Paying a million dollars for a watch gets you top-tier service at Jacob & Co.
The founder and creative director of the watch and jewelry brand personally delivered a seven-figure timepiece to Portuguese soccer pro Cristiano Ronaldo.
In a video that was shared to Jacob Arabo’s Instagram over the weekend, the watchmaker can be seen affixing a lavish Twin Turbo Furious to the Al Nassr forward’s wrist.
“I was in the neighborhood so I decided to personally deliver a $1.3 million watch for the one and only Cristiano,” Jacob Arabo shared via his Instagram.
The original Twin Turbo was launched at Baselworld in 2016. It was recognized as the first timepiece in history to combine two triple-axis tourbillions and a minute repeater. That wasn’t crazy enough for Arabo, though. The Twin Turbo Furious, which was introduced in 2018, goes even further by incorporating a monopusher chronograph and a time difference calculator.
As with all watches in the series, Ronaldo’s example is an ode to high-performance hypercars and showcases the same level of mechanical complexity. Painstakingly hand-decorated and hand-assembled, the model comprises some 832 components, with the tourbillons accounting for a total of 104 components yet weighing a scant 1.15 grams.
The giant 57 mm case and bezel are made of 18-karat white gold and set with 344 baguette-cut white diamonds. Specially curved sapphire crystals fitted to the front and the back provide a clear view of the view the JCFM05 caliber. (The complex movement offers an impressive 50-hour power reserve.) The smoked gray sapphire-crystal dial features Neoralithe on the periphery, as well as luminescent indices coated in Super-LumiNova and skeletonized hour and minute hands. It is also adorned with a “pit board” and “fuel gauge” in a nod to auto design. The watch is limited to just 18 pieces, naturally.
Ronaldo ranks as the world’s highest-paid athlete, with an estimated annual income of $136 million. He has spent quite a bit of that dosh on wrist candy, too. He has previously been spotted wearing an array of extravagant pieces, including a $700,000 Brilliant Flying Tourbillon, a bespoke Girard-Perregaux, and, well, the most expensive Rolex ever produced. He also invested an undisclosed amount in billion-dollar online watch marketplace Chrono24 this past July.
The soccer legend has also teamed up with Jacob & Co. to create his own dazzling timepieces and one-offs. No wonder he’s getting special treatment, then.