Jacob & Co. is proud of being a family business with Jacob Arabo increasingly handing over daily operations to his son Ben Arabov.
But there is another older generation that might also take some credit in the origin story: Jacob’s father Nison Arabov, who introduced his son to the world of watchmaking when — still living in Soviet-era Uzbekistan — he gave him a dual time watch when he was just 13 years old.
It is that gift that is remembered this week with the introduction of the Jacob & Co.’s The World Is Yours Dual Time Zone.
There is always a feeling that Jacob Arabo wants to create as great a separation as possible between the austerity of life behind the iron curtain and his watch creations dreamt up in Geneva and New York today, so the new dual timer is more than just a timepiece, it is a work of art with a domed dial featuring a map of the world in gold.
The domed dial has three sub dials lined up through the centre of the Altantic Ocean on the world map, which is made up from lacquered blue oceans and laser etched land masses in gold.
Hours and minutes hands for the two time zone subdials had to be specially curved to hug the domed surface of the dial.
The 43mm 18ct rose gold watch is driven by a new Jacob & Co. automatic JCAA11 movement with 42 hour power reserve.
It has a closed case back, also in gold, with another laser-engraved map of the world, this time centred on the central Asian republics.
A blue alligator leather strap with rose gold buckle completes the watch.
Production is limited to 999 numbered pieces priced at $57,000.
