Footballer Lionel Messi spotted wearing a Jacob & Co

Lionel Messi was photographed on the move — blazer, Dragon Ball cap, mate in hand — wearing a watch that is essentially a wearable monument to his own identity. The Jacob & Co Epic X Chrono Messi Edition, limited to just 180 examples worldwide, is one of the most explicitly personal timepieces any active athlete has ever commissioned from a major independent house.

The watch is built around Jacob & Co's in-house JCAM18 automatic bi-compax chronograph movement, beating at 28,800 vph with a 48-hour power reserve. The 47mm case is crafted from Grade 5 titanium with a DLC-treated matte finish on structural elements, keeping weight manageable despite the watch's imposing proportions. The signature red pushers at 2 and 4 o'clock — START and RESET — punctuate a white rubber strap with hexagonal micro-perforations on the lug underside.

What makes this reference collector-significant is the dial architecture. The skeletonized plate is vertically striped in white and sky blue — a direct visual quotation of the Argentine national flag — while the sub-dials at 3 and 9 o'clock are finished in deep blue with football-shaped rotor motifs. Messi's personal logo sits at 6 o'clock, and the caseback is engraved with individual numbering from the 180-piece run. Jacob & Co worked directly with Messi's management to develop the colorway and iconography, making this far more than a standard dial swap.

Messi's relationship with Jacob & Co extends across multiple references and reflects a broader pattern among elite South American footballers gravitating toward Geneva independents over Swiss mainstream houses. The Epic X platform — launched in 2015 — became a natural fit: sporty, technically credible, and visually aggressive enough to register from a stadium seat.

At an original retail of $28,000, the Messi Edition sat at the accessible end of Jacob & Co's complicated offerings. Grey market values have tracked modestly above retail given the limited production run and Messi's sustained global profile — particularly post his 2022 World Cup victory, which amplified demand for Argentine-themed memorabilia and collectibles across categories.