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Jung Kook has a lot on his plate right now. As a member of BTS—who recently graced the cover of GQ’s March issue—he’s in the midst of one of the most anticipated reunions in the history of pop music. The band’s fifth studio album, Arirang, their first release since 2022, drops on March 20. Their first reunion show is the next day, followed by a Netflix documentary dropping on March 27, ahead of an 80-plus-date world tour in April. One wouldn’t blame Jung Kook for taking things slowly in the lead-up to a whirlwind like that. Instead, he’s packing his schedule out even more, launching his first campaign as the newest global ambassador for Hublot.
For the uninitiated, Hublot is a Swiss luxury watch brand founded in 1980. While its look has evolved significantly since those early days, the brand’s debut timepiece—whose porthole-inspired design was the first to combine a gold case with a rubber strap—remains one of the more underrated greats of 1970s watch design. Hublot is still in its infancy compared to titans like Vacheron Constantin and Blancpain (both of which were founded in the 1700s), but thanks to its maximalist approach to watchmaking and pioneering use of unconventional materials, it has earned a place among the biggest names in the business.
Hublot isn’t the brand you go to for a dainty or understated timepiece, and its signature Big Bang models (no relation to the K-pop pioneers)—many of which feature diamond-studded cases and elaborately skeletonized dials—have become a favorite of guys like Floyd Mayweather and Jay-Z (who famously namedropped his penchant for Hublot on the 2011 Watch the Throne track “Otis”). Hublot is also known for its ties to pro sports, with an official partnership with FIFA, as well as sponsorship deals with top-tier athletes like Kylian Mbappe, Patrick Mahomes, and Novak Djokovic. While the brand has made significant forays into other creative metiers—its collabs with the likes of Takashi Murakami, Daniel Arsham, and Yohji Yamamoto have been some of its highest-profile releases in recent years—K-pop is an entirely new realm for the brand. Given the massive global popularity of K-pop in general, and BTS in particular, it’s a potentially game-changing one.
In a suite at the Josun Palace Hotel, 34 stories above the chilly streets of Seoul, Hublot CEO Julien Tornare told GQ that in his eyes, the trait that makes for an ideal Hublot ambassador is mastery. “[We want] people with a strong character and a strong presence, and that’s definitely Jung Kook. But it’s also that he’s able to do so many different things on stage, between singing, dancing, and performing in different ways. It’s a fusion, and at a young age, he’s already mastered so many things.”
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Ahead of a recent launch event in Seoul, Tornare met Jung Kook at Seoul’s Hublot boutique to select a watch for the big night. The artist settled on the new Big Bang Unico in black, a tasteful if understated choice given the array of wild colors and materials in the brand’s lineup. Tornare says he’s excited to see what JK gravitates towards in the future and where their collaboration will lead. “It’s like a marriage,” he laughs. “We’re just starting, we need to get to know each other. Right now, we are in the engagement stage. Once we get to know each other, maybe we’ll have a watch come out of that.” While he will neither confirm nor deny plans for a forthcoming Hublot x Jung Kook collab, Tornare says he sees the BTS star as a vital piece in the brand’s future, a future that will become clearer in April, when Hublot unveils its latest creations at the Watches and Wonders trade show in Geneva.
Later that evening, the pop star arrived at the brand’s launch event in the Gangnam district in a svelte maroon suit, a black dress shirt open at the collar, and a Big Bang Unico in Hublot’s lustrous King Gold. Fans were packed for blocks around the building, kept at bay by security, and those on the other side of the cordons were no less starstruck. Where Jung Kook moved, so did the room. He perused a display of watches and graciously answered a handful of questions over a DJ’s thudding beat.
What inspired his look for the night? “Life itself,” he replied. “The outfit I’m wearing today is fantastic, and my watch is also great. They both seem to harmonize wonderfully with my life.” Jung Kook claims not to have been a watch guy before joining up with Hublot. With a packed schedule over the next month and an ARMY that has waited years for his return to the stage, his new Big Bang Unico will certainly ensure he’s right on time.