Celebrities partnering with watch brands is nothing new. Sometimes a true watch enthusiast like Juan Mayer partners of Audemars Piguet, or Ed Sheeran (owner of a unique Patek Philippe, no less) partners with Casio. Then there’s the other end of the scale, where controversial Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy and his own watch company resides.
Now, however, there is a new nadir: the Trump Watch. Announced this week by former US President Donald Trump, the collection consists of two pieces. One is called “fight fight fight”and it is priced from $499, and the other is the “Victory Tourbillon.” The latter is claimed to be made of solid 18K gold, with 122 diamonds and an automatic tourbillon movement. It’s priced at a nice $100,000, about three times the price of an equivalent Rolex Submariner, and, yes, cryptocurrency payment is available.
The watches are claimed to feature “premium Swiss-made materials and intricate details,” but as far as we know, the Fight Fight uses a movement from Japanese company Seiko, while the Victory Tourbillon has a movement that is supposedly partially constructed . of Chinese components.
It gets better. In what is quickly beginning to resemble the tweet-ridden fever dreams of those who are extremely online, the watches are produced by a company called TheBestWatchesonEarth LLC, based in Sheridan, Wyoming, and, despite not having a watch history of the What to speak of, it has a licensing agreement. use the Trump name for their watches.
“We also accept Bitcoin as payment!” GetTrumpWatches the website shouts, as if handing over real dollars to a company that admits that images of the watches “are for illustrative purposes only” wasn’t enough to raise an eyebrow.
We’ll come back to the Tourbillon in a moment. For now, let’s look at the cheaper of the two, called Fighter. At least that’s what the website address suggests it’s called, but it’s also described as “Fight Fight Fight Watch,” and in the description of the black and gold color scheme it’s “The Fight Fight Fight Black Watch.” Either way, it looks like a Rolex Submariner described over a spotty phone line.
But don’t just take our word for it. WIRED watch expert Tim Barber told us: “Trump is evidently at odds with certain watch fans, as the gold sneakers he auctioned off earlier this year were purchased by Roman Sharfone of the most prominent gray market watch distributors, with a considerable number of followers on YouTube.” (By the way, the companies that made the golden sneakers and the new Trump Watches were established by the same registration agent, andres pierce of Cloud Peak Law, Wyoming).
“That said, I doubt these horrible pieces will increase their wealth among most watch collectors. As it happens, all-gold watches are very trendy in the luxury market right now, joining Rolex to produce a gold dive watch this year. But I would be less sure if this shared other qualities with a Rolex.”