Jacob Arabo Quotes

I am very proud that I have been able to build a company with almost 35 years of history, with two headquarters, one in New York City and one in Geneva. I am proud that I have been able to assemble a team of the finest professionals in the watch industry.

Jacob style, the way I like it is the way I wear it. You see (it) you can’t miss it. It’s bold, it’s eye-catching, it’s a piece of jewelry that would make you happy.

I have my hand in every aspect of the business. From the materials of the boxes to the choice of colours in our boutiques to the movement designs and the marketing, I review and approve everything. Because my name is on the company, I can’t afford to delegate many of these decisions about design, quality, and more. I am especially involved with our Instagram account. I love being able to communicate directly with our clients and fans.

I think people are so amazed by our designs and our unique ideas that they don’t realize how advanced our watchmaking is. In the Astronomia, for example, we took what had been a flat tourbillon and made it vertical, and made it turn around the dial. Still, however, it is rooted in traditional watchmaking. We take traditional Swiss watchmaking and turn it on its head.

The Epic x Chrono Messi is recognizable anywhere and for us, it was the perfect way to begin a partnership with Messi and a true association of champions.

And before you know, you have Michael Jackson as a client, you have David Beckham, you have Madonna, you have all these celebrities.

I wanted to put something iconic in this watch, and The Godfather came to mind. Once I had the idea, I thought, "Let me try to contact Paramount Pictures, and let’s see what they say." They did the research and their due diligence, and ultimately they liked the idea and gave me the license.

After we made the Five Time Zone, with five time zones and a world map, I received phone calls from Italian, French, Russian, Japanese and Chinese distributors to buy watches. To me, that was a great achievement, because we were an American company, making watches in Switzerland without a Swiss office. I now have a Geneva office with 10 staff members including engineers, graphic designers and a sales team.

I want to create things that haven’t been done before. It’s about making the impossible a reality.

I am so excited about this partnership. We have the chance to make history, to develop timepieces the world has never seen before, to bring these amazing Bugatti supercars into the watchmaking world. When I look at the Bugatti Chiron sports car, the perfectly refined engineering is so powerful that sometimes it appears to be moving even when it is standing still. That’s the same feeling I get when I wear our high complication timepieces: a rush, a sense of energy, movement and power that can barely be contained.

During a challenging time, I realized the full potential of my team, who stood up to the plate in an incredible fashion.

My father got me a job in summer when I was a teenager, and I became a photographer. That gave me a lot of education about designing and vision and helped me to make the decision that I wanted to design. Because taking a picture of something, you have to see the picture before you take it. And that’s what I usually do. When designing, I already have designs in my mind, already pictured. I already know how they’re supposed to look before they’re even made. So I knew I had this ability and this gift, and when the time came for me to choose who I want to become I couldn’t afford to become educated or go to school for another 8 or 10 years and become a professional…. So I dropped out of school. I was 16 years old. I took government-funded jewelry courses, graduated in four months and became a jeweler.

Geneva is the heart of timepiece craftsmanship, where all our fine watches are made and the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues is my favorite hotel in Geneva. We have been exhibiting at the hotel for years, so it is the perfect place to begin our boutique expansion in Europe.

I am a huge fan of Khabib. I have been following his career for a long time, and when his team approached us about working together to create some limited-edition watches, I was very excited. For me, Khabib is the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet and he fits the brand to a ‘T.’ In more ways than one, it’s Khabib’s time.

Diamonds are this big sign of success. When you wear them, you feel good and when people look at you, they love it, they compliment you; that’s show business.