Jacob & Co. filled its first showcase with diamond showpieces, and 25 jewelers laughed.
In 1986 Jacob Arabo, a 21-year-old immigrant from Tashkent, opened a store on 47th Street and filled it with big diamond pieces meant for entertainers. The bread and butter, the 25 jewelers around him said, laughing, was engagement rings. Then the Notorious B.I.G. named him Jacob the Jeweler, and at Christmas five or six trucks waited outside with their blinkers on.
Jacob & Co. on Brandseum