It was Rudyard Kipling who, in the poem If, put forward his seminal collection of fatherly wisdom for being — as he put it — ‘a man, my son’. But just before the work’s famous payoff, there’s another sentiment that’s often forgotten: ‘Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it.’ By Kipling’s reckoning, his son being fully realised as a man — a principled, steadfast, unwavering man — is the key to unlocking the rewards and opportunities that life can afford.
So what do a Victorian writer’s paternal musings on life have to do with the bombastic world of Jacob & Co.? Quite a lot, actually, if you care to look deep enough. Especially when it comes to the heartfelt story behind the fascinating The World Is Yours Dual Time Zone Tourbillon. The story begins with the Maison’s founder, Jacob Arabo, and a gift from his father, Nison Arabov: a vintage double time zone watch that Arabo received at age 13. This singular moment — an heirloom of functionality and sentiment — would plant the seed for The World Is Yours collection. And with advent of the Dual Time Zone Tourbillon model, the collection revisits that archetype, elevating it with the full arsenal of contemporary high watchmaking, where emotion, history and complication fuse.
A mechanical journey
While the original inspiration for this timepiece was vintage, the engine that drives this new innovation is wholly 21st century, with the in-house calibre JCAA45 created specifically for this model. Inside reside 300 components, an off-centre micro-rotor for automatic winding and a commanding 65-hour power reserve. But perhaps the most attention-grabbing facet is the central 30-second tourbillon: whirling twice as fast as a ‘traditional’ one, with its bridge of transparent sapphire and above it the signature compass rose motif.
The dual time zone complication is equally thoughtful: two independent sub-dials each have hour and minute indication, meaning that they can be set down to the minute. The result? Even time zones like India’s, which sits at a half-hour off the traditional Greenwich hour settings, can be displayed accurately. A three-position crown handles winding, setting of the lower time zone, and setting of the upper.
Design, driven
From the dial to the caseback, the aesthetic ambition is nothing if not sweeping. The case, 43mm in diameter by 18mm high, evokes the curvature of the earth, with a domed sapphire crystal and an amply curved dial beneath. Depicting the Western Hemisphere in sculptural relief, the blue titanium dial is adorned with rose gold-finished continents and rose gold-plated hands, crowned by a compass rose poised gracefully at its centre. Flip the watch and you meet the caseback: an entire metallic map rendered on sapphire crystal, completing the ‘world embrace’ theme. The effect is refinede; travel-inspired, without tipping into cliché.
In a market saturated with travel watches and world-time complications, few approach the dual-time concept with such sophistication: independent hour-and-minute sub-dials instead of a conventional 24-hour disc; a high-speed 30-second tourbillon showcasing mechanical mastery alongside an automatic movement boasting a 65-hour power reserve; and a sculptural, true-to-form globe that transcends mere decoration. The heritage angle — a father’s gift, a young Arabo’s spark — is real enough to root the watch an emotional dimension often absent in purely practical models.
Which brings us back to Kipling. Some poignant elements of the poem If could have been written personally for Jacob Arabo and his incredible life’s journey: ‘If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, and treat those two impostors just the same… If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, or walk with Kings — nor lose the common touch, if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, if all men count with you, but none too much…’
What makes The World Is Yours Dual Time Zone Tourbillon so special is the realisation that, at heart, it’s the distillation of a father’s wishes for his son — made all the more sentimental knowing that Arabo has now made his son, Benjamin Arabov, the CEO of the company.
It’s a symbol of the two spirits, connected but wholly independent. A reminder to always think outside the box. And an instruction to seize the world for everything it’s got — while never forgetting where you came from. It says, ‘yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it’. So if you’re seeking a watch that tells two times — and more than that, it tells a story too — then the World Is Yours Dual Time Zone Tourbillon delivers on both fronts. And, which is more, you’ll be a Man, my son!
