Jacob Arabo got a watch at 13; years later, his creations reached A-list wrists

Cristiano Ronaldo, Jay-Z, Kanye West, and David Beckham have all been photographed wearing Jacob & Co.’s now-iconic Five Time Zone watch. The brand’s name has also long been intertwined with A-listers, with a language of diamonds, gold and “bling”. But before Jacob & Co. became a name associated with elaborate timepieces, its founder Jacob Arabo was a teenager in Tashkent who had become fascinated by a watch his father gave him.He was 13 when his father, Nison, gifted him a dual-time watch. The boy was captivated by the mechanism and the idea of displaying different time zones. That childhood fascination would return decades later, when Arabo created the Five Time Zone watch. “I was fascinated by it.