The Jacob & Co “The World Is Yours” Dual Time Zone Watch, A Tribute To The Arabov Family

As most of you might know, Jacob & Co. is the brainchild of one man, Jacob Arabo, a.k.a. “Jacob the Jeweller”. With his highly personal take on watchmaking, fuelled by a strong design and mechanically spectacular watches, such as the Astronomia collection or the Bugatti watches with an actual W16 engine inside, there’s something unique about Jacob & Co. Today, it’s not only about a watch but about how it all started, how it evolved and the story of a family, the story of one particular watch that was the spark that ignited Jacob’s future career. And this is the story encapsulated in the new Jacob & Co. “The World Is Yours” Dual Time Zone Watch. 

The Arabov family originates from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, then a Republic of the USSR. Jacob’s interest in watches began at the age of 13 when he received, from the hands of his father, Nison Arabov, a pretty special watch. “My father gave me a watch as a gift when I was 13 years old, which displayed two timezones, and it had a gold-plated map of the world on the dial (…) It had two mechanical movements, and that’s where the idea for the five-timezone watch came from,” explains Arabo. The watch in question, which can be seen above, was a Wakmann and not only when Jacob started to dive into the world of watches, but it’s also a watch that has greatly influenced the design of his future creations – multi-time zone watches have always been of great importance for Jacob & Co.

In 1979, at the age of 14, Jacob and his family emigrated to New York City. While working at a jewellery factory, he also designed his own creations and opened a small booth in New York City’s diamond district. Watches came later, but the memory of his own Dual-Time Wakmann remained and became a source of inspiration for many of Jacob’s future watches… Which includes the latest creation of Jacob & Co. named “The World Is Yours” Dual Time Zone. A personal watch inspired by the man’s past, a tribute to an Arabov family heirloom.

The provenance of this new Dual Time Zone watch, which also launches the new “The World Is Yours” collection, leaves little to debate. It is, without a doubt, a Jacob & Co. through and through. The curved surfaces, the use of gold and blue as signature colours, the original display and the multiple time zones are all distinctive elements found in other watches from the brand. Yet, there’s something almost restrained, at least according to Jacob’s standards. This new watch, when compared to the extravagance of an Astronomia, feels almost classic and, despite an undeniable audacity, it’s not as demonstrative as some previous models.

Proportions, even though the Jacob & Co. The World Is Yours Dual Time Zone can’t be categorized as a compact watch, are on the smaller side for the brand, with a 43mm diameter and 14mm height (an Astronomia can easily be 50mm x 25mm). The 18k polished rose gold case is deliberately sleek to focus the attention on the dial. Still, it comes with classic features: everything is curved, the bezel is stepped, rounded and very thin in order to offer the largest dial possible, and the crystal is domed. The back is solid gold with a laser-engraved world map.

What matters most about this watch is the dial. As you can see, it draws inspiration from Jacob’s own vintage watch, with a dual time display and a world map, with the West and East on each side of the dial. It’s an important design element, as back in the days of the USSR, such representations were a rare sight. Picturing the West was a private and secret luxury… The blue lacquered base is home to landmasses carved with a high-precision laser and then coated with a rose gold galvanic treatment, with two hour and minute dials displaying independent time zones. The whole dial is highly domed, with a 3.7mm height difference between its lower and highest points. The centre, which indicates the seconds, takes the shape of a wind rose.

The World Is Yours Dual Time Zone is powered by a brand new Jacob & Co. exclusive movement. It indicates two time zones, complete with hours and minutes, vertically aligned on either side of a small seconds counter. Each time zone can be set independently using the crown down to the minute. The base automatic movement, which drives a proprietary module on top for the time zones, is sourced from ETA. It runs at a 4Hz frequency and stores 42h of power reserve.

Worn on a blue alligator strap and released as a limited edition of 999 pieces, the Jacob & Co. The World Is Yours Dual Time Zone will be priced at USD 57,000. For more details, please consult jacobandco.com.