ReviewFrom Departure To Arrival: Jacob & Co’s Epic SF24 Watches

Unapologetically bold Swiss watchmakers Jacob & Co have long been making attention-grabbing statement pieces. Their strong lineup of exemplary timepieces includes the Epic SF24 watches, which featured an entirely new way of using the world-timer complication with a patented split-flap time zone display. Immediately, reading a world-timer a piece of cake, upon the arrival of this gorgeously complicated watch in 2013. Let’s take a trip across the time zones.

Flipping Through Time Zones: Exploring The Epic SF24

Immediately, what sets the Epic SF24 watches apart from the rest is the innovative world-timer display. In other world-timers, what we usually see is an information-heavy dial filled with all 24 time zones and a bunch of representative city names. To the untrained eye, that dial can sometimes look dizzying.

Jacob & Co’s Epic SF24 watches, however, make reading the time in any part of the world extremely easy. The watches feature the ‘split flap’ concept of displaying time, which actually draws inspiration from the mechanical information boards found in airports and train stations across the world.

Originally launched in 2013, the Epic SF24 watches from Jacob & Co come in various skins, while this one features a 45mm titanium case

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On the wrist, the Epic SF24 watches sit comfortably well, with the thickest part of the watch being 16.70 millimeters

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Due to the split-flap world time zone display, two things happen: first, the watch is able to showcase two time zones at the same time, with the other 23 time zones in the world being just clicks away. Second, a conventional watch timekeeping display is sacrificed, perhaps for the better.

The interesting silhouette of the watch gives it the personality it has, just like the other exemplary pieces from Jacob & Co have their own unique shapes, like the Bugatti Chiron timepieces. It’s bold design choices like these that either make or break your designs. And thus far, it’s almost as if Jacob & Co haven’t made any missteps in this regard.

This is how the world-timer complication in this watch works is like this. Once you’ve synchronised the watch to your local time and adjusted the world time according the local time. Once that’s done, the push button on the left of the split-flap system will take you to the reference time zone one hour ahead. That happens for all 24 time zones, and the change is instantaneous and, of course, purely mechanical.

The split flap is weirdly appropriate for this mechanical watch because a split-flap system is adaptable to a world time indicator in a mechanical watch. After all, split-flap displays were the go-to information display system before digital indicators and electronic screens came into the picture.

The entire mechanical system seems very toy-like and entertaining—something the brand must be aware of because the side of the split-flap system offers a little peek at the mechanism.

Taking Your Eyes Off The Split Flap Of The Epic SF24 For A Moment

We’ve had the same type of trouble that a new user of this watch has: admiring anything else apart from that gorgeous, instantaneous, mechanically brilliant split-flap display. But, of course, there’s a bit more to this watch than just that.

The 45mm case size of this watch comes in various different skins. There’s the grade-5 titanium that makes the watch extremely durable, yet lightweight; there’s the rose gold case versions and the titanium DLC case versions; plus, there are the versions with baguette-cut gemstones, in white gold and the red gold. Surely these were bound to be a part of the collection, because it’s Jacob & Co.

Inside the case of the ‘Grade 5 Titanium Racing Green’ is the automatic calibre JCAA02, which features 473 components, with 163 dedicated to the 24-Hour ‘world time indication’ flap system. The movement gives the watch a power reserve of 48 hours.

The dial under the split flap deserved some love too. Roman numeral hour markers, a smooth outer ring, a sunray pattern at the centre, and a small seconds sub-dial placed between nine and 10 o’clock adorn the non-tourbillon pieces. Yes, that’s right. This extraordinary collection, in addition to the already-impressive mechanical split flap, also includes watches that have the tourbillon feature.

In the tourbillon versions, the local time is shifted to an off-centre sub-dial, while the tourbillon aperture is at 10 o’clock.

As you can probably tell, there’s a lot to talk about when it comes to the Epic SF24 watches by Jacob & Co. That in itself makes us believe that the Swiss watchmakers aren’t just out here to produce the next big attention-grabbing timepiece. There’s a lot of mechanical prowess that goes behind these beauties. That’s what sets the brand apart—the ability to dream big and the know-how to pull it off.

All in all, while these watches offer practicality and mechanical brilliance. This will appeal to a number of people, but particularly to those who’d enjoy the nostalgia and the romanticism of split-flap indicators, having lived in the era when that’s the only kind we had.