When Vladimir Putin’s PR spin doctor Dmitry Peskov flashed a $620,000 watch at his wedding, former opposition leader Alexei Navalny was quick to identify it as a limited-edition Richard Mille in a blog entitled: "The bridegroom's watch cost more than your apartment.”

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Watches have been fair game for analysis for years but what do they actually reveal? 

“It can vary,” according to psychiatrist and SPYEX consultant Dr. Kenneth Dekleva, a former US State Department expert in leadership analysis. “For example, in Putin’s case, his wearing very expensive watches has been used by Navalny to showcase his corruption and the contrast between his life and that of ordinary Russians. Same with the yachts, for example.”

“In today’s world of social media, everything is fair game for ‘analysis’ and media spin,” Dr. Dekleva added. “Perceptions are important. So it’s not the watch per se that’s important, even an interesting curiosity, but the entire context.”

We took a timely detour into the horological habits of global power players and clocked 10 interesting timepieces of political operatives.

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US President Joseph Biden 

President Joe Biden’s collection includes the Rolex Datejust 41 he wore for his swearing in ceremony which retails for about $11,000, a modest timepiece when compared to some leaders. Biden also at times sports an Omega Seamaster, a Seiko Chronograph from the late 1990s/early 2000s, and an Apple Watch. Biden has also been seen wearing a Swiss Vulcain Cricket ‘50s Presidents’ watch on numerous occasions, a 42mm classic stainless steel, complete with a dark alligator strap and what seems to be a flat sapphire and minute markings for alarm settings around the edge of the dial. Biden’s not alone in his admiration for a sophisticated timepiece. Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, and Lyndon Johnson all wore Vulcain watches. Donald Trump often wore his own brand TR 1050 Chronograph worth about $10,000 while former President Obama’s go-to watch was a Jorg Gray 6500 Chronograph.

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Vladimir Putin, Russian leader

Vladimir Putin is said to own a F.P. Journe Chronomètre Bleu timepiece valued at $100,000 and reportedly made of tantalum, a rare silver-gray metal with blue overtones valued for its high resistance to corrosion. Putin’s $1m watch collection also includes a Blancpain Léman Aqua Lung Grande Date, although he tends to discard them when the moment seizes him - he gifted one to a factory worker and another to a shepherd’s son. He also dramatically pitched a third Blancpain into liquid concrete at a building site presumably, as Time & Tide surmised, to show how ‘meaningless’ a $11,700 watch is to a man of his stature.

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Xi Jinping keeps it real with his Omega Constellation

Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, was spotted at the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan in 2019 wearing a discontinued Omega Constellation 1995 in stainless steel with a blue-gray dial featuring a quartz movement. It was a modest choice, with a retail price of about $1,700, but perhaps an appropriate one as Xi used the summit to accuse developed countries of engaging in protectionist behavior that was 'destroying' the global trade system.

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France’s Emmanuel Macron

When French leader Emmanuel Macron slipped off his watch during a 2023 TV interview he triggered a social media storm with claims he is ‘president of the rich’. Critics said Macron was wearing an $88,000 timepiece - an F.P. Journe Chronomètre Bleu - but others clocked it as a Bell & Ross BR V1-92 retailing for about $2,600. Macron’s staff said he slipped the wristwatch off under the table because it was creating a banging noise and denied it had anything to do with appearances. Only time will tell… 

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Berlin State Secretary Sawsan Chebli‍

Is it appropriate for socialists to wear a Rolex? When Berlin State Secretary Sawsan Chebli sported her luxury Rolex (estimated value $8,000), Twitter erupted and #UhrenGate (German for #WatchGate) began trending. “Everything you need to know about the state of German social democracy in 2018,” one social media user on Facebook sniffed. Chebli, born in Berlin to a family of Palestinian origin, gives as good as she gets, however: “Who of you haters lived with 12 siblings in 2 rooms, slept and ate on the floor, chopped wood on weekends because coal was too expensive? Who had to wait months for wooden crayons? Nobody tells me what poverty is,” she wrote, attracting a few messages of solidarity along with the scorn.

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Canada’s Justin Trudeau, a man of the people?

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau carefully cultivates his ‘everyman’ image, strategically timing his photo-bombs and never missing an opportunity to wear traditional clothing so it’s easy to imagine Trudeau selecting his timepiece with an eye for PR points. Trudeau’s watch is an understated IWC Portugieser Regulateur, a minimalist timepiece reflecting precision and punctuality. While it may not be excessively extravagant, the IWC would have set him back a cool $11,500 to $20,000. Trudeau’s stainless steel Portugieser Regulateur has a 46-hour power reserve and strength-coated sapphire front and back - clearly a watch every man should have.

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Cambodian PM Hun Sen

Cambodian PM Hun Sen’s watch collection is worth at least $13m, which is an interesting contrast to his $2,500-a-month salary, according to Radio Free Asia. Among his collection is a Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime valued at $2.7m - one of the most complicated Patek Philippe wristwatches ever made with a reversible case, two independent dials, and six patented innovations. His wife sports a more modest 18k rose gold Richard Mille RM 037 (bottom of the photo above), with a brilliant-cut diamonds set case surrounding a red-center dial with pavè diamonds retailing for an estimated $270,000 - $400,000. The PM has also been spotted with an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Grand Complication 26582CE with a retail price of $280,000 which trades on the secondary market for around $1m.

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North Korea’s Kim Jong Un‍

Kim Jong Un is another fan of Swiss watches, wearing the IWC Schaffhausen Portofino in 2021 at a time when international spies were likely taking notes. As Bloomberg reports, intelligence agencies were hunting for clues about the stability of his regime and tracking Kim’s weight loss (and gain). They noted that Kim Jong Un wore a $12,000 timepiece during a 2021 Politburo meeting - a watch he frequently wears - and that it appeared to be fastened more tightly around his wrist than before indicating weight loss and possible health issues. Kim has also been seen wearing a quartz Museum Movado (about $510) but we’re not sure what to read into that! 

The Sultan of Brunei, a man of many watches

Much like the Sultan of Brunei’s car collection, PM Hassanal Bolkiah likes to collect luxurious watches - and why not? Bolkiah is one of the wealthiest men in the world, with an estimated net worth of $28 bn and he likes to flash the cash. He’s been spotted out with the sporty Richard Mille RM 67-02 Alexander Zverev weighing just 32 grams. During the 2018 APEC Leaders Summit, he wore the ultra-slim Richard Mille RM67-01 ‘Extra-Flat’. The pièce de résistance, however, has to be the Sultan’s pink sapphire Richard Mille RM 56-02 made especially by the Swiss watchmaker. While it is not for sale, estimates have put the pink sapphire watch anywhere from between $2.2m to priceless.