Basketball player Kobe Bryant spotted wearing a Jacob & Co

Few watch sightings carry the emotional weight of this one. Photographed by Getty Images' Scott Halleran, Kobe Bryant lifts the NBA Championship Trophy while his left wrist displays a Jacob & Co. Five Time Zone in stainless steel — the yellow rubber strap a deliberate, or perhaps serendipitous, echo of the Los Angeles Lakers' iconic gold colorway. The image has since become one of the most recognizable watch-in-sport photographs of the decade.

The Jacob & Co. Five Time Zone, introduced in the late 1990s under founder Jacob Arabo, was a bold statement in a market then dominated by conservative Swiss complications. The watch houses five independent quartz movements, each driving a dedicated sub-dial marked with a world city: New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Tokyo, and a fifth selectable zone. The main dial is crafted from mother-of-pearl, with vivid geometric color blocking — navy, red, yellow, and blue segments — lending the piece an almost Mondrian-like graphic quality. The case measures 47mm in stainless steel, and Bryant's example features the optional diamond-set bezel, comprising rows of brilliant-cut round diamonds that elevate the piece well beyond its base configuration.

From a collector standpoint, the Five Time Zone occupies a fascinating niche. It was never a watchmaker's watch in the traditional Swiss sense — its quartz movements drew skepticism from purists — but its cultural cachet was undeniable. Hip-hop, NBA, and entertainment figures adopted it as a status symbol through the late 1990s and early 2000s, and that association has only grown more significant with time. Provenance pieces linked to verified celebrity ownership consistently command multiples over standard grey-market values.

Kobe Bryant's relationship with luxury watches was well documented throughout his career. He favored bold, high-visibility pieces that matched his competitive persona, and the Jacob & Co. Five Time Zone, with its oversized case and unsubtle diamond bezel, fit that profile precisely. Wearing it during a championship celebration rather than on the court underscores that this was a deliberate lifestyle choice, not mere courtside styling.

On the secondary market, the standard Five Time Zone in stainless steel trades between $3,000 and $7,000 depending on condition and configuration. Diamond-bezel examples in yellow strap configuration — particularly those documented in high-profile imagery — carry a premium. Pieces with authenticated celebrity provenance can realistically achieve two to three times grey-market baseline at auction.