Jacob & Co's Rs 13.7 crore Vantara watch: Why luxury watches cost so much

Jacob & Co's $1.5 million Vantara watch for Anant Ambani features a miniature figure on the dial. Here's a peek into how luxury watches are made, priced and sold

Luxury watchmaker Jacob & Co this week unveiled the Opera Vantara Green Camo, a bespoke watch reportedly valued at around $1.5 million (approximately Rs 13.7 crore). The watch, launched on Wednesday (January 21), has been positioned as a tribute to Vantara, the wildlife rescue and conservation initiative in Gujarat led by Anant Ambani, the younger son of Mukesh Ambani and Nita Ambani.

 

At the centre of the dial sits a hand-painted figurine of Anant Ambani, flanked by miniature sculptures of a lion and a Bengal tiger. Meanwhile, the case and dial are set with 397 gemstones, including demantoid garnets, tsavorites, green sapphires and white diamonds, weighing 21.98 carats in total. The watch belongs to Jacob & Co’s Opera collection, known for rotating movements and musical complications. 

 

While the design and price have driven social media attention, the launch also offers a window into how the global luxury watch market works, who it caters to, and why limited-edition timepieces continue to command extraordinary value.

 

What makes a watch ‘luxury’ and why does it cost so much?

 

Luxury watches get their distinction from regular watches due to their movement systems, materials and production methods. Unlike mass-produced quartz watches, these pieces are assembled using hundreds of components, often finished by hand. The watches contain multiple complicated components, including tourbillons (a complex rotating mechanism), minute repeaters and perpetual calendars, features that demand both expert engineering knowledge and dedicated watchmaking ability.

 

Hence, the pricing of these luxury watches reflects not just the materials used but labour, brand history and, most importantly, scarcity. Even at the lower end of the luxury spectrum, mechanical watches from established Swiss brands typically start at several lakh rupees. At the upper end, bespoke or highly complicated pieces can cross into multi-crore territory.

 

Which brands dominate the global luxury watch market?

 

Globally, the luxury watch industry is mostly dominated by a small group of Swiss manufacturers with decades, and in some cases even centuries, of history. Rolex remains the largest by revenue, driven by steel sports models that trade at a premium in the secondary market as well. Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin occupy the high-horology segment, producing fewer watches but commanding higher average prices.

 

Brands such as Omega, Jaeger-LeCoultre, IWC and Breguet sit between the two ends of the spectrum, offering both technical features and higher manufacturing capacity. Jacob & Co operates at the far end of the spectrum, focusing on ultra-low-volume, visually complex watches that blur the line between horology and jewellery.

 

Luxury watches in India: How big is the market and who sells them?

 

India does not have a large domestic luxury watchmaking industry at the high end. The market is almost entirely driven by imported Swiss brands, sold through authorised retailers. Entry-level luxury mechanical watches in India typically start in the Rs 3–5 lakh range. Iconic models from Rolex, Patek Philippe or Audemars Piguet usually cost well over Rs 10 lakh, with waitlists common for popular references.

 

Retailers like Ethos and The Watch Lab list brands such as Rolex, Omega, Hublot, Bulgari, Breitling, Girard-Perregaux, Zenith and Jacob & Co as top sellers in India’s premium segment.

 

At the ultra-premium end, watches priced in crores are rare but not absent. Such pieces are usually pre-ordered or limited editions, commissioned privately rather than sold through standard retail channels.

 

Who buys luxury watches in India, and why are they so in demand?

 

That remains an easy question to answer. Yet with a growing segment of the aspirational middle class in the country, it is pertinent to mention who actually buys luxury watches. Buyers broadly fall into three often overlapping categories. The first are collectors, who focus on movements, references and long-term value; the second are high-net-worth individuals (HNIs), who treat watches as markers of status or personal milestones; and the third are investors, who are drawn to watches by the resale performance of certain models in the secondary market.

 

In India, demand has expanded alongside rising wealth and greater exposure to global luxury consumption. However, ownership remains concentrated among business families, senior corporate executives, film stars and sportspersons.

 

What is a limited-edition luxury watch, and why does scarcity raise the price?

 

Limited-edition watches are produced in fixed numbers, sometimes fewer than 10 pieces worldwide. Once production ends, no more are made. Therefore, deliberate scarcity is created to protect brand positioning and enhance collectability.

 

The watches are made to match specific anniversaries and partnership projects, including particular thematic elements. For example, the Vantara watch tells a story that connects to conservation efforts through its unique design features and cannot be duplicated.

 

Thus, scarcity affects both pricing and perception, as limited production allows brands to deploy labour-intensive techniques that would be unviable in mass manufacturing. It also creates differentiation in a market where timekeeping itself has long ceased to be the primary function of a watch.

 

For buyers, scarcity signals exclusivity. For brands, it provides pricing power.