Credits: Article and images by Wei Koh @ Revolution Watch Magazine. See the original article here - https://revolutionwatch.com/the-story-of-jacob-arabo/
To me, this represents a kind of transitional watch for him. In the context of the era, many brands were enchanted by BNB. This was a high complications manufacture created by three ex-Patek Philippe high complications specialists — Mathias Buttet, Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini. The latter two would later splinter off to create La Fabrique du Temps, which would eventually be purchased by LVMH and is today the in- house LV watch manufacture for high complications. Starting in 2004 with just four people, by 2008, BNB boasted 187 employees and was creating a huge array of ultra technical movements, from triple-axis tourbillons to totally novel and original concepts such as that expressed by the Quenttin. The movement for this juggernaut boasted a completely unheard-of architecture. It took seven full-sized mainspring barrels and arranged them side by side. Together, it fed a total of 31 days of power reserve to the watch’s vertical tourbillon.
But then in 2009, resulting from the financial crisis, BNB went bankrupt. This came about from the abrupt end of purchases for the wild, hyper expensive, type of independent watchmaking BNB was fueling for brands like HD3, Concord and Franc Vila. Mathias Buttet became Hublot’s in-house high comp specialist, brought there by the legendary Jean-Claude Biver. Amusingly, that same seven- barrel vertical tourbillon concept is today the basis for Hublot’s MP-05. But what is clear about the Quenttin is that Jacob was interested in pushing the horological envelope to the furthest edge.
He explains, “It was an incredible moment to see the type of creativity that was possible with modern watchmaking, to go beyond the traditional complications of the perpetual calendar, tourbillon and minute repeater. The idea of the Quenttin was a watch that you wouldn’t have to wind for an entire month. That was to me something remarkable. Also, the architecture of the movement was something impressive because it reminded me of the engine of a supercar. At the same time, the lesson I learned from the Quenttin was that, in the future, I wanted to make these kinds of super complications but in a way that was personally meaningful to me. Even if I was to work with the best high complications specialists, the movements had to be exclusive to me.”
So, Jacob began to do his research and he scoured the Swiss horological landscape for a truly brilliant young voice. During this time, he was raising his family with three sons, David, Benjamin and Joey. Says Benjamin, “He was a great dad and someone who always wanted to spend time with us. He really pushed us to play sports. For me, that was basketball and, because of my dad, tennis as well. We always spend time together as a family, and I remember even as a boy around this time, my dad talking about watches. He was so excited because he had met someone that could help him realize what he had in his mind.” What Jacob had in mind, specifically, was the 2013 Epic SF24, which I have to say is an absolutely brilliant watch. To me, it is the clear articulation of Jacob’s intent to create a watch that, while visually dynamic, was also something deeply horological and incredibly functional.
Credits: Article and images by Wei Koh @ Revolution Watch Magazine. See the original article here - https://revolutionwatch.com/the-story-of-jacob-arabo/