Watch Paparazzi

Entrepreneur Manny Koshbin spotted wearing Jacob & Co

Entrepreneur and serial Bugatti owner Manny Khoshbin was recently spotted at what appears to be a Bugatti brand event or showroom appearance, carefully adjusting a watch that stops conversations dead: the Jacob & Co. Bugatti Chiron Tourbillon in a full blue sapphire crystal case, executed in a bespoke 'Piece Unique' configuration with rose gold hardware. The sighting is notable not only for the watch's extraordinary price point but for the seamless brand alignment — Khoshbin's cap bears the Bugatti EB monogram, and the watch's own dial carries the same emblem in blue.

The Jacob & Co. Bugatti Chiron Tourbillon is anchored by the JCAM37 manual-wind movement, which houses a triple-axis tourbillon and a miniaturised W16 engine block — four banks of four cylinders, a functional crankshaft and connecting rods — all visible through the massive domed sapphire crystal case. The engine 'revs' when the crown is wound, pistons reciprocating in faithful homage to the Chiron's 1,479 hp powerplant. Power reserve sits at approximately 60 hours. The case itself measures roughly 54 × 44 mm and is formed from a single block of synthetic blue sapphire, one of the hardest and most challenging materials in contemporary case manufacturing.

From a collector standpoint, the sapphire-cased variants of the Bugatti Chiron Tourbillon occupy a category almost entirely their own. Standard production references in titanium or rose gold are already limited; full sapphire executions — particularly bespoke 'Piece Unique' commissions like this blue iteration — exist in single-digit quantities globally. The combination of skeletonised architecture, animated complications, and sapphire construction demands months of additional case-finishing time, which is reflected directly in the price premium over standard references.

Khoshbin's relationship with Bugatti is well documented: he owns multiple Chirons and has served as a brand ambassador in practice if not always in title. Pairing a watch that retails at approximately $348,000 with a Bugatti leather jacket is, for Khoshbin, simply consistent lifestyle branding. The Bugatti EB logo appearing both on his cap and on the watch's movement architecture bridges the automotive and horological worlds in a way few collectors manage this coherently.

On the secondary market, sapphire-case Jacob & Co. Bugatti Chiron references have traded at or above retail given their scarcity. Piece Unique commissions, by definition, do not have a grey-market comparable — when they appear at auction they tend to attract significant premiums. The standard blue sapphire reference has been quoted in the £300,000–£350,000 range at retail, and bespoke variants would command more. As a wearable piece of kinetic sculpture co-developed between two luxury houses, it remains one of the most discussed — and divisive — collector objects of the modern era.