From Bibles and golden footwear to playing cards, Donald Trump is not afraid to put his name on products. Now, the ex-US president has decided to launch his own brand of Swiss watches which retail in the six figures - but are they a lot of sizzle, no steak?
In a video posted to X, Donald Trump announced a new line of “Trump Victory” Tourbillion watches. “I think you are going to love it… this isn’t just any watch it’s one of the best watches made,” he declared in his usual bluster.
The watch itself claims to be honed through “exquisite Swiss craftsmanship” and sports “almost” 200 grams of 18 karat sold gold and 122 diamonds -“that’s a lot of diamonds, I love gold I love diamonds I think we all do,” Trump added.
Just 147 watches of its kind will be made, with each featuring a “personalised” letter from the former Republican President. The cost? An eye-watering 100.000 US dollars or roughly 82.000 francs.
Perhaps inevitably, the announcement of the new Swiss watch was met with amusement online, with netizens describing it as a Rolex bought from AliExpress. Many also accused the product of coming not from the watchmakers of Swiss cantons but from China.
Luckily if you were one of the 147 people who wanted a gold-plated wrist-mounted boondoggle, it is very unlikely that the watch isn’t Swiss. Speaking to 20 Minuten, watch expert Frank Michael Müller said that while the company behind the watch, TheBestWatchesonEarth LLC, is not a known Swiss brand, the “Swiss-made” branding and patented Tourbillon mechanism is near-impossible to replicate elsewhere.
Indeed, legally 60 percent of a product has to be made in Switzerland to earn the “Swiss-made” stamp. This is why chocolate brands like Milka and Toblerone can no longer claim to be made in Switzerland.
Müller said that he does not believe that Trump is violating Swiss law as a local watch brand would have sued him by now if this were the case. In regard to the watch itself, he said that it isn’t for him: "It is very ostentatious, typical of Trump. It is certainly not a popular taste, but there are people who like bling-bling and fans of Trump like Elon Musk don't mind the price."
So is the Swiss Trump watch actually worth 100.000 dollars? According to expert Wolfgang Winter, the watch is likely made in La Chaux-de-Fonds. However, "the watch itself looks quite rustic and has the quality of an entry-level category. Such watches are not bad, but the production costs, including the gold value, probably amount to a maximum of 16.000 francs," he told 20 Minuten.
The expert added that the diamonds used in the watch “have inclusions and are of low quality…they cost a maximum of 2.000 francs.” Therefore, it seems that buyers are paying 12.000 francs a letter to have Trump’s name on their timepiece, as Winter estimated its actual sale price should be 20.000 francs.
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