Jacob & Co., the New York-based watch and jewellery brand synonymous with bling culture, has a reputation for taking risks that almost no other watchmaker would dare to take.
For example last autumn's Opera Godfather 50th Anniversary model. A triple-axis flying tourbillon tourbillon watch. With a composite music box and a 49 mm case engraved with 13 iconic scenes from The Godfather. Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 film, whose 50th anniversary was designed to celebrate the watch.
At the end of March, the high-end watch industry was arriving in Geneva for the opening of the Watches and Wonders exhibition. T he Jacob & Co. once again turned up the heat. With the unveiling of what it claimed was the most expensive watch of the watch week (a claim we can't dispute), the $20 million Billionaire Timeless Treasure.
While the unique pièce features a skeleton tourbillon movement. Its astronomical price tag has nothing to do with its complexity, but rather with its shiny and extremely sunny case. Another 216.89 cts. of fancy yellow and fancy bright yellow diamonds.
“It took us three and a half years to complete this project,” Benjamin Arabov, the brand's CEO, told JCK at the Four Seasons Hotel in Geneva, where a crowd of retailers and journalists had gathered to witness the unveiling of the watch.
“It literally has our blood, sweat and tears on it. Yellow diamonds are much rarer than white diamonds. For every 10,000 white diamonds, there is only one yellow diamond. Finding them is almost an impossible task.
“If we hadn't started the piece three and a half, four years ago, we wouldn't have done it,” he added. “Especially because of the diamond crisis which is drying up because of the Russian war and the politics behind it.”.
The brand was launched with 880 carats of rough yellow diamonds, which were examined by Seraina Wicht, head of gemology watch production. She examined them based on just two qualities of cut and clarity. According to the name of the watch, price was not the object.
Ten staff members were responsible for searching, sorting and cutting the gemstones into Asscher and baguette cuts. An additional 15 people were responsible for the construction of the yellow gold mesh structure of the watch, the setting of the diamonds and the movement casing.
Some of the larger diamonds (up to 2.5 carats) were intended for the case. This is decorated with 46 stones totalling 55.15 carats. As well as the 159 carat bracelet, not to mention the 3.59 carats of chaboritic garnets on the dial. “But they did not set the gems according to their original size,” according to the press release. “Only color matters here. So several large stones have been cut with a huge waste of material.”.
And has the risk paid off? The company remains silent on whether the watch has sold. But the frenzy surrounding the watch's big reveal made the Watches and Wonders event at the Palexpo convention center feel like a meditation retreat by comparison
As Jacob Arabo, founder of Jacob & Co. and father of Benjamin, was preparing to unveil the majestic watch (the case measures 52.2 mm x 43.5 mm), the throng of people holding smartphones in the air, ready to capture the moment when he opened the cover of the display case, indicated something substantial: “People come here to see the unexpected,” Arabov said. “That's the point of this event.”.
Source: jckonline.com
