HARARE – Controversial businessman Wicknell Chivayo has been handed the first-ever Godfather II watch, a $660,000 piece that Jacob & Co won’t officially launch until October, engraved with his initials, WMC 777.
Jacob Arabo, the American luxury watchmaker’s founder and chairman, announced the gift on Instagram, calling Chivayo his “good friend,” a “Zimbabwean billionaire” and the “Godfather of Philanthropy.”
Paramount Pictures picked Jacob & Co to mark the Godfather trilogy with a run of ultra-luxury watches, starting with the Opera Godfather – a 49mm piece built around a triple-axis tourbillon, with a miniature Don Corleone set into the movement.
The Godfather II is the follow-up: a rectangular, Art Deco-cased watch in rose gold, less showy than the original but more advanced. It can play either of two melodies from the films – “The Godfather’s Waltz” or “The Godfather Love Theme” – which Jacob & Co bills as a first for a musical watch.
It isn’t Chivayo’s first purchase from the brand. He had already travelled to Geneva to collect a Billionaire 3, the same model worn by celebrities Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Rick Ross and DJ Khaled.
“It is always a great pleasure welcoming and hosting you in Geneva. Congratulations on acquiring your unique Billionaire 3 timepiece,” Arabo wrote.
“It is my great honour to invite you to the official launch of the new Godfather II this October. I am incredibly proud to present to you the very first piece in the world, specially engraved with your initials WMC 777.”
The watch, Arabo said, was “a token of our deepest appreciation and recognition of your unwavering selflessness, remarkable philanthropy, and extraordinary generosity across Africa and beyond.”
“You continue to inspire many through your kindness and the lives you transform,” he continued. “Indeed, you have earned the title of the Godfather of Philanthropy. #thetrillionairelife.”
Chivayo, 45, has built his philanthropist reputation on cash and vehicle handouts that have gone to political causes, army chiefs, football clubs, religious leaders, celebrities and the odd admirer on social media.
An analysis published in mid-2026 put his total giving at no less than US$43.9 million in cash, vehicles and houses since March 2024 – and that only covers what he has declared.
He refuses to say where his fortune comes from, though he is widely reported to be a serial winner of state contracts, a pattern that tracks with his closeness to President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
