Putin’s timepieces
June 11th, 2012 - 1:17 am ICT by IANS
London, June 10 (IANS) Russian President Vladimir Putin has a collection of watches worth almost six times his official annual salary of 72,000 pounds, it was reported here.
One of the watches - made from platinum with a crocodile skin strap - sells for more than 300,000 pounds alone. It is called Tourbograph and is made by German watchmaker A Lange & Sohne, the Daily Mail reported Saturday.
The revelation has raised questions about how the Russian president can afford such a lavish collection. Details of Putin’s watches were revealed in a video produced by the Russian opposition group Solidarity and posted on YouTube.
It goes on to contrast the Russian president’s watch with a 225-pound watch that US President Barack Obama has been seen wearing.
The video alleges that Russia’s political and religious leaders have an obsession with expensive timepieces.
In addition to 300,000-pound Tourbograph masterpiece, Putin also has a 6,450-pound Flyback also made by A Lange & Sohne.
He is also seen wearing a 39,000 pound Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar. And remarkably he is on his fourth 7,000-pound Blancpain watch called Leman Aqya Lugn Grande Date, according to the Mail.
The watches are worth at least 22 million rubles, Solidarity claimed, while his salary is listed as 3.6 million rubles.
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