Watch Paparazzi

Musician DJ Khaled spotted wearing Jacob & Co

DJ Khaled was photographed on a golf cart, phone to his ear and Jacob & Co Five Time Zone firmly on his wrist — the watch's multicolor dial unmistakable even at distance. The sighting places one of hip-hop's most documented watch collectors in his natural habitat: somewhere expensive, somewhere warm, and somewhere that demands maximum wrist presence.

The Jacob & Co Five Time Zone in 18K white gold is the brand's signature statement piece, and this factory diamond variant takes it to its logical extreme. The 47mm case is enveloped by 399 round brilliant-cut diamonds, factory-set across the bezel, lugs, and case flanks. The dial — if it can be called that — is a Mondrian-inspired mosaic of red, yellow, blue, and green geometric fields, divided into four independent sub-dials tracking five time zones simultaneously: Los Angeles, New York, Moscow, Tokyo, and a central 24-hour indicator. The movement is a proprietary Jacob & Co caliber with independently adjustable hour hands for each zone, housed behind a sapphire display caseback.

The Five Time Zone was Jacob Arabo's founding statement when the brand launched in New York in the 1980s and 1990s, dressing the emerging hip-hop elite at a moment when mainstream luxury watchmakers weren't paying attention to that demographic. The colorblock dial design has remained essentially unchanged — its longevity a testament to how completely it captured a specific aesthetic that has never gone out of fashion in certain circles.

DJ Khaled has assembled one of the most publicly documented watch collections in the music industry, with Jacob & Co pieces forming its backbone. His wearing of this Five Time Zone diamond set is consistent with his long-standing brand alignment — Jacob & Co has gifted and collaborated with Khaled on multiple occasions, and the watch appears regularly in his social media and public appearances.

At an official retail price of approximately $82,300 USD, the factory-diamond Five Time Zone sits at the upper tier of the Jacob & Co sport catalog. On the grey market, demand from collectors in the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas keeps pricing firm, with clean examples rarely trading below retail. For a watch this loud, the market is exactly as irrational as the dial.