Designer Valentino Garavani spotted wearing a Jacob & Co

At a book signing event for his monograph, fashion legend Valentino Garavani was photographed with a flash of extraordinary crimson at his wrist: the Jacob & Co Brilliant Full Baguette, fully set in rubies, one of just six examples produced worldwide. For a man who built an empire around a specific shade of red, the choice reads as pure autobiography in horology.

The Jacob & Co Brilliant Full Baguette occupies the extreme end of the New York brand's stone-set portfolio. The 38mm round case — itself constructed in 18-karat rose gold — disappears entirely beneath 226 baguette-cut rubies, channel-set in concentric graduating rows across both the bezel and the dial. There is no dial in the conventional sense: hour and minute hands in rose gold float above a mosaic of gemstone that catches light with an almost textile quality, reminiscent of a Burmese ruby parure. The crown is finished with a ruby cabochon. The strap, in sharp chromatic contrast, is vivid green alligator — a pairing that references the Italian tricolore with considerable audacity.

From a gemological standpoint, achieving uniformity across 226 baguette rubies — matching color saturation, clarity, and cut — represents a significant sourcing and setting challenge. Jacob & Co's in-house atelier handles this work, and the six-piece limitation reflects precisely how rarely such a matched suite of stones becomes available. The movement is a Swiss quartz caliber, a pragmatic choice that preserves maximum case depth for the gem-setting architecture.

Valentino Garavani retired from his eponymous house in 2008 but has lost none of his appetite for maximalist luxury. His watch collection is known to be extensive and unapologetically opulent. Wearing a ruby-set Jacob & Co to a book signing is entirely consistent with a man who once said he only liked four colors: black, white, beige, and red — and red above all.

At a UK list price of approximately £500,000 (roughly $630,000 USD at prevailing rates), this piece sits firmly in the category of private-sale, relationship-driven transactions. Grey market activity is essentially non-existent given the six-piece run; value is determined entirely by stone quality, provenance, and the willingness of the next collector to pay. For Jacob & Co, pieces like this validate the brand's positioning at the intersection of haute joaillerie and watchmaking.