Rapper Drake spotted wearing a Jacob & Co

At his 2000s-themed 35th birthday celebration in 2018, Drake — born Aubrey Drake Graham on October 24, 1986 — surfaced wearing one of the most culturally loaded timepieces in hip-hop history: the Jacob & Co Five Time Zone with a factory diamond bezel, reference JC11. The deliberate throwback aesthetic of the party gave the watch an almost curatorial weight, less a casual accessory than a deliberate citation of an era.

The Jacob & Co Five Time Zone JC11 is a quartz-powered piece built around the brand's signature five-subdial architecture, each displaying a different world time zone via independent hour and minute hands. The case measures a substantial 47mm, finished in white gold on the diamond-set variant, and houses a reliable Swiss quartz movement — function was never really the point here. What defined the JC11 was its visual vocabulary: the factory diamond bezel, set directly by Jacob & Co rather than aftermarket, adds a layer of legitimacy that serious collectors distinguish from street-set stones. Total diamond weight on the bezel configuration typically runs between 3.5 and 5 carats of round brilliants in a pavé arrangement.

Jacob Arabo — 'Jacob the Jeweler' — built his brand through direct relationships with hip-hop royalty in the 1990s and early 2000s, and the Five Time Zone became his signature horological product during that period. The JC11 reference appeared on the wrists of Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Diddy at the genre's commercial peak, making it less a watch and more a social document. Its prominence faded as Swiss mechanical horology took hold in rap culture through the late 2000s, which is precisely what made Drake's 2018 choice so pointed.

Drake's horological range runs the full spectrum — from Patek Philippe complications to Richard Mille skeletons — but his willingness to revisit the JC11 reflects a genuine engagement with watch culture rather than pure status signalling. It acknowledges where the culture came from.

At a list price of approximately $21,500 USD, the factory diamond JC11 sits at an accessible entry point relative to Drake's usual acquisitions. On the secondary market, condition and diamond authenticity drive pricing significantly, with clean factory-set examples trading at modest premiums. For collectors, the JC11's value is more historical than financial — an artifact of a specific and unrepeatable moment in both watch and music culture.