High rollers with a weakness for luxury watches will want to get their hands on this fabulous timepiece created by Girard-Perregaux, the highly acclaimed Swiss watchmaker.
Called the Vintage 1945 Jackpot Tourbillon, this watch stands in a class of its own because of an in-built slot machine game. If you love placing enormous bets on games of chance in the VIP lounges of land-based casinos, you might be interested in knowing more about this exclusive timepiece.
But first, let’s get the price out of the way. This watch costs $625,000 and you may wonder what makes it so unique. Doug Bradstreet, who purchases fine watches and jewellery for Wynn Resorts may have the answer to your question.
Bradstreet have stated that one may never see any other timepiece like this in their lifetime. Obviously, Doug Bradstreet knows what he is talking about as he has been purchasing luxury watches for the past several years and was super impressed when he saw the watch for the first time.
Already, a number of high rollers are eager to get their hands on the watch. Although he did not reveal the name of the buyer, Bradstreet said that the person will definitely not lock it away, but will wear it.
Why Is It Suitable For High Rollers?
So what makes the Vintage 1945 Jackpot Tourbillon the ultimate luxury watch for high rollers?
For one, luxury and slots seem to go hand in hand as the top progressive jackpot slots have turned a number of individuals into overnight millionaires and allowed them to transform their lifestyle. Most of these slot winners tend to not only upgrade their accommodation but also their wardrobe and this includes buying themselves a number of luxury watches from top designers in the world.
The name Vintage 1945 Jackpot Tourbillon may suggest that we are looking at a very old watch but rest assured this is a brand new piece. In fact, Vintage 1945 is a reference to the case style. The watch features a gold bridge without jewels. It is placed within a case of pink or gold and has a transparent back.
It is fully water-resistant and has a power reserve that lasts for four days. It requires manual winding and has an anti-reflective sapphire crystal. The alligator strap has a folding clasp.
Though not new, the tourbillon design is attractive to collectors. Watchmakers brought this design to perfection more than two centuries ago, mounting the escapement within rotating frames to counter gravitational effects and any other force that may interfere with the ability of the watch to give the accurate time. Creating a watch of this design is the most challenging task for any watchmaker.
The most unique feature of the timepiece is, of course, the slot machine game. While describing the unique features of the watch, Girard-Perregaux President Ronald Jackson said that it has two power sources, each independent of the other. While the watch uses one of these power sources, the slot machine game uses the other.
Why is this watch so expensive?
The intention of the watchmaker was not to create an expensive product but to materialize a unique concept. The watch is expensive because of what it can do and how the watchmakers have made it.
While designing the watch, its makers had to accomplish the impossible—reduce a slot machine game to the size of a timepiece. At the same time, they had to combine its various functions. As a result, the finished product has over 500 parts and took 3 years to complete.
You can play the slot machine game just as it is played at any land-based casino. Just pull the handle, which is located on the right side. This will set the reels of the slot spinning. The slot has three reels and five rows and you can create up to 125 combinations. You have a one-in-25 chance of creating a combination of three symbols. Whenever a reel stops, a hammer sounds the gong.
The mechanism of the slot is simple, though not so simple. The handle that you have to pull to set the reels spinning is fixed to a rack. When you pull the handle, the rack starts sliding up. When the rack reaches the highest position, the reels start spinning.
As the reels spin, the rack slowly slides down again. When the rack is close to the bottom, the stoppers get activated. As a result, the reels stop one by one. As previously mentioned, a gong sounds when each reel comes to a halt.
Girard-Perregaux, known for their outlandish and stunning watch designs, plans to make 40 such watches in the next five years. They may not be of the same design, but they will be based on the same concept. Ten of them will be sold in the US. However, the company says that it may find it difficult to make so many watches within that deadline because each watch is a work of art. Jackson says that a lot of precision is required to create a watch as it is a complicated machine.
The Wynn showroom, which is located in the Wynn Esplanade, has a collection of world-class luxury watches from brands such as JWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Hublot, Omega, and Officine Panerai. The Wynn Plaza shops also have standalone boutiques from Omega, Breitling, and Rolex. According to the Wynn, Chinese high rollers are its biggest watch customers.
