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 Gene… - Jacob Arabo

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.

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.