After graduating early from a jewelry design course in 1981 in New York City, Jacob Arabo opened a small booth in New York City's Diamond District, where he began designing for jewelry labels and private clients. In 1986, Arabo opened his own Company, called "Diamond Quasar," and began designing under his own label, named "Jacob & Co. The jewelry initially caught the eye of R&B singer Faith Evans, who later brought her husband, rapper Notorious B.I.G. to the store. Both later brought other celebrity friends to his store, and the shop developed a reputation with the music industry. In the early 1990s his clientele and business grew, and Arabo became known as “Jacob the Jeweler,” the moniker first appearing in rap songs by Jay-Z, Nas and other rappers.  In 2005 he relocated to a "mine-inspired" storefront on East 57th Street. The townhouse space is adorned with Arabo’s signature five-time-zone watches

 

Jacob & Co has retail locations around the world, with three in the United States, including its "mine-inspired" flagship store, located in a Park Ave townhouse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Other notable include three boutiques in London, storefronts in the Stardust hotel in Monte-Carlo and the Wynn Las Vegas in Las Vegas, and shops in Geneva, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere. Jacob & Co. is known for a number of signature watch styles, such as the "Five Time Zone Watch," which it debuted in 2002. Inspired by the jet-set lifestyle of many of its clients, the timepiece features four fixed time zones—New York, LA, Tokyo and Paris—with the fifth dial set to the location of the wearer. Other notable watches include the "Quenttin," the first-ever watch with a 31-day power reserve, seven mainspring barrels, and a vertical, side mounted tourbillon (a regulating device in which the timekeeping element of the watch rotates inside a metal cage to negate the effects of gravity on accuracy), and the Ghost Watch, a Swiss made digital watch that features a pentagram shape and can display up to 20 time zones

 

Jacob & Co. is also known for its fine jewelry collections, offering unique designs in a variety of styles, including a range of engagement rings and wedding bands for both men and women. The company also designs custom wedding rings, allowing customers to choose diamonds of any shape, size or color. Jacob & Co claims to use the "world's finest and most exclusive gems" for its jewelry such as the pure, colorless Golconda diamonds of India, and rare colored stones from Africa and Brazil. The company purchases diamonds only from countries that are full participants in the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), an international monitoring system created to stem the flow of conflict diamonds, and all diamonds come with Gemological Institute of American authenticity reports.