It’s a classic story. It begins like that of so many other couples: two people, a mutual acquaintance who introduces them. The first lunch, the first project… and Epic results. That was the background to Jacob & Co’s Epic X.
One day, in Geneva...
The two protagonists are Benjamin Muller and Jacobo Arabo. The go-between, Jean-Pierre Jaquet, CEO of the brand that develops Concepto calibres. He has worked with the former, Benjamin Muller, for years. The latter is a man who hides behind the Spyder, a sculptural timepiece made by his own brand, M. Benjamin.
During a lunch in Geneva, Mr Arabo and Mr Jaquet nvited Benjamin Muller to join them at their table. He was wearing his Spyder: “Jacob Arabo noticed it and asked me what it was” says Benjamin Muller. “I answered that it was my own watch, the Spyder, a concept that I had introduced as a finished product and which affords a number of potential options, from a tourbillon to a chronograph as well as gem-set versions, all the while retaining a very distinctive aesthetic signature. We spent a day together and he never took his attention off it. When we parted, he suggested taking over the model under the Jacob & Co brand.”
A win-win partnership
Far from a classic transfer agreement, the two men created a veritable partnership. The watch was to be relicensed under Jacob & Co and would be marketed and interpreted in different variations, but Benjamin Muller would remain the sole designer. And Concepto, which was already the movement supplier for the Spyder, remained the technical partner of what was now called the Epic X.
As usual, Jacob Arabo saw big...
From its very first flutter of its wings, the Epic X literally took off. In its ancestor’s day, Benjamin Muller had sold around 20 Spyders – already a master stroke for such a strongly distinctive model from a previously unknown brand. As usual, Jacob Arabo saw big and instantly ordered 300 watches – nearly all of which were snapped up in just a few months. Another 300 hundred will thus soon need to be re-ordered.
The aesthetic and functional flexibility of the piece was also put to the test from the very beginning. Jacob & Co offer titanium, pink gold and diamond options. Five models are already available. All have the same aesthetic power – stemming from the X shape formed by the lugs around its case, as well as from their extension serving to supports the movement. The latter is systematically visible, revealing the classic architecture of the regulating organ at 6 o’clock and the barrel at 12 o’clock. Viewed from any angle, the Epic X is an uncluttered model enjoying liberal amounts of space – which could for example be used to house other complications.
Epi(c)logue
In the Spyder’s day, Benjamin Mulller had already thought of a chronograph on a Venus movement base. A tourbillon had already been created, this time on a Concepto base movement – and Jacob & Co had already acquired at the same time as the three-hand model, but only the gem-set version. The possibilities are endless.
The Benjamin Muller-Jacob & Co pairing, supported by Concepto, clearly has a bright future ahead of it. The young designer had created a powerful, instantly identifiable and adaptable piece. Jacob & Co has magnified it and provided it with a point of sale network to match its potential. They will doubtless live happily ever after and make many more Epic X!
