Top 15 Jacob Arabo Quotes

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

Trucks would stand outside my building — like those buses that musicians travel in — they would stand there waiting for me to be available to see them to show them jewelry. A line of people waiting.

I really wanted to make statement pieces.

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 make it first for myself and then hopefully a few other people like it.

I’m investing my time and money to develop technology that’s never been done before. Basically, most of the watchmakers in Switzerland thought my ideas were impossible to do and I’m driven by impossible. I love the impossible. For me to make it in this business, if I don’t bring something new to the table, there are so many others that are offering the same thing. Why would anyone buy from me? I keep trying to develop new technology with my watchmakers. I design and I produce.

I only made the first watch in 2001. Before that I couldn’t afford to make them. Then, I felt comfortable enough to make my own watches, because it’s not easy to make watches. It’s much harder to make watches than jewelry. It’s a closed industry; there are very few players and it is very difficult to make it in that atmosphere. I thank God I was lucky enough to become one of them and again, the reason they accepted me there is because of my designs. Otherwise it’s so difficult in Switzerland. If they don’t want to work for you, there’s no money that could change their minds. It’s a very small industry. It’s a very small circle of people. So I’m very pleased, very happy that it’s working out for me.

What’s winning still today is design. It’s all about design. Stones are stones. You can buy them almost anywhere today. So it’s all about design, it’s how you wear them, how you place them. So that’s what we’re doing. I design jewelry for people…. My idea is to give the ‘wow’ effect. If a princess comes here and I can show her something and she goes, “Wow, I have never seen anything like this in my life.” If she’s been shopping for the last 25 years, she’ll have seen everything. That’s my success.

I always wanted to do something different in my life, where I would be remembered way after my death. My idea was to build something different and new, and bring new innovations, to bring things to people that never been done before. New technology, new ways of setting stones, a new way of cutting stones, not just only to be in a business to make money. I really want to be in this business…. I would like to be the Steve Jobs of jewelry.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.