Watch Paparazzi

Rapper Rick Ross spotted wearing Jacob & Co

Rick Ross was recently photographed inside what appears to be a high-end watch boutique, wrists crossed and white tee on — a casual frame for anything but a casual timepiece. On his wrist sits one of the most mechanically ambitious watches Jacob & Co has ever released: the Mystery, a double triple-axis tourbillon creation limited to just 18 examples worldwide.

The Jacob & Co Mystery is defined by its twin flying tourbillon cages, each rotating on three separate axes. The first axis completes a rotation in 60 seconds, the second in two minutes, and the third in two minutes as well — all three axes linked by a single differential gear train. Time itself is indicated not by conventional hands but by two rotating mystery disks that orbit the tourbillon assemblies, a horological theater piece that demands attention before function. The white gold case is pavé-set with baguette-cut diamonds across the entire dial surface, with vivid blue sapphire accents scattered at intervals and what appears to be a deep ruby cabochon at the crown of the tourbillon bridge — matching the ox-blood red alligator strap below.

Jacob & Co, founded by Jacob Arabo in New York, built its early reputation on diamond-set jewelry watches favored by hip-hop royalty through the late 1990s and 2000s. The brand's pivot into serious haute horlogerie — most visibly through the Astronomia and now the Mystery — has repositioned it credibly among collectors who track both complications and gem-setting artistry. The Mystery represents the apex of that evolution: it is a genuine manufacture piece, not merely a decorated ébauche.

Rick Ross has been a documented Jacob & Co loyalist for years, wearing multiple Astronomia references and custom pieces publicly. His affinity for the brand is less about trend-following and more about brand alignment — both Ross and Jacob & Co traffic in maximalism as a considered aesthetic stance.

With a retail list price of approximately $1.3 million USD and production limited to 18 pieces, secondary market appearances are rare and typically command premiums. No grey-market benchmark exists with any reliability at this production volume. This is a piece that moves privately, between collectors and dealers who know exactly what they are handling.