Jacob Arabo, the founder of flash-forward watchmaker Jacob & Co., has racked up an impressive number of references in tracks by A-list acts like Kanye West, Jay-Z, Ice Cube, and Nas. But when it comes to Pharrell Williams, collabs with “Jacob the Jeweler” go far beyond lyrical shoutouts or drop-ins at his flagship Manhattan boutique.
Together over the past three decades, Arabo and the Grammy-winning music producer, singer, and Louis Vuitton men’s creative director have crafted over 100 custom pieces of bespoke bling—30 of which are being auctioned through Joopiter, Pharrell’s digital commerce and content platform.
On one hand, this is a celebrity-owned collectible auction that’s ripe for publicity. But the connection between Arabo and Pharrell, both of whom have a breadth of experience operating at the cultural intersection of music and fashion, gives the so-called “Objects of Brilliance” sale a greater significance—one that’s explored in an accompanying chat between the musician and his favorite jeweler.
“Jacob has been and currently is—and will be for quite some time—one of the best that’s ever done it,” Pharrell said of Arabo. “He’s taken me along the ride in terms of education. He showed me a lot of tricks of the trade, but at the same time just giving me an education on everything from stone setting to actual stones—their qualities, color, clarity, classification, and what a Rapaport is”—the industry-standard price list for diamonds.
“As we continued to innovate and create things, other jewelers would do their little customizations. It used to just be nameplates and things like, ‘Oh here’s my logo” or “Here is my company,’ but we brought a lot of three-dimension to it. It had this effect on the entire industry. If you look back, you can see where it all originated from. This guy is like the father of it,” Pharrell concluded.
Arabo responded: “But you also taught me a lot because you have great taste. You know, we had a lot of discussions about style and quality. I think you’re the first one really who understood and owned D Flawless. Most people didn’t even understand what D Flawless means. D is for the color—the best color—and Flawless is just a flawless diamond.”
“People in our industry, in the music industry especially, didn’t understand,” Arabo continued. “They just wanted bling, but they didn’t understand. It’s not something you learn in school; I think it’s just in you. You have this taste and the feeling, and you understood the quality when you touched it and put it on.”
The pair then turn their attention to one of the highlights of Pharrell’s for-sale cache—an all-platinum mesh bracelet set with 108.50 carats of GIA-certified cushion-cut diamonds and valued between $280,000 and $350,000. “That bracelet broke a lot of hearts,” Pharrell declares.
The video stops short of presenting the collection’s headliner. Valued at between $6 million and $8 million, this Yellow Diamond & Gold Necklace inspired by the Queen of England’s crown jewels was the “most difficult piece of jewelry” Arabo crafted for Pharrell. It features an array of perfectly matched individual colored vivid yellow stones cut in various square, emerald, Asscher, and heart shapes.
Other highlights include an 18K gold necklace featuring what the brand describes as a “technicolor constellation of major stones, assembled with the color-forward imagination that defines Williams’ universe” ($700,000 to $900,000); another 18K white gold necklace set with an array of white diamonds and rubies that was created in partnership with Japanese designer and Pharrell collaborator Nigo ($100,000 to $150,000); the very first example of the Jacob & Co. Five Time Zone Watch ($150,000 to $200,000); and an 18K yellow gold cuff bracelet that was among the first Jacob & Co. bracelets acquired by Pharrell ($80,000 to $100,000).
Objects of Brilliance is open for global bidding at Joopiter’s website through March 5.
