What Watch Does Barack Obama Wear?
Tuesday - 04 June 2013
Watches are personal, intimate objects. They're in constant contact with our wrists. Our favourite watches are with us day after day, like an old friend. Losing your watch can feel like losing part of yourself.
Watches can become lucky charms. We come to believe we'll only succeed of we're wearing a particular watch.
At the same time, a person's watch gives us an insight into who they are. The watch you wear gives subtle hints as to your personality.
Little wonder, then, that during the excitement of Barack Obama's campaign to become the first black President of the United States of America, watch forums were buzzing with the question: What's the watch on his wrist?
Thanks to their meticulous detective work, we now know.
Obama has three different watches.
Since being elected President, he is most often seen wearing a Secret Service watch. The timepiece, with a black face, and dials for hours, minutes and seconds is exclusively manufactured for the Secret Service store.
Obama was given the watch by Secret Service agents assigned to protect him during his Presidential campaign on his 46th birthday, August 4th 2007. At the time, Obama was reported to be "widely liked" by the three details that covered him. He even joked that Secret Service protection was his reason for running for President, as they'd look after his daughters during their teenage years. “They don’t crack a smile. They’re armed. They’re dangerous,” he said, implying that would keep teenage boys from making advances.
At other times - and most notably during his trip to the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 to inspect oil damage from the Deepwater Horizon spill - he wears a cheap digital watch, showing that he's down to earth, a man of the people.
But which watch did he wear during his Presidential campaign? What timepiece was Obama's lucky charm to get him elected?
On the campaign trail, Obama wore the same watch he'd been wearing every day for over a decade. This is the watch that stayed with him from his days as a community activist and law professor, through his time senator, and to his campaign to become the most powerful man in the world.
Obama's favourite watch is his TAG-Heuer Series 1500.
What watch would you choose if you were the most powerful person in the world?
