One of Hip-Hop’s Most Famous Watches Is Up for Sale
Back in 2002, Jacob Arabo—known within the New York City hip-hop scene as “Jacob the Jeweler”—launched a timepiece that would come to embody early-2000s rap culture.
Oversized and chunky, the Five Time Zone Watch is exactly what it sounds like: Spread across its considerable dial are four subdials showing the hour in New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Paris, offering a globe-trotting hip-hop star (or anyone else) a picture of global time in the pre-smartphone era. Powered by a quartz movement from ETA and available in both 40mm and 47mm iterations (with or without diamonds), it was quickly adopted by every big name in hip-hop, from Jay-Z to Busta Rhymes to Pharrell. As Jacob & Co’s first watch collection, it helped propel Jacob the Jeweler—a man formerly synonymous with bust-down jewelry—into the horological stratosphere.
Pharrell Williams met Jacob 30 years ago, and he has been one of the jeweler’s most prominent clients ever since, co-designing some 100 pieces of incredible jewelry, including Pharrell’s famous N.E.R.D. chain, that helped make “bling” a part of the broader zeitgeist. Via Joopiter, Pharrell’s commerce and content platform, the pair is now offering a highly curated auction of 30 rare and unique pieces from their personal collections.
If you’re feeling regal, there’s a Jacob & Co. Yellow Diamond & Gold Necklace inspired by the Queen of England’s Crown Jewels with an estimate of $6-8M, which is encrusted with yellow stones in heart, square, emerald, and asscher cuts; then, there’s a Yellow Gold & Fancy Yellow Diamond Seven Row Cuff Bracelet, a piece that Pharrell bought early on from Jacob featuring 57 carats of fancy yellow diamonds. There’s also the gem-encrusted Rare Touch Bow Tie set with some 1,600 stones, a piece that foreshadowed Pharrell’s rise as a fashion designer in his own right.
