The Billionaire Watch: discover Jacob & Co.’s latest elegant timepiece
During the Watches & Wonders exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland, Jacob & Co. revealed its latest Billionaire Watch, the $20 million Billionaire Timeless Treasure, with stunning watch collectors and press in attendance. This new piece quickly became the talk of the tradeshow, not only because of its exorbitant price tag but also due to the time-consuming process of sourcing, cutting, and setting rare yellow diamonds within an intricate gold bracelet. The watch features a skeletonized tourbillon and is capable of telling the time. The development of this timepiece took three and a half years, with a significant amount of time dedicated to finding enough high-quality yellow diamonds of the same color to decorate the bracelet, bezel, dial, and crown. Jacob & Co. formed a special team of ten people to find, sort, and cut the diamonds and nearly depleted the world's existing supply of these ultra-rare stones.
After acquiring the necessary 880 carats of rough diamonds, Jacob & Co.’s gem cutters in Geneva took on the enormous task of trimming the stones down to size. The result was a staggering 425 fancy yellow and fancy intense yellow Asscher-cut diamonds, weighing almost 217 carats. To display the gems, the company’s gem-setters created a gold lattice that allowed the stones to appear as if they were invisibly set together. Additionally, the watch features 76 bright green, emerald-cut, and kite-cut tsavorites that surround its movement, which is the same rare garnet found on Cristiano Ronaldo’s Caviar Flying Tourbillon “Tsavorites”—another one-of-a-kind timepiece by Jacob & Co.
The diamond façade of the Billionaire watch reveals a skeletonized caliber JCAM09 tourbillon movement with 167 elements and 19 jewels, boasting a 72-hour power reserve. The angular shape of the watch is accentuated by the movement, which also features a rose-cut jewel on the crown. The first Billionaire watch made its debut at Baselworld in 2015, flaunting an inverted pyramid-style bead setting with 260 carats of emerald-cut diamonds that covered the entire case, bracelet, and clasp. The watch had GIA-certified stones, some weighing up to three carats, and an 18K white gold foundation. The dial appeared to float due to the sapphire crystal case and case-back, creating a lighter aesthetic. Despite the hefty price tag, the previous models sold well, with famous buyers such as DJ Khaled and Floyd Mayweather.
One of the most interesting features of the watch is the subtle engraving on the case back. If you turn the timepiece over to view the movement through the sapphire case, you'll notice that the word "billionaire" has a smiley face in place of the letter "o." This small detail is a playful nod to the watch's extravagant price tag and shows that the brand doesn't shy away from a sense of humor.
Even if you're not a fan of diamonds, you might assume that the Billionaire Watch would be a difficult item to sell. However, previous versions of the watch have been purchased and worn by some of the world's most well-known figures. Since 2014, the watch has been produced in limited quantities, and both DJ Khaled and boxing icon Floyd Mayweather own models set with white diamonds. Mayweather even revealed on Instagram that he spent around $18 million on his watch. So, if you think this extravagant masterpiece of jewelry and horology won't find a buyer anytime soon, you may be mistaken.
