The Jacob & Co. Astronomia Solar is the latest version of the Astronomia Tourbillon, which was one of the most talked-about watches of Baselworld when it debuted there in 2014. The Wall Street Journal's Michael Clerizo called it one of his three favorites of the show, and the fact that a company that had been primarily known for high jewelry timepieces had created something so mechanically complex, as well as visually spectacular, got a lot of heads turning and tongues wagging. Of course, this was not the first high mechanical complication from Jacob & Co. but it was certainly the most stunning from a design standpoint, and there was something about it that really captured the watch world's collective imagination. This sort of really over-the-top, maximalist, go-big-or-go-home watch design was something a great many companies, both new and established, have tried since the Ulysse Nardin Freak appeared as the first real member of the high mech, big-and-bold genre back in 2000, but it's a hard thing to get right as it requires a sense for the essence of excess that very few watch companies have.