Jacob & Co.

Please note that a portion of the seller’s proceeds will be donated to the Davidson Institute of Science Education.

Jacob & Co., Bucherer BLUE, and Sotheby’s, are reaching for the stars. The two famed watch companies, celebrated for their innovative and dazzling designs, along with Sotheby’s, the world’s premier destination for art and luxury, have joined forces in the spirit of exploration to send a special timepiece into the unmapped vastness of space before going up for a charitable auction this summer. Named the Jacob & Co. Astronomia Bucherer BLUE, the unique watch, a marvel of Swiss craftsmanship and the decorative arts, was the first triple axis tourbillon ever to leave the earth’s atmosphere, shuttled on the first private, all-commercial mission into the cosmos.

On 8 April, Axiom Space launched the world’s first privately crewed mission to the International Space Station, of which, all four crew members safely returned off the Florida coast on Monday, April 25. The AX-1 mission studied microgravity through experiments focused on science, education and outreach. One of the mission specialists, Eytan Stibbe, had the distinction of carrying along the Jacob & Co. Astronomia Tourbillon Bucherer BLUE.

Eytan Stibbe is only the second Israeli to ever reach space. A former Israeli fighter ace, impact investor, businessman, and now private astronaut, Stibbe was charged with leading the Israeli designed Rakia mission to space. Stibbe’s main mission centered around running a variety of different experiments designed by Israeli startups and research institutions. Stibbe completed an unbelievable 35 difference experiments including: creating the first optical lens out of fluid, measuring brain waves in space, researching various diseases - including Alzheimer’s and children's leukemia - growing chickpea plants in space, wearing a special vest designed to protect astronauts against cosmic radiation, deploying a nano-antennae in space, and photographing atmospheric lightning.

The Rakia mission, along with the Astronomia Tourbillon Bucherer BLUE, spent 17 days 1 hour and 37 minutes in space, as the space crew orbited the Earth 273 times at an altitude of 250 miles at nearly 17,500 mph, traveling over 7 million miles in total. 

Sotheby's is honored to offer the present lot, without reserve, with proceeds benefiting the Davidson Institute of Science Education, a public nonprofit organization aimed at promoting and nurturing the scientific, mathematical and technological education in Israel.