Watchmaker Jacob Arabo spotted wearing a Jacob & Co

Few watchmakers ever get to wear their own magnum opus on the wrist, but Jacob Arabo is photographed here doing exactly that. The Jacob & Co Mystery Twin Central Flying Tourbillons is one of the most technically and aesthetically ambitious pieces the New York-based manufacture has ever produced, and seeing its creator wear it in a professional setting underscores both his confidence in the design and its wearability as a statement piece — albeit an extraordinary one.

The watch measures 50mm and is cased in white gold, with a dial architecture that abandons conventional timekeeping entirely. Two concentric diamond-set rings rotate independently, each carrying a ruby that functions as an hour or minute hand respectively. A third ring of 12 rubies around the outer bezel zone marks the hours. The result is what Jacob & Co calls a 'mystery' display — the mechanics of rotation are concealed within the gem-set structure, creating the illusion that the rubies float and orbit of their own accord. At the center, a flying tourbillon cage rotates visibly, framed by concentrically arranged baguette-cut diamonds and blue sapphires that lend the dial a deep, almost cosmic quality.

From a collector standpoint, the Mystery Twin Central Flying Tourbillons represents Jacob & Co operating at the very intersection of haute joaillerie and serious complications. The movement required to drive two independently rotating gem-set rings while simultaneously powering a flying tourbillon is an engineering undertaking of genuine complexity — not theatrical decoration layered over a simple base. The limited edition of just 18 pieces makes this exceptionally scarce, even within the ultra-high-end segment.

Jacob Arabo founded his eponymous brand in New York in the early 1980s, initially as a jewelry house before pivoting into watchmaking. His clientele has long included hip-hop royalty and sports figures, but pieces like this signal the brand's ambition to sit alongside Geneva's most technically credible manufactures. Arabo wearing this watch in a boardroom setting, rather than a red carpet, speaks to its seriousness as a horological object.

At a retail price of $1,300,000 USD, the Jacob & Co Mystery Twin Central Flying Tourbillons occupies rarefied air even by ultra-luxury standards. Secondary market data for this reference remains thin given the 18-piece production run, but comparable Jacob & Co tourbillon complications with heavy stone-setting have traded at or above retail among motivated collectors.