Geneva, Switzerland — The Geneva Watch Week, which drew to a close last April 2nd,  was a showcase for splendid wonders. Countless wonders. And among them, the house of Jacob & Co’s glowing Billionaire Timeless Treasure timepiece which was unveiled during the week’s events. This watch is an ode to the yellow diamond, one of the rarest in the world. The house spent three and half years hunting them down. A remarkable quest to create a museum-worthy timepiece. It is one of the most expensive timepieces that has ever been crafted. 

The quest required that the diamonds be of uniform color, perfect quality and incredibly bright. 880 carats of rough yellow diamonds were transformed into 216.89 after thousands of hours of cutting them into the demanding mirror-like Asscher cut. This cut is characterized by wide step cuts, near perfect square symmetry, and the high crown according to the International Gem Society. It was invented by the legendary diamond cutter Joseph Asscher, founder of the I J Asscher Diamond Company. It became popular in the Art Deco era. Three and a half years in the making, this timepiece of 425 Asscher cut, fancy yellow and fancy intense yellow diamonds proved to be an undertaking of Herculean proportions with the result being nothing short of divine. Meanwhile the Billionaire skeleton tourbillon movement is adorned with another 57 yellow baguette-cut diamonds. All of this adds up to an unprecedented achievement in the history of high jewelry watchmaking.

« We’ve browsed the entire world for three and a half years in search of an unprecedented number of perfect gems, »  commented CEO Benjamin Arabov. “We’ve gathered them here, in our Geneva headquarters, where each one was scrutinized at rough stage, at cut stage, before and after setting. The incredible work done by our gem setters happened entirely here, in Geneva. We’ve combined our expertise in high jewelry with our skills in high watchmaking and used our drive to achieve what has never been done before. So we’ve created a unique piece that outshines every other high jewelry timepiece in opulence, exclusivity and diamond quality.” 

Meanwhile fancy colored diamonds, the family to which the yellow diamond belongs, are among the most valued and sought after gems on the planet for only one in 10,000 diamonds has a fancy color. Nitrogen that is incorporated into their carbon crystal structure gives yellow diamonds their color. But the Billionaire Timeless Treasure timepiece doesn’t stop with yellow diamonds. To make the timepiece even more spectacular, Jacob & Co. used one of its favorite gems, one that has now become a signature of the brand’s highest-end creations: the tsavorite. This rare green garnet adds to the watch’s unrivaled gem composition. 76 of them have been selected, emerald-cut and kite-cut, to surround the calibre JCAM39, the skeleton movement that Jacob & Co. uses in all its Billionaires which is regulated by a tourbillon that is so thin, so fine it might go unnoticed. 

Fashioned as a unique piece with a price tag of US$ 20 million, the Billionaire was launched by Jacob & Co. in 2015. As of February 2023, a total of 21 Billionaire timepieces had been crafted and all of them sold either directly to their owners or to the most high-end watch retailers on the planet, with the exception of one. The watch is outfitted with an 18K yellow gold case and an 18k yellow gold bracelet and clasp set with 378 Asscher-cut yellow diamonds totaling 159.62 carats. It enjoys a power reserve of 72 hours. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette. https://jacobandco.com/