When Does it Become “Over the Top?” Jacob & Co.’s Billionaire Collection Now in Living Color
In a recent article from WorldTempus.com magazine, Jacob & Co., famous for their over-the-top gem encrusted time pieces, have really pushed themselves one better with a new design.
The Billionaire collection has been all about diamonds – lavish, large, colorless diamonds. Of course, to be in the Billionaire category, fancy color diamonds are even more appropriate.
In 2016, with the release of a skeleton tourbillon, the Billionaire collection began.
This timepiece is made entirely of natural yellow diamonds: 425 Asscher-cut, IF to VVS fancy yellow diamonds, and 57 baguette-cut fancy yellow diamonds, set on its skeleton tourbillon movement.
Total weight of the 482 fancy yellow diamonds: 216.9 carats.
Added to the collection, with yellow gold case and bracelet, set with 425 Asscher-cut fancy yellow diamonds (215 ct.) and 76 Kite-shape and Emerald-cut Tsavorites (3.59 ct.). The skeleton movement is set with 57 baguette-cut fancy yellow diamonds.
For the watch enthusiast, this is a One-minute tourbillon, 167 components, with a 72-hour power reserve.
Now in this recent article by David Chkron for WorldTempus.com,. Jacob & Co.’s Billionaire collection has expanded to colored stones.
Billionaire Colour Bomb
Jacob & Co. unleashes a trio of colour explosions in a single stroke, as its Billionaire collection replaces cool white diamonds with a dazzling array of colourful gemstones
Jacob & Co. has made a powerful statement with the release of three jewellery watchmaking marvels: Billionaire III Rubies, featuring 714 emerald-cut rubies (and a few baguette-cut rubies on the skeletonised tourbillon) totalling 147 carats; Billionaire III Emeralds, adorned with 714 emeralds weighing 102 carats; and the pièce de résistance, Billionaire III Rainbow, arguably the most ambitious Rainbow watch ever created. These are incredibly extravagant jewellery watches, from a brand that has made extravagance its signature – individual and collective masterpieces unlike anything we’ve seen before. But they didn’t appear out of thin air.
The groundwork was laid in 2023 when Jacob & Co. unveiled the Billionaire Timeless Treasure, a $20 million marvel showcasing an incredible fusion of jewellery and watchmaking. It featured 216 carats of extremely rare Asscher-cut yellow diamonds on a single watch, which also contained a skeletonised tourbillon and a gem-set movement encircled by tsavorites. Prior to this, since 2016, the Billionaires were all crafted with white diamonds, making the shift to colour a significant development.
While high jewellery watches are not uncommon, Jacob & Co. occupies a unique position in the fully paved segment. Pieces as costly and exceptional as those with gem-set cases, bracelets and movements can certainly be found. So, what sets these three watches apart? Beyond the obvious abundance of gems, the associated price tag (in the 8-figure range) and the blast of colour, the true achievement lies in the stones themselves.
The ruby, the queen of precious stones, is found in very few locations, and only rarely in a size, purity and colour saturation suitable for the intricate context of a watch setting. Unlike, say, a ring, where light can enter the jewel from every angle, the setting in a watch, and particularly a Billionaire, is closed, demanding stones with a delicate balance of light, colour and purity.
Moreover, a ruby like those on the Billionaire III Rubies case, the largest of which is 0.56 carats (enough for a solitaire), weighs 1.5 carats in its rough form. That’s a substantial stone, especially considering that the emerald cut requires rough stones of a specific geometry and generates significant waste during cutting. Remarkably, Jacob & Co. was able to source 714 of them – all unheated and of the same colour. That’s almost a miracle.
Tap here to read the original feature story in WorldTempus.com
