Talking Jacob & Co. Watches with Santa Laura
I love Santa Laura because he collects watches with heart. While visiting his house, I marveled at his collection, which includes Rainbow Daytonas, Journe, De Bethune, Vianney Halter, and Max Büsser, to name a few. While each of these watches proved to be amazingly epic investments, he built his collection by opposing the idea of watches as an asset class. He purposefully eschews investing in algorithms and chasing the hype watches that have transformed watch collecting from a nice hobby into a global phenomenon. And he always buys based on passion, courage and his innate ability to discern beauty. In fact, when he bought his first Rainbow Daytona, these watches were very unpopular.Jacob & Co. Astronomia Solar Baguette
"They actually thanked me for buying it," he recalls with a laugh. When I first bought the Leopard Daytona, everyone thought I was crazy, but I didn't care—I loved the creativity and use of color on the watch. That's how I've always collected." Of course, Santa Laura has since proved to be very prescient, as almost every timepiece he chose became very popular a few years later. He explained: "Yes, but that was never the goal. I never buy a watch thinking about how much it will be worth six months from now. Unfortunately, that's the trend today. Watches have become a commodity."
While I was rummaging through the custom multi-story clock building that houses his Titanic collection in his home, I stumbled across a watch that fascinated me. As it turns out, it's a watch that Santa Laura is interested in talking about. He said: "This watch is incredible to me. It's a Jacob Twin Turbo Furious. For me, it's absolutely insane. First, it has two three-axis tourbillons. Then, it There’s a column-wheel monopusher chronograph. On top of that, it has a minute repeater.”
He removed the watch from the case, wound it, set the time, and pressed the minute repeater slider to let the watch ignite and sing. Of note is the clarity and quality of the repeater's tone, as well as the perfectly measured thump. I admit I am impressed. He smiled and replied: "Brother, you know what kind of collectors we have in Singapore. So one night we did a 'blind test' of the minute repeater. That meant no one knew what they were listening to.
We must have brought 10 or more watches. When the watch was revealed, we realized we liked the Patek Philippe Cathedral gong chime the most, with the Jacobs in second place. Also, when you cost the three complications together, I think the Twin Turbo has a strong value proposition even at a retail price of over $500,000. If any of the other rockstar indie brands did this, this watch could easily hit a million. Best of all, the watch isn't going to be that cool or fun.Audemars Piguet Royal Oak replica
"For me, that's collectible watches; engaging, fun watches. What you wear is a conversation starter, not what you put in a safe, and every year you calculate your return on investment. For me, it's always been It's hard work so you can buy a watch and enjoy! You know what I mean? So back at Jacob & Co., these watches remind me of that emotion, especially now that we're in a place where so many people buy Rolex, Patek Philippe Or surrounded by a world where Audemars Piguet invests. Jacob has rekindled my passion for new, different, fun and exciting things. Does it make financial sense to buy them? I don't know. But that's a watch collection , or at least that's in its purest form."
I explained to Santa Laura that in a recent interview with François-Paul Journe, the independent watchmaker shared how he decided to assign his watches to collectors. Because in today's dizzying environment, the secondary profit of all his watches is equivalent to a luxury car. Journe told me, “I’m looking for collectors who in the past would rather lose 20% than make money. These are the types of collectors I assign watches to.”
Santa Laura said: “Exactly, that’s what we all believed before, if we didn’t have that mentality, today’s watch collection wouldn’t exist. But today, what’s happening is a lot of people are buying watches as an investment. When you When you see your friends doing it, you want to do it too. Because everyone wants to be successful and make money at the same time. But for me, when it comes to watch collecting, that's where the passion becomes more subdued. So I Now it’s natural to look for brands that are flying under the radar, and Jacob is just that. This brand is creating something truly incredible, but a little bit unknown.”
When asked what attracted him most about the watch, Santa Laura was quick to reply: "It's the emotion the watch gives me. I look at Jacob, I have the same thing as I do when I see an Urwerk or De Bethune. It feels. It's a unique and totally different vision of watchmaking from the mainstream. I'm not saying Rolex is bad or Patek Philippe is bad, but it's different and more personal. I think indie brands gain so much momentum and One of the reasons for the popularity is because no one can buy Rolex, Patek Philippe, Richard Mille. So the educated collector wants to see really rare and unique things, he chooses independent collectors.
"It's unbelievable how fast they've grown in value. Now, when you think of independents, you probably don't think of Jacob at first. But he was independent. His story is similar to that of Max Büsser or Richard Mille's story is no different because he's not a watchmaker. He's a guy with a vision to create something different, and then he does it with great integrity. He's like, 'Okay, I want to make a copy replica watches with two A three-axis tourbillon watch', so he went to his watchmaker and he said, 'Let it happen. He's not a watchmaker. He's open to that. He's open to who to work with. But He's a great creator. Another great thing about him is that you can meet him and you can ask him what he was thinking when he made Astronomia or Godfather [the Opera Godfather Musical Watch]. By collecting these Watch you know, I have to meet Jacob and his son Ben who is running the company now. We are friends now. What I like about them is that they are very down to earth people. Real people. Are they like Max or Urwerk or De Bethune as respected by collectors? No, or maybe not yet. Yes, they have some connection to "Bling Culture". But should their image be the basis for judging watches? I don't think it's fair. I Think watches should be judged on their merits, and watches are great on their merits.” They have a certain connection to the “Bling Culture.” But should their image be the basis for judging watches? I don't think it's fair. I think a watch should be judged on its own merits, and a watch is great on its merits. "They have a certain connection to the "Bling Culture". But should their image be the basis for judging a watch? I don't think it's fair. I think a watch should be judged on its merits, and a watch is very good on its merits. Great."
Santa Laura's Jacob & Co. Watch
In fact, this is how the Jacob watch first caught the attention of Santa Laura. Watch collectors often talk about "the presence of the wrist" and one thing that cannot be denied is that every Jacob watch has a huge dose of this quality. Santa Laura said: “I learned that Jacob’s watch was sitting on the plane. I was in the cabin and I noticed that every time a flight attendant or a crew member passed this person, they would stop and ask him: ‘Excuse me sir, what are you wearing? what watch is it? It wasn't until the second person asked me to identify the name Jacob. There I was wearing MB&F and Urwerks and I said to myself, 'Well, when I land in Dubai, I'll know what Jacob's watch is all about. So I just went to watch the watch. Then I called a friend of mine in New York and he explained to me the history of the brand and everything about this man and his watches. I started doing my own research, which I really enjoyed a process."
Santa Laura's research led him to purchase the Twin Turbo Furious first, and then a truly astounding giant of watch innovation, the Astronomia. His version is the Astronomical Sky, which features a rotation on its own axis every 20 minutes. It has four arms. The first has a differential drive time indicator showing the time in the upright position. The second arm opposite has a three-axis tourbillon. Incredibly, the weight of the tourbillon and time indicator needs to be exactly the same to achieve the correct balance. The next set of arms features a Jacob-cut diamond with 288 facets, and a miniature depiction of Mars; each of which rotates every 60 seconds. At the center is a miniature depiction of the Earth, which rotates every 24 hours inside the half-dome, which serves as an AM/PM indicator. Below it is a sidereal time display showing the sky chart and fully rotating once a year, and on its side is a display of the months. This watch is simply exciting.
Santa Laura said: "You know the incredible thing about this watch is that it has so many indications that you might be asking yourself, how do I adjust all this? Well, the great thing is that it comes with an iPhone app that teaches How do you set up your watch. I also love the incredible sapphire dome and the three dimensionality of the fake replica watches with the sapphire crystal mid case. What's interesting about this watch is that when I get into the elevator I can see People see my watch out of the corner of their eye. People do that whenever I'm in a confined space wearing Astronomia. For me, it's a pleasure to see how they react. I'm amused by it, like I'm wearing Same with Nautilus. It's just two very different experiences, both fun."
Twin Turbo Furious and Astronomia Sky were soon joined by a remarkable musical watch that played the Godfather theme using two musical scroll wheels and a comb. While there have been other musical watches before, the Jacob Godfather is the first to link this complication to an iconic part of our cultural history – the films of Francis Ford Coppola.
Santa Laura said, "The Godfather has always been one of my favorite movies. Especially the second movie. When I first saw and heard the Godfather watch, I was like, 'Wow.' Nino Rota's godfather theme is put into this watch and makes it sound so good! I didn't expect it to play the theme so clearly and perfectly. Note that it has a three-axis tourbillon, among other things There's a minute repeater. I mean, it's just how complicated a watch is. Another thing I like about Jacob's watches is that they're easy to use and fun. You can talk to Jacob, talk to the guy who made the watch. If This is made by Audemars Piguet or Patek and it will be many times more expensive and many times less fun. They will invite you or a small group of people to buy a watch. Jacob is a different type of watchmaking Industry. They're about relaxing, being yourself, and having fun. I think in this crazy environment where watches are an investment vehicle, that's exactly what we need.
"My point is that when it comes to collecting watches, you should buy with your heart. That's what I think watch collecting should do. So if you're moved by passion, not just dollars and cents, I think you'll find Jacob Very attractive." replica RICHARD MILLE Rafael Nadal
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