank. It is so astounding in its detail that it will certainly be a subject of fascination and a conversational ice-breaker – especially for those in the oil industry. This watch version replicates the pumping action; every minute detail is connected and visible through the mesh grille at the back of the dial or the small apertures on the sides. The on-demand movements of the automaton will prove endlessly interesting, down to the most microscopic of cogs. The pusher at two o’clock starts the two derricks moving, pumping up and down. Jacob & Co. Oil Pump Tourbillon Automaton Simply Abu Dhabi | 85 Simply Abu Dhabi | 17