Aubliq began with one designer’s frustration. J. Youn spent years looking for something that would hold a watch elegantly, found nothing he liked, and made his own.
How it began
The Aubliq story starts with a complaint many collectors will know. Watches look good, the brand says, but the ways to store and display them often fall short.
Its founder, J. Youn, is a designer by trade. When nothing he found met his expectations, he set out to make a watch stand that could be a design object in its own right.
After years of work, Aubliq launched its first product in 2020. The people behind it call themselves, above all, watch enthusiasts. Their greatest interest, they say, is space, and filling it with attractive objects.
The stand
The watch stand was the founding idea, and it still explains the house. Its body is machined from AL6061 aluminium, ceramic blasted and anodised. It is meant to make a watch look as valuable as it does on the wrist. Its angle and shape are chosen to show the watch at its most flattering.
A stainless steel wire is bent into a shape of its own, and the parts joined to it tilt backwards to leave room for placing the watch. A watch goes on, or comes off, with one hand.
Two joints set the angle, and black carbon steel bolts hold it. The sides of the cushion are wrapped in gently tanned sheepskin, and the back is shaped to keep clear of a bracelet. At 500 g, the stand will not tip over easily, the brand says, even if someone kicks the desk by accident.
Its product page is unusually frank. The stand is the wrong choice, it says, for anyone who wants a cushion matched exactly to their wrist, or who would rather use both hands. If a watch weighs around 1 kg, it adds, its owner may need to be a little worried. Of the stand, Aubliq writes: “We put a lot of thought and effort into it, and it is the item we most wanted for ourselves.”
The Attention and other objects
In 2022 Aubliq introduced its first watch storage box, the Attention. The version the brand lists as the Attention 2024 holds six watches in a combination of aluminium and wood. Aubliq counts the Attention among the most original products of its kind, and planned a renewed version for 2025.
Today the Attention comes with 10 watch slots and a strap slot, or with 12 watch slots. It is made in Silver, or in Ebony Black with a choice of black or brown leather.
The desk calendar takes its cue from 1960s hi-fi audio, and the brand says swing jazz set the mood for the sketches. Neodymium magnets hold a brushed stainless steel front to a frame of Sapele mahogany. The date window borrows from the old airport departure board. The base is stainless steel, 8 mm thick.
A tissue case pairs steel with solid Sapele mahogany. An incense burner is made from bent aluminium, in Silver, Black or Champagne Gold.
The house today
Aubliq products are made in South Korea. The brand says it oversees every stage of production itself, without outsourcing to low-cost labour markets. Every piece is inspected at its studio before it ships, and each inspection is recorded to keep errors down.
In 2021 Aubliq made custom watch stands with Grand Seiko Japan, offered to customers in Grand Seiko’s boutiques. In 2023 it supplied custom stands to Hour Passion, the official retail shop of Swatch Group Korea.
By 2024 its pieces were displayed and sold in shops in France, Belgium, Austria, Hong Kong and Singapore. The company gives its address in Goyang, in Gyeonggi Province.
The range still begins where Aubliq did: an aluminium stand and a bent steel wire, made to hold one watch at a flattering angle.
At a glance
- Founded: 2020, the year of its first product
- Founder: J. Youn, designer
- Based in: Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea
- Known for: the aluminium Watch Stand and the Attention watch storage box
- Made in: South Korea; every piece inspected at its own studio before it ships
