Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo spotted wearing a Jacob & Co

Cristiano Ronaldo was photographed outside the Manchester United players' entrance at Old Trafford during his second spell at the club, greeting staff in red Adidas training gear while a heavily iced Jacob & Co Five Time Zone glinted on his left wrist. The sighting is a textbook CR7 watch moment — maximum visual impact in an understated setting.

The Jacob & Co Five Time Zone (reference JC-FTZ or the factory-diamond variant often catalogued as BQGR5W or similar) was the watch that put Jacob Arabo's brand on the map when it launched in the early 2000s. The concept is elegant in its directness: four subsidiary dials each displaying an independent time zone alongside a central running-seconds display, with a date window at 3 o'clock. The movement is an in-house or ébauche-based manual or automatic caliber (depending on generation) running at 28,800 vph. But the real specification story here is the gem-setting: 426 round brilliant-cut diamonds set across the lugs, case flanks, and bezel, plus 601 micro-pavé diamonds covering all four sub-dials in a rose-gold tone — a dial that reads as a single shimmering surface rather than individual stones.

The Five Time Zone has genuine collector pedigree as a cultural artefact. It was the watch of choice for hip-hop royalty, NBA stars, and Premier League footballers throughout the 2000s and early 2010s. The fully diamond-set versions occupy a niche category that blurs fine jewellery and haute horlogerie — serious gem-setting craftsmanship married to a functional complication.

Ronaldo's relationship with Jacob & Co is long-standing and well-documented; he has worn multiple references from the brand across his career at Real Madrid, Juventus, and both Manchester United stints. The Five Time Zone is among the more restrained choices in his collection relative to the Astronomia Tourbillon pieces he also owns — though 'restrained' is relative when 1,027 diamonds are involved.

At list price of approximately $160,000 USD (£115,000 GBP), the factory diamond Five Time Zone is priced as fine jewellery. On the secondary market, fully set examples in rose gold trade in a wide range depending on condition and provenance, generally holding close to retail given the intrinsic diamond value underpinning the piece.