Watch Paparazzi

Model Elsa Hosk spotted wearing Jacob & Co

Elsa Hosk, the Swedish-born Victoria's Secret Angel and off-duty style reference for a generation of fashion editors, was recently spotted wearing one of the most radically jewelled wristwatches in contemporary horology: the Jacob & Co Brilliant Mystery in full baguette white diamond configuration. The sighting, captured during what appears to be an editorial or campaign shoot, places this ultra-rare timepiece on the wrist of one of the industry's most visible faces.

The Brilliant Mystery is Jacob & Co's most technically demanding jewellery watch. The case is crafted in 18-karat white gold and measures approximately 40mm, housing a hand-wound mechanical movement whose hours and minutes hands appear to rotate with no visible connection to any arbour — the 'mystery' complication, a tradition traceable to Cartier's early-twentieth-century mystery clocks and later refined by Van Cleef & Arpels. Jacob & Co's execution layers this mechanical illusion beneath and around 371 baguette-cut white diamonds, invisibly set across three concentric rings on the bezel and a fully pavé spiral dial. The total diamond weight is substantial, and the precision required to seat baguette stones — each cut individually to fill its exact space without prongs — makes this among the most labour-intensive dial constructions in Swiss watchmaking.

From a collector standpoint, an edition of 18 pieces places the Brilliant Mystery in genuinely scarce territory. Jacob & Co produces numerous jewelled references, but the full-baguette Brilliant Mystery sits at the apex of the brand's haute joaillerie offer — comparable in ambition, if not in brand heritage, to pieces from Graff or Harry Winston's timepiece ateliers. The mystery-hand complication adds genuine mechanical interest beyond pure gem value, distinguishing it from decorative watches that prioritise stones over substance.

Hosk's affinity for considered luxury accessories is well documented, and her choice of this particular piece — worn against a silver iridescent coat and wide-brim hat — reads as a deliberate aesthetic statement rather than coincidental placement. The watch's mesh bracelet and all-white diamond palette create a seamless tonal harmony with the editorial palette.

At a UK list price of approximately £370,000 (roughly $460,000–$480,000 USD at prevailing rates), the Brilliant Mystery Full Baguette is firmly in the territory of jewellery-house complications. Grey-market data is sparse given edition size, but comparable examples have traded at or above retail when they surface at auction, as collectors of invisibly-set diamond watches treat such pieces as wearable jewellery investments.