Recorded at GlobeAir’s state-of-the-art facilities in Linz, this conversation between GlobeAir CEO Bernhard Fragner and Jacob & Co UK Director Laurence Brannigan covers the full arc of one of luxury’s most compelling recent stories. From a spontaneous match-day pop-up at Manchester City that grew into an official brand partnership, to a new titanium timepiece designed in part from a fragrance bottle cap on a private jet and engineered in Switzerland within nine months, Brannigan reflects on two decades in the watch industry and the unconventional approach that has driven Jacob & Co’s UK operation to its strongest period in the business to date.

The Executive Magazine is carried exclusively on board GlobeAir’s private jet fleet, across more than 15,000 flights each year, placing it in the hands of an audience that understands instinctively what Brannigan is describing when he talks about time as the one resource that cannot be bought or made. GlobeAir and Jacob & Co are both partners of The Executive Magazine, and this interview brings together two of those relationships in a setting that reflects the world all three brands operate within.

Bernhard Fragner: It’s been about a year since we last met at the Ritz Carlton in Vienna. Tell us the most exciting things that have happened for you over the past year.

Laurence Brannigan: It’s been a remarkable and transformative year. One of the key things we touched upon at our previous catch-up was the fact that Manchester City would become a partner with Jacob & Co. I’m very proud to say that has now come to fruition. We created three different models for the partnership, and what’s really exciting is that one of those pieces was completely invented for Manchester City. It existed exclusively for them from the end of last year through to September, and we’ve now released it to the general market in titanium, in different colours, because the demand was so significant.

We created something completely new that didn’t exist at Jacob & Co before, and then transformed two existing models to bring in the colours of the club, the badge, the sky blue, the rose gold. Something really special.

BF: How does a watch company build that kind of partnership with a football club of that stature? It’s clearly not simply about selling a watch.

LB: Not at all. I’ve had an amazing career over 20 years in watches across many countries, but this particular opportunity came about naturally through networking. It culminated in us meeting Eddie Rimmer, who is one of the really good people at Manchester City. He welcomed us and we did a pop-up inside the stadium at one of the games, just as an experiment. On the day, a gentleman who is now a very good friend of mine took one of the pieces we had with us, and I thought, people really love this brand. There’s a genuine connection and a community behind the club and the people there are just remarkable at every level.

I’ve had the pleasure of spending time with the chairman, the commercial directors, the hospitality directors. It’s been an incredible learning journey. What started as a test has become a partnership and a friendship, and we’re incredibly proud of it.

BF: So there’s a clear strategy behind the networking, it doesn’t happen by accident.

LB: Networking is the top priority. It’s important to be in your business and do the practical things, but you’ve also got to take a step back and work on the business. That’s what allows you to build it, to see the vision of what you want in the future, and to make the steps along the way to reach those goals. What we’ve been really good at is building relationships early with a clear vision, and making sure we’re consistently in the right room with the right people. There’s networking that accelerates a business and there’s networking that wastes time. You have to know the difference.

All the hard work we’ve done over four years as the official Jacob & Co partner has culminated in the last eight weeks being the best eight weeks we’ve ever had in the business.

BF: Tell us about the watch itself and the journey from the original idea to the finished piece in a customer’s hands.

LB: Towards the end of 2023 we decided we really wanted to take this to the next level and build a collection. We worked on the strategy first, then presented everything to Jacob in February 2024, at the very beginning of the month. Very cold days in New York, I remember it well. We created a video showcasing everything that happens at the stadium around match days, the hospitality, the activations we’d already been running there. Powerful music, real energy in the room. When the video finished, his enthusiasm was through the roof.

Normally we don’t get a second meeting with Jacob, but the next day we got the call from his assistants saying he really wanted to see us again before we left New York. We sat down and he said, “Guys, I’ve been awake all night. I’ve got all these ideas.” Within 24 hours he already had the vision for the dial of the new titanium watch. He pulled out a wash bag he takes on his plane when he travels and showed us the bottle top of a fragrance he likes to wear and said, this is going to be the design for the dial. The assistant took that bottle top, it went straight to Switzerland, and it became the diamond-cut dial inside the new titanium piece.

That was really special because collaboratively, with our ideas and his ideas, we created something entirely new. The first product landed in November 2024, so roughly nine months from that February meeting. A lot of research and development, particularly for the new titanium model, which had never been created before.

BF: And the serial numbers were personalised to each buyer?

LB: Yes, we carefully selected serial numbers to match players’ shirt numbers. So if you had a favourite player and you were quick enough, you could purchase that player’s number as your serial number. And in some cases, we were able to use a buyer’s birth date as their serial number. It’s not only just receiving a watch.

BF: The collection is extremely limited. Just 30 units in golden ceramic, 20 in full gold, and 250 in titanium. What’s the thinking behind keeping the numbers so restricted?

LB: True luxury is really important to clients at this price point right now. There are other brands whose clients have been collecting for many years and are now quite loaded with pieces from those houses. They’re looking for something different, something that represents true exclusivity, a symbol of success that isn’t simply available everywhere. We created this collection so that the end wearer can go about their daily business in the environments they operate in and be unlikely to see another person wearing the same piece. The only place they might is at Manchester City itself, and that has actually brought people together into a real close community of owners who share this passion and this level of ownership.

BF: Jacob & Co clearly isn’t just selling timepieces. It’s creating personal emotions. What’s the secret behind that?

LB: Get to know your client. Get to know your friend of the brand so that you can deliver something personal, exclusive, and authentic. I’m just me. I’m available almost 24 hours a day and everyone can reach me directly. We have no CRM systems managing customer interactions, no technology for that whatsoever. Everything is personal. It’s me, it’s Richard, it’s Paul.

The customer is connected with us as people and we’re connected with them. I might phone a client at six or seven in the morning because I know they’ll be driving somewhere and we can just have a proper catch-up. Nothing related to watches or business, just life. I’ve had clients invite me to stay in their homes. We spent Halloween with one family, our children together. The communication is phone calls, WhatsApp, and in person. That’s it.

BF: Is there still room in the market for new luxury watch brands, or is it saturated?

LB: I’m always fond of innovation. If somebody comes to market with something completely unique, as long as they’re not directly competing with us, I’m happy because it’s good to see. What’s setting Jacob & Co apart right now is the level of innovation, the diversity of the collections, the complications, the world firsts, the new patents. We’re very good at taking the impossible and making it possible.

There is a degree of saturation in what I’d call the lower luxury segment, but in the premium segment, with high innovation, there could be opportunity. I wouldn’t say we have too much of a direct competitor. Our collectors also own and enjoy pieces from Richard Mille, Patek Philippe, Rolex, Audemars Piguet, MB&F, and Greubel Forsey. But the difference I see between those brands and us is a very high level of diversity in the innovation and what ends up on the wrist, and the fact that our owners simply want to wear it. They’re choosing us as a symbol of success, an ultra-rare product with a high level of exclusivity that also showcases their personality.

BF: What role do you see AI playing in the luxury watch industry?

LB: I’d like to see it used for efficiencies, making mundane general tasks almost disappear and be replaced by software that can handle them. Also improving global efficiencies throughout the supply chain, from the factories in Switzerland through to the final product reaching us. If AI can reduce the time human beings spend on administrative tasks around the production process, that creates significant capacity. I’m aware of consultants already working with several brands in Switzerland to develop these new processes, and I’m sure within one to two years we’ll see meaningful advances. But the watch itself remains a physical item. I don’t see robots building them. That’s not what the customer wants either. We’re buying luxury quality, Swiss-made, hand-tooled. That must remain.

Beyond manufacturing, I’d like to see blockchain authentication for products, so buyers know with certainty they have the genuine article. An unclonable microchip that links a piece to a verified record on a ledger, which can be scanned and validated, is really positive not just for watch brands but for all luxury goods. Technology companies are already speaking to us about this and I think in the not too distant future we’ll start to see many products carrying exactly that.

BF: You travel extensively running a business with offices in both the UK and Sydney. What have been your biggest learnings from operating globally?

LB: Time efficiency is everything. Sydney is a full day away from home in the UK. Making the best of the quality time you have when you land at a destination is essential. I use commercial airlines within Europe and Emirates for long haul, and then with yourselves at GlobeAir we have the private jet partnership which benefits us enormously, both in terms of time and safety when travelling with pieces, and in elevating the customer experience when a handover or event is involved. But the biggest takeaway is simply that time cannot be bought. I make watches that tell you the time, but I can’t give you more of it. Choosing the right mode of transport for the right journey is crucial.

BF: If Jacob & Co were to design and engineer a private jet, what would it look like?

LB: It would have to look completely unique, nothing like a typical aircraft. It would probably need to be supersonic, to save even more time. I do hope one day supersonic travel like Concorde returns to general aviation, because flying from London to New York or London to Australia takes an enormous amount of time that could be used far more productively. A Jacob & Co jet would be super fast, extremely cool, and there would be a very long queue of people desperate to fly on it.

BF: And the number one reason you would use it?

LB: To ensure time is well spent, and to make sure our customer enjoys the experience and emotion of being part of the Jacob & Co family while we present their timepiece to them in the ultimate time machine, which would be the plane itself.

BF: Finally, what would you say is the most underrated luxury in life?

LB: Spending time with your family. We all work incredibly hard and spend so much time away. I’m away approximately 70 to 75 percent of the year. What I’ve learned is that when I am home, I have to spend proper quality time with my wife, my children, my mother, my brothers, my friends. My wife and I now keep a calendar and we sit down together and book in the people we want to share quality time with. Some weekends we’ll go away with friends, 24 hours together but genuinely good time. Although I might not see my best friend every week the way we might have done when we were younger, when we do spend time together it’s really meaningful. Spending the right time with the right people. That’s the most valuable thing.

The Manchester City collection, including a limited number of remaining titanium pieces, is available through Jacob & Co’s UK operation.