Swiss independent watch brand RJ (formerly Romain Jerome) is no stranger to creating exceptional timepieces themed around pop culture icons, including Pokemon, Pac-Man and Super Mario. The watchmaker also introduced several timepieces celebrating DC Comics’ most loved superhero, Batman. But this time around, it’s Marvel Studios chose RJ to create Haute Horlogerie watches inspired by its own leading character, the amazing Spider-Man. The new ARRAW Spider-Man Tourbillon is the second timepiece to have spawned out of the collaboration between the two brands. What makes the limited edition watch one of the most special watches for RJ is that it houses the brand’s first completely in-house movement. The highly technical 215-part RJ-7000 caliber was designed by RJ CEO and Creative Director Marco Tedeschi when he was in engineering school and the tourbillon alone took six months to make.
RJ wanted to equip the watch with a very long power reserve to reduce the need for winding. To achieve that RJ created an enlarged barrel that measures almost the entire width of the dial, thanks to which the ARRAW Spider-Man Tourbillon has a power reserve of 150 hours (more than six days). Since the barrel occupies the entire lower portion of the movement, the tourbillon is placed in the center of the dial – a first for RJ. Central tourbillon escapements are very rare and only a few watch brands offer it. To further accentuate the centrally placed tourbillon, the watch has an unusual time display, with the hours and minutes displayed on the periphery of the watch. The dial also features the two black eyes of the Spider-Man mask on the main plate.
The ARRAW Spider-Man Tourbillon is available in two different versions. The first one is made in a high-performance red composite with layers of black carbon and red fiberglass, while the other version sports a more stealthy look thanks to its entirely black carbon case with shimmering finishes, priced at $97,000 and $92,000 respectively. Only 10 examples of each version will be on sale and will in a black wood round ARRAW watch box with four RJ Bumpersand eight spider legs on the side.
