Watchmaker Jacob Arabo spotted wearing a Jacob & Co

Few watch sightings carry the weight of a watchmaker wearing his own magnum opus. Jacob Arabo, founder and CEO of Jacob & Co, was photographed wearing 'The Billionaire' – his brand's most extreme creation – at what appears to be an industry or social event. The image captures the watch's extraordinary presence on the wrist: a broad, luminous band of white that barely resembles a conventional timepiece, more architectural jewel than instrument.

The Jacob & Co Billionaire is built around an 18-karat white gold case and bracelet entirely pavé-set with 260 carats of emerald-cut diamonds, totalling approximately 2,340 individual stones. The rectangular case houses a fully skeletonised hand-wound movement featuring a flying tourbillon escapement, with blued hands visible against the open dial architecture. Every component of the movement is finished by hand, and the integrated diamond-set bracelet follows the same labour-intensive gem-setting process. The watch measures approximately 53mm × 35mm, making it unmistakably bold even before accounting for the diamonds.

From a collector's standpoint, The Billionaire occupies a rare category: ultra-high jewellery watches that also house a genuinely complex mechanical movement. The tourbillon is not decorative – it is a certified regulating organ within a hand-finished calibre. The piece was unveiled to significant industry attention and represents Jacob & Co's ambition to compete directly with maisons like Graff and Chopard in the top-tier jewellery watch segment, while maintaining a mechanical watchmaking identity.

Arabo himself is one of the most significant figures in the relationship between hip-hop culture and fine watchmaking. Having built Jacob & Co from a New York jewellery shop into a global watch brand, he understands better than most how an object can carry cultural meaning beyond its technical specification. Wearing The Billionaire publicly is both authentic and strategic.

At an official retail price of $18,000,000 USD, The Billionaire is not a grey-market commodity – it is a bespoke commission-tier object. Secondary market transactions, when they occur, are private and undisclosed. It remains one of the most valuable gem-set mechanical watches ever offered.