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Musician Michael Blakey spotted wearing Jacob & Co

During a recent YouTube video, record producer Michael Blakey — known for managing acts including Travis and Five — was spotted gesturing toward his left wrist, giving viewers an unmistakable glimpse of a heavily diamond-set Jacob & Co timepiece. Watch Paparazzi can confirm the watch as the Jacob & Co Caligula in 18K rose gold, mounted on a white leather strap, one of just 69 examples produced globally.

The Caligula is built around one of Jacob & Co's most theatrical complications. The dial presents a fully paved field of round brilliant-cut diamonds across a concave surface, with a fan-shaped aperture at 12 o'clock sitting beneath a matching diamond-set cover. Turning the crown at 4 o'clock — a deliberate mechanical flourish — slides back that cover to reveal a hand-painted erotic miniature executed by French artist André Martinez, whose micro-painting technique draws on a tradition stretching back to 18th-century enamel portraiture. The rose gold case is framed by two concentric rows of pavé-set diamonds on the bezel, and the crown itself is set with additional stones. The movement beneath is a Jacob & Co manufacture automatic, regulated to COSC-adjacent standards.

From a collector's standpoint, the Caligula occupies a genuinely singular position. It is not merely a jewellery watch — it is a mechanical objet with a narrative complication, a category that counts the Jaquet Droz erotic automata and early Vacheron Constantin pocket watches among its historical forebears. The 69-piece limitation is, of course, deliberate, and each piece is individually numbered. Secondary market appearances are exceptionally rare; when examples surface, they trade at or above retail among discreet collectors.

Michael Blakey's watch collection has previously leaned toward statement pieces consistent with his career in the entertainment industry. The Caligula is firmly in that territory — it is a conversation piece that requires both significant means and a particular sensibility to wear publicly.

At a UK list price of approximately £200,000 (roughly $250,000 USD at prevailing rates), the Jacob & Co Caligula rose gold diamond is among the most expensive non-repeater, non-tourbillon watches in current production. Grey-market pricing, where it surfaces at all, tends to track closely to retail given the extreme scarcity of available examples.