Rotate the bezel 180 degrees into the six o’clock position and an opening in the dial reveals an artfully painted scene by miniaturist artist André Martinez featuring an erotic ménage à trois, with the characters’ movement controlled by the piece’s secondary crown.Īnd don’t be fooled into thinking that saucy means cheap. Described as “elegant and sober at first sight”, the Caligula watch features “a piquant secret” concealed underneath the rotating dial - which itself is adorned with guilloché in “a subtle allusion to fishnet stockings”. Jacob & Co is one of a number of high-end watchmakers to dabble in the erotic timepiece market. “In the beginning, people would commission pocket watches with faces of their wives or lovers because often people were separated for months or years at a time.” “Erotica has been a very important part of watchmaking history from when we first started with pocket watches,” Chris Del Gatto, consultant to high-end jeweller and watchmaker Jacob & Co, said at the time the brand launched its Caligula erotic timepiece. The earliest examples date back to the early 18th century, when the wives of Royal Navy officers would commission saucy self portraits to be engraved into the cases of their husbands’ pocket watches, providing not only a source of pleasure while he was on his travels, but also a reason to remember to come back. They may not attract much publicity, but erotic timepieces have in fact been tickling the fancy of well-heeled watch connoisseurs for centuries.
However, scratch the surface of the watchmaking industry and you’ll discover a private subculture full of flirtation, titillation and more than enough intrigue to arouse even the biggest horological naysayer’s interest: the world of sensually beautiful watches. With endless talk of crowns, bezels and dials, and the minutiae of complications so often scrutinised in the finest detail, it’s easy to see how those who don’t have horological leanings may feel alienated and have the impression that industry insiders take themselves more than a smidgen too seriously. To the uninitiated, the world of watches must seem like a stuffy and uninspiring one.