Swiss Watchmaker RJ Launches $98,000 Spider-Man Watch
The ultra-luxe timepiece “celebrates Spider-Man by integrating his visual cues from his universe.”
RJ, the inspired Swiss watchmaker behind this extravagant Joker timepiece, dropped its limited-edition Arraw Spider-Man collection in October. Technically original and designed with the approval of both Disney and Marvel, this line includes the Spider-Man Tourbillon and a new skeletonized mechanical watch.
Both embody Marvel style down to the last cog. Spider-Man showed up at the ceremony—with Marvel’s permission—so he’s obviously down with this horological dedication to his legacy.
At the opening, CEO and Creative Director of RJ Marco Tedeschi said, that they were “proud to launch two innovative in-house movements inspired by Spider-Man” and that these “new calibers affirm RJ’s mission to create innovative Haute Horlogerie watches that challenge traditional notions of what high-end watchmaking is.”
The Spider-Man Tourbillon has been created with RJ Studio’s RJ-7000 movement,—the first complication created entirely in-house rather than by a Swiss subcontractor.
Tourbillons are among the most tricky complications and the Spider-Man Tourbillon is a mini-masterpiece of coaxial construction, displaying hours and minutes on the periphery. It also has an astonishing 150 hours of power reserve—nearly one week.
RJ’s eye for symmetry is revealed in the striking choice to eliminate the crown from the Spider-Man Tourbillon. The wearer winds the mainspring with a hoop on the case back that turns like a key. RJ said in a release that this is a “faster winding method than a traditional crown provides.”
The time is set via a hidden pusher at the 6 o’clock position beneath the strap. The case back is engraved and features four sapphires that permit clarity when viewing the movement. Made in a 45 mm case, it comes in two colorways: red composite fiberglass and black carbon. The kicker? Only ten pieces are available.
The RJ-3005 “celebrates Spider-Man by integrating his visual cues from his universe,” according to the designers, and it sports a spider web-shaped skeleton movement, a red spider for the small second, and it comes in a tough black carbon case. Its fabric polyamide strap bears that distinctive Marvel Spider icon, just like the superhero’s iconic suit.
Only 100 pieces of the RJ-3005 are available, making it only slightly less limited an edition than the Spider-Man Tourbillon.
The Spider-Man Tourbillon is listed for a decidedly steep $97,700 on RJWatches.com, and the RJ-3005, a.k.a. the Arraw Spider-Man Carbon, goes for $20,000.