Street Style Reborn in Diamonds: G-Dragon and Jacob & Co. Unveil the 200-Carat “Bandana Royale”
In the rarefied world of high jewelry, few collaborations manage to bridge the gap between gritty street culture and uncompromising luxury. However, when the “King of K-Pop” teams up with the “King of Bling,” the result is nothing short of revolutionary. Jacob & Co. has once again shattered the ceiling of possibility with the debut of the Bandana Royale, a jaw-dropping collar necklace created exclusively for G-Dragon.
This is not merely an accessory; it is a manifesto in metal and stone. Weighing over half a kilogram and encrusted with more than 200 carats of precious gems, the Bandana Royale serves as a sparkling tribute to G-Dragon’s influence on global fashion. It symbolizes the journey of Kwon Ji-yong—the man behind the G-Dragon persona—from a trendsetting musical prodigy to a global icon who has reached the absolute pinnacle of his field.
The Genesis of the Bandana Royale
For decades, the bandana has been a humble staple of hip-hop fashion, a square of cotton used to signal affiliation, style, and attitude. In the hands of Jacob & Co., however, this simple silhouette has been transmuted into an object of immense value and artistic weight.
Benjamin Arabov, CEO of the New York City–based luxury watch and jewelry brand, explains that the project was born from a desire to honor G-Dragon’s specific visual history. “The bandana is a signature element of G-Dragon’s style and visual language,” says Arabov. “It is a meaningful part of his identity and the world he has built across music, artistry, and fashion.”
A Symbol of Identity
G-Dragon, a longtime friend and collaborator of the brand, has worn bandanas in countless music videos, airport fashion snaps, and concert performances. It is as intrinsic to his look as his changing hair color.
“Rather than designing a traditional high jewelry piece, we wanted to reimagine something personal and symbolic to the evolution and impact of his career,” Arabov adds. “Elevating the bandana was about honoring that history and making it permanent, not changing what it represents.”
By immortalizing a disposable fabric item in eternal diamonds, Jacob & Co. has created a piece that speaks to the permanence of G-Dragon’s legacy. It suggests that true style is not about the price tag of the raw materials, but the attitude of the wearer—though having 200 carats of diamonds certainly helps amplify the message.
Engineering the Impossible: Turning Fabric into Gold
One of the most significant challenges in high jewelry is movement. Gold is rigid; diamonds are the hardest substance on earth. Yet, a bandana is defined by its softness, its drape, and the way it conforms to the neck.
“From the beginning, the challenge was translating the softness of a bandana into a high jewelry piece with real substance while keeping it fluid on the body,” says Arabov. The artisans at Jacob & Co. spent months engineering a complex system of hinges and articulated links that allow the solid gold structure to fold and rest like cloth.
The Weight of Glory
The technical specifications of the piece are staggering. According to Arabov, the Bandana Royale weighs just over 559 grams. To put that in perspective, that is over half a kilogram of 18k gold and gemstones resting on the collarbone.
“We designed it to feel sculptural yet alive, with every element engineered to look effortless and move with G-Dragon,” Arabov notes. The collar is intricate, delicate in appearance, yet technically difficult to craft. It requires a wearer with a certain “imperial” presence to carry such physical and visual weight—a task G-Dragon handles with characteristic nonchalance.
A Geological Masterpiece: The 209-Carat Breakdown
Visually, the Bandana Royale is a kaleidoscope of light. Jacob & Co. utilized a “paisley” pattern of gems to mimic the traditional print found on cotton bandanas, but replaced the ink with some of the world’s rarest stones.
In total, the piece boasts 209.71 carats of gemstones set in 18k yellow gold. The sheer volume of stones required the brand’s top setters to work tirelessly to ensure every millimeter of the surface was covered in brilliance.
The Gemstone Inventory
The breakdown of the stones reads like a geological fantasy:
- 94.34 carats of White Diamonds: Providing the blinding base layer of the piece.
- 44.76 carats of Canary Yellow Diamonds: Adding warmth and contrast, echoing the gold setting.
- 54.6 carats of Colored Precious Gems: This includes a vibrant mix of emeralds, rubies, and sapphires in every hue imaginable—orange, pink, blue, purple, and yellow.
- Exotic Stones: The mix also features tsavorites, red and pink spinels, and the ultra-rare Paraiba tourmalines, prized for their electric neon-blue color.
- 10.6 carats of Melee: Even the smallest details are filled with high-grade micro-gems.
The Daisy Centerpiece
The pièce de résistance of the Bandana Royale is the knot where the “fabric” comes together. Hanging centrally is a large, jeweled daisy—the emblem of G-Dragon’s fashion label, Peaceminusone.
For G-Dragon, the daisy is more than a flower; it is a symbol of his creativity and philosophy. The Peaceminusone logo represents a peace symbol with one line removed (Peace minus one), which visually forms the letters “GD.” Additionally, the daisy often features a missing petal at the 8 o’clock position, a nod to his birth date (August 18, 1988) and his affinity for the number 8.
Jacob & Co. honored this symbolism with a spectacular 5.4-carat fancy yellow round brilliant-cut diamond acting as the pistil (center) of the flower. Surrounded by white diamond petals, this central stone anchors the entire chaotic beauty of the necklace.
The Grand Debut: Übermensch and MMA 2025
A piece of this magnitude demands a stage equally as grand. The Bandana Royale made its world debut in mid-December 2025, during the emotional encore of G-Dragon’s Übermensch World Tour in Seoul.
Fans watched in awe as the stage lights caught the fire of the 200-carat collar, creating a halo of light around the artist. The name of the tour, “Übermensch” (Superhuman), felt particularly apt as he donned an accessory that seemed too magnificent for mere mortals.
Later that month, G-Dragon showcased the piece again at the Melon Music Awards (MMA) in Korea. On the red carpet and during the ceremony, the necklace stood out as a defining moment of the evening, proving that G-Dragon remains the undisputed trendsetter of the industry.
A Legacy of Collaboration: Jacob & Co. x G-Dragon
This is not the first time the American jeweler and the Korean superstar have joined forces. Their relationship is built on a shared love for breaking boundaries.
Previously, the duo collaborated on a one-of-a-kind Astronomia Tourbillon watch, a timepiece famous for its complex movement featuring a rotating earth and diamond moon. They also worked together on the Peaceminusone jewelry collection, which brought the daisy motif to a wider audience through pins, necklaces, and bracelets.
However, the Bandana Royale represents a deepening of this bond.
“For this latest collaborative piece, we spent months working closely with G-Dragon to refine the shape, scale, and symbolism until it felt completely authentic to him,” Arabov says. This wasn’t a case of a brand simply gifting a celebrity an item; it was a co-creation process.
Conclusion: Creating Worlds
The Bandana Royale is more than just an expensive item; it is a case study in modern luxury branding. It blurs the lines between streetwear and haute joaillerie, between pop culture merchandise and museum-quality art.
“Our ongoing creative collaboration with G-Dragon is absolutely a passion project,” Arabov concludes. “From complex watches to one-of-one high jewelry pieces, we’re always pushing the boundaries of craftsmanship, emotion, and storytelling, because we don’t just make objects—we create worlds.”
In the world created by G-Dragon and Jacob & Co., the humble bandana is no longer just a piece of cloth. It is a crown, forged in fire and gold, fit for the royalty of the K-Pop universe.
