Squid Game Star Lee Byung-hun Wears $1 Million Panda Watch
Squid Game dropped its six-episode final season on Netflix last June 27, and it has already surpassed the streaming platform's viewership record after racking up more than 60.1 million views in its first three days. And now that most fans have seen the dystopian series, interviews and clips related to the show are also going viral, including Squid Game star Lee Byung-hun's guesting at Jimmy Fallon's The Tonight Show—particularly that zoom-in on his $1 million watch.
Lee Byung-hun plays the role of Hwang In-ho (a.k.a. Front Man), the main antagonist in Squid Game. He initiates and manages the competition, after having won the games himself in 2015 as Player 132. We know from the first season that he is the older half-brother of Detective Hwang Jun-ho, who has been looking for the island of the games in the latest season. In the second season, Hwang In-ho used the fake name Oh Young-il and disguised himself as a participant (Player 001) to interfere with Seong Gi-hun's plans of starting a rebellion.
Lee Byung-hun shows off his Jacob & Co. Astronomia Art Panda
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Squid Game star Lee Byung-hun's Watch on The Tonight Show
"Can I look at your watch? Cause that might be the most beautiful watch I've ever seen in my lifetime," said Fallon in the middle of the interview, shown on June 17, with highlights released on YouTube on July 1.
The timepiece in question is the Jacob & Co. Astronomia Art Panda, which sells for $1 million, according to the Maddaloni Jewelers New York website. The American privately held jewelry and wristwatch retailer boasts its Astronomia Art collection, which "is about the display of extraordinary, miniature, finely crafted objects," according to Jacob & Co's page.
Jacob & Co. Astronomia Art Panda
"Miniature sculptures of animals, real or mythical, of constructions that are emblematic of a country, engraved gold plates, hand-painted miniature scenes, or a combination of the above, Astronomia Art is composed of extremely limited series and unique pieces. Their connection is a level of craft, of expression, and of symbolism that has zero equivalent in the watchmaking world," the website adds.
The Astronomia Art collection includes: 4 Skulls, Octopus, Zodiac, Three Wise Monkeys + Temple, Stallion, India, Metiers D'Art Pandas, and Panda.
The last one, which Lee Byung-hun was seen wearing, features a base dial of 18K white gold and 211 baguette white diamonds. The case is also an 18k white gold, set with 124 baguette diamonds. It has a diameter of 44mm and a thickness of 24mm. Inside are hand-engraved and hand-painted pandas and bamboo figurines, a flying tourbillon with 60-second rotation, a blue-lacquered globe rotating on itself in 60 seconds, and an Emerald Green Cubic Zirconia Jacob cut at the center.
Over it is a unique domed sapphire with multiple anti-reflective treatments. The dial is rose gold-plated titanium, while the hands are the signature blue Jacob & Co. designed ones. The clasp is an 18k white gold deployant clasp set with 21 baguette diamonds.
"Holy mackerel. Now, does it tell time?," asks Fallon. To which Lee Byung-hun responded with a laugh: "Yeah, the panda tells it."
Considering the opulence of the piece, fans can't help but refer to the price of life in the fictional Squid Games. Some say that it comes from the prize money he won when his character played the Squid Game, or when they killed off Player 222.
A "cheaper" version of this Astronomia Art piece is the Metiers d'Art Pandas, which costs $960,000. Instead of a white gold material, this one uses rose gold, but still with plenty of baguette white diamonds.
Squid Game Season 3 is now streaming on Netflix.
