Each one of the 50 pieces of the limited series comes in its special wood case, lined with red velvet.
Jacob & Co creates an Opera Godfather 50th Anniversary timepiece that delves into the film’s history with feeling.
For over three decades, founder and chairman Jacob Arabo has grown his namesake timepiece and jewelry label, Jacob & Co, into an international haute horlogerie powerhouse. Creating watches and jewelry that reflect his bold New York style, the results are always spectacular, instantly recognizable and a hell of a lot of fun. Already associated with the worlds of music and fashion, the brand’s latest creation looks to strengthen Jacob & Co’s ties to cinema and moviemaking.
An incredible tribute to one of the greatest films ever made joins its fan-favorite Opera Godfather collection with a spectacular 50th Anniversary timepiece. The 18K white and rose gold watch is a wildly symbolic and advanced piece of horology; the triple-axis, flying tourbillon watch has a built-in music box complication that plays, you guessed it, the theme from The Godfather. Composed by Nino Rota, The Godfather theme song perfectly captures the mood of old-world Italian history of generations of the Corleone family. The music heard throughout the film is a bit romantic, slightly sinister and totally unforgettable.
The caliber JCMF04 of Jacob & Co’s Opera Godfather 50th Anniversary consists of 634 individual components.
Taking its design cues from Francis Ford Coppola’s cult classic, the movie holds deep personal meaning to Arabo. “When I first came to the USA from Uzbekistan in 1979, I was 14 years old, didn’t speak the language, and my family didn’t have a penny to its name,” says Arabo. “So we went to work really hard. It took me two years to earn the time and money to go to the movies. The Godfather was being rereleased; it was the first movie I saw in a theater.”
“The Godfather is not just a great movie because of the way it was shot and directed. It also contains some of the greatest scenes and dialogue in movie history.”–Benjamin Arabov, Jacob & Co CEO
A Jacob & Co motto is “inspired by the impossible,” and the 50th Anniversary edition unquestionably makes the impossible possible. “From the very beginning of the Opera Godfather, I wanted to go further, to celebrate the importance of this movie by showing actual scenes from it,” says Arabo. “I wanted it to be a literal tribute to everything the film stands for. But there is so little room. The entire piece is filled with components, details and symbols. So for the Opera Godfather 50th Anniversary, I came up with the idea of inscribing the movie’s key moments on the case, which seemed like a canvas waiting to be brought to life.”
Looking to laser etching to illustrate actual scenes from the movie, Jacob & Co raises the bar on previous editions. The sides of the case are engraved with highly detailed scenes, like actual screenshots from the movie itself. In addition to the film’s music and imagery, memorable quotes also make it into the Opera Godfather 50th Anniversary. The two barrels of the music box mechanism are engraved with 13 infamous lines like “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse,” “Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes,” or “Never ask me about my business.” A limited edition of 50 pieces, a central red rose and a violin-shaped crown add to the numerous movie tributes.
“I’m tasked with matching a vision and the means to accomplish it, to interpret Jacob’s level of quality and end up with the best product possible,” says Nicolas Debaud, head of watchmaking development at Jacob & Co. “It’s not just about technique. The Opera Godfather 50th Anniversary case is a perfect example of something that can only be done with feeling.”
