Watch-spotting at The White House: The timepieces US presidents love

Mahatma Gandhi used a Zenith pocket watch gifted to him by Indira Gandhi. Margaret Thatcher loved her Piaget. Narendra Modi reportedly digs Movado. Vladimir Putin is often seen sporting an A. Lange & Sohne, and Nirav Modi’s collection included a Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2.

Timepieces worn by sportspersons, film stars, dictators, serial swindlers, and especially world leaders have always evoked curiosity among watch lovers. But nowhere is a politician’s or an office holder’s choice of watch as studiously scrutinised as it is in the United States.

The Swiss company Vulcain's watches, especially the Cricket, were worn by the likes of Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, and Lyndon Johnson, earning it the sobriquet of The President’s Watch.

John F Kennedy’s watches — among them, a Bulova and a gold Omega ‘Ultra Thin’ tank watch — were much admired. The most famous among them was a gold Rolex President, a birthday gift from Marilyn Monroe. The watch is inscribed: “Jack, With love as always from Marilyn May 29th 1962.” In 2005, the watch sold for $120,000 at an auction. Kennedy is said to have never worn it.

Trump’s watches

Bill Clinton made a conscious statement by sporting a utilitarian Timex Ironman LCD during his presidency, and more recently, Barack Obama made the decidedly underwhelming Jorg Gray 6500 Chronograph famous by wearing it on a number of occasions, right from his Democratic Nomination Speech in 2008 to the Democratic National Convention in 2012.

It is said that watches say a lot about the wearer, which is pretty true, but one also has to account for optics. Obama, for instance, has often been seen wearing a Rolex Cellini of late, while Clinton has been spotted wearing a limited edition A Lange & Sohne Grosse Langematik Gangreserve; a rose gold Audemars Piguet Chronograph and a Jaeger LeCoultre Master Compressor Alarm Navy Seals.

This election year, the watches worn by Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden have been much dissected as well as pitted against those seen on incumbent Donald Trump’s puny wrist.

Trump’s collection, which reportedly includes a Vacheron Constantin Historiques Ultra-fine 1968, a Rolex Day-Date in Yellow Gold (the ‘president’s watch’), and a Patek Philippe Ellipse, is mostly unremarkable, like everything else about the man.

What about Biden’s?

What truly betrayed his lack of taste, though, was the tacky, derivative, quartz-powered Donald J Trump Signature Collection which he released in 2005. Not surprisingly, the Signature collection sank and the brand apparently shut shop in less than a year. (Interesting fact: in 1999, Trump paid $7,000 dollars at an auction to pick up a Colibri wristwatch that once belonged to Ronald Reagan.)

Biden’s choice of watches, on the other hand, appears to have found favour with several watch editors the world over. The former American vice-president’s collection, which includes three or four Omegas and a $100 Seiko Chronograph, has been described as both reflective of who he is and what he stands for, and instructive, especially for those who think that you need money to build a fine collection.  According to GQ magazine, “Even as someone who’s done well for himself, Biden has carved out a collecting path us normal folk can follow.”

Referring to his Seiko 7T32-6M90 Chronograph, in particular, the magazine adds: “Biden’s Seiko is proof that going deep enough down the watch rabbit hole can yield fantastic results.”

Down under, The Sydney Morning Herald is of the opinion that Uncle Joe’s “Omega Seamaster Diver 300M suggests rugged dependability — this is, after all, the brand NASA astronauts first wore to the moon.”

I’m no watch expert, but between the two, I’d chose Biden’s collection over Trump’s any day. He is a winner for me in more ways than one.

(Murali K Menon works on content strategy at HaymarketSAC.)