Jaeger-LeCoultre Welcomes JOSHUA as Friend of the House

Key Highlights

• JOSHUA of K-pop group SEVENTEEN named Friend of the House by Jaeger-LeCoultre
• Collaboration revealed through The Hour Before, the Maison’s intimate interview series
• JOSHUA engages with Reverso case assembly during his episode, drawing parallels between watchmaking and artistic craft
• SEVENTEEN’s 5th Studio Album HAPPY BURSTDAY (May 2025) debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200
• Jaeger-LeCoultre CEO Jérôme Lambert welcomed JOSHUA as an embodiment of the Maison’s values of sincerity, discipline and craft

The Big Picture

Jaeger-LeCoultre has named JOSHUA, a member of globally recognised K-pop group SEVENTEEN, as its newest Friend of the House. The announcement arrives through The Hour Before, the Maison’s interview series that explores the quiet preparation behind exceptional careers.

The collaboration is not built around a single campaign or seasonal activation. It is framed as a shared philosophy: the belief that true mastery is assembled gradually, gesture by gesture, over years of disciplined repetition. For a Manufacture that has produced more than 1,400 different calibres since its founding in 1833 in the Vallée de Joux, and that holds more than 430 patents, that belief is structural rather than decorative. Jérôme Lambert, CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre, put it plainly: “His sincerity, his discipline and his commitment to his craft resonate with the values of our Maison.”

Heritage & Lineage

JOSHUA (Joshua Jisoo Hong) debuted with SEVENTEEN in 2015 under PLEDIS Entertainment, joining what has become one of the most self-directed groups in contemporary pop music. SEVENTEEN’s members write, produce and choreograph their own material, a collective process that places creative ownership at the centre of every release.

Within that structure, JOSHUA occupies a specific position in the vocal unit, known for a calm stage presence and a measured approach to performance that has only grown more confident over a decade of touring and recording. His solo feature “Fortunate Change (JOSHUA Solo)” appeared on SEVENTEEN’s 5th Studio Album HAPPY BURSTDAY in May 2025, an album that entered the Billboard 200 at No. 2. In 2026, his public profile has expanded further, with appearances at the 83rd Golden Globes, Super Bowl LX and Thom Browne’s GQ Bowl. That breadth of cultural presence, crossing music, fashion and sport, mirrors how Jaeger-LeCoultre itself operates: a Manufacture rooted in precision craft that consistently engages with the wider creative world.

The Making: Craft as Conversation

The decision to reveal the partnership through The Hour Before is as considered as the casting itself.

In his episode, JOSHUA is guided through the assembly of a Reverso case while an off-camera interviewer draws the conversation from watchmaking language into personal memory, values and perspective. The format moves with a rhythm that mirrors the process being observed: deliberate, unhurried, attentive to small details. The Reverso, an icon defined by its reversible case and clean architectural lines, serves as more than a prop. Its visual simplicity and quiet versatility make it the natural counterpart to JOSHUA’s own aesthetic, which the Maison describes as built on proportion and restraint rather than display. For collectors in the GCC who follow both the brand’s releases at Watches and Wonders and broader cultural partnerships, this choice of object communicates clearly.

Why Collectors Care

Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Friend of the House programme has consistently chosen individuals whose relationship with craft is substantive rather than peripheral. That curatorial position, recognised by institutions such as the Fondation Haute Horlogerie, means each new appointment carries weight within the collector community.

JOSHUA’s profile adds a significant dimension to that roster. His reach across South Korea, Japan, the United States and growing markets across the Middle East gives Jaeger-LeCoultre a genuine point of contact with an audience that values both technical depth and cultural fluency. The partnership does not ask JOSHUA to perform enthusiasm for watchmaking; the format of The Hour Before is designed specifically to surface the values he already holds, discipline, collaboration, long-form commitment, and to let those values speak alongside the Manufacture’s own. For the Vallée de Joux atelier that has been called the Watchmaker of Watchmakers since the 19th century, the logic is consistent: find people who build things carefully, and the conversation follows naturally.

For more on horology that matters in the Gulf, sign up for our weekly editorial briefing.