The Real Watches of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro

Separating Fact from Fiction in Nicolás Maduro’s Watch Collection

On the morning of Saturday, 3 January 2026, the United States Military conducted an interagency mission to capture and arrest Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. While the long term implications are still unknown and “analysis” has fallen along partisan lines, Operation Absolute Resolve appears to be a masterclass on modern warfare and frankly an operation that only the United States Military and Intelligence Community could carry out.

The situation is still developing, however according to an in-depth brief by Chairman of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff, General “Razin” Caine, the operation was a highly coordinated effort involving more than 150 aircraft and some of the nation's most elite units, including the U.S. Army's elite Tier-1 special mission unit, officially 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), aka the "Night Stalkers", and US Cyber Command.

CJCS General “Razin” Caine wearing a Rolex GMT-Master II in the makeshift situation room during Operation Absolute Resolve, alongside a class ring from Virginia Military Institute. (Photo Credit White House)

Arguably, the most interesting aspect of the operation was the involvement of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). According to press reporting, CIA deployed a small team into Venezuela as early as August 2025 to monitor Maduro’s “patterns of life.” In addition to that team, the agency reportedly used an asset placed close to Maduro himself, a human source inside or near his inner circle, who was able to track his location and provide real-time information during the operation. This asset, combined with SIGINT, ISR, and other intelligence collection, helped US SOF pinpoint Maduro’s exact whereabouts, enabling the raid’s timing and precision.

As always, watches are our prism for viewing the world and current events, so today we take a look at the watches of deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. 

Rolex Accusations - A Case of Disinformation

“Maduro’s luxury watch sparks outrage amid extreme poverty in Venezuela: it costs more than $72,000.” A graphic incorrectly identifies the Citizen as a platinum Rolex. (Photo Credit: X/Twitter)

Criticising a leader for their expensive habits is as old as time (no pun intended), and often these criticisms are legitimate. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s watch collection is estimated to be valued over $1 million dollars, which is hard to explain given the Kremlin's claimed salary of $140k per year.

Over the past few years, Spanish-language social media accounts and news outlets have promoted a theory that Maduro owns expensive Rolex references, often citing an interview where Maduro reportedly covers up a “Rolex” with his sleeve when the interviewer notices the watch. The only problem is that the watch in question is actually a Citizen, with a retail value of approximately $250.

Another Spanish-language graphic from X/Twitter describing the Citizen as a Rolex Daytona.

To be clear, we are not defending Maduro, who was objectively a dictator. He dismantled democratic institutions, manipulated elections, and stayed in power through repression despite losing public support. Independent observers say he lost the July 2024 election, yet the regime declared him the winner without transparent results or audits, then responded to protests with arrests and violence. 

That said, we should be honest and criticize him for his real faults, not fabricate additional shortcomings for social media. Whether this was an honest mistake, a coordinated disinformation campaign by the opposition, or an intelligence service is open for debate. 

In reality, Maduro’s watch collection is diverse, intriguing, and even surprising. Some of his watches are, whether or not they carry the emotional weight of a brand name like Rolex, objectively expensive, while others would qualify as cheap to most. 

Citizen Eco-Drive CA0131-55L

The watch Maduro wore the most publicly while in power was a humble chronograph from Citizen, a Japanese brand best known to the W.O.E. community for its Aqualand collection of dive watches. Former President Maduro’s Citizen appears to be the seldom-seen CA0131-55L, a 44mm titanium quartz chronograph equipped with Citizen’s Eco-Drive solar charging technology. Given that this reference has been discontinued for some time, it’s difficult to establish an exact retail price, but it likely would have cost no more than $250 to 300. 

What made Maduro reach for this watch over the many more opulent options available to the president of an oil-rich country is anyone’s guess, but it would be fair to assume that optics played a role. Wearing an inexpensive Citizen sends a modest, everyman message to constituents and the broader world, one that quickly falls apart when a world leader straps on a watch from the heights of Swiss luxury. 

Hublot Big Bang King Power Maradona

Maduro wearing the $40k Hublot in 2024.

In 2024, during the summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), Maduro displayed another watch, which some have falsely reported as a Royal Oak Offshore. The watch, a Hublot Big Bang King Power Maradona, was released in 2012 and allegedly given to Maduro in 2018 at a campaign event in Caracas. Upon giving Maduro the watch, Maradona told him, “When you use it, remember that I will always be with you.” 

Before his death in 2020, Maradona was an outspoken proponent of Maduro’s politics, earning fines for dedicating victories to the Venezuelan President while coaching professional soccer in Mexico. With a retail price of around $40,000 at the time, the 48mm rose gold chronograph calls into question the ethics of giving and receiving gifts while in political office, while also presenting issues concerning Maduro’s perception among Venezuelans and the rest of the world. Surprisingly, the $40k watch isn’t the most expensive timepiece Maduro has publicly worn. 

Hublot Classic Fusion Tourbillon Cruz-Diez

Maduro wearing the Hublot Classic Fusion Tourbillon Cruz-Diez in 2024.

While it’s unclear whether he actually owned the watch, Maduro was also photographed wearing yet another Hublot in December 2024: the Hublot Classic Fusion Cruz-Diez Platinum Tourbillon. The watch was revealed in 2015 and is either a pièce unique or part of an extremely limited run created by Hublot in collaboration with Carlos Cruz-Diez, a celebrated Venezuelan artist known for modernist, avant-garde works. Executed in a 45mm platinum case and equipped with a tourbillon at six o’clock, a similar example of the watch is currently available from a US-based dealer for $85,000. 

Admittedly, only a few photos show Maduro wearing the Hublot, meaning it was perhaps loaned to him or, if he owns it, he had the sense not to wear it excessively for fear of perception-related challenges and media scrutiny. 

Chopard & Bovet 

If we have it right, Maduro’s Chopard will set you back around $33k. 

Perhaps more damning than anything previously listed here are a pair of watches representing the heights of Swiss artisanal watchmaking. First is a watch from Chopard’s L.U.C. collection, which is where the brand showcases its métiers d'art in hand-crafted watches, many of which feature hand-engraving, painting, or enameling, in addition to manufacture calibers. 

In November 2024, Maduro wore what appears to be a Chopard L.U.C. Urushi Year of the Dragon watch with a dial decorated in Japan with Urushi lacquer, gold powder, and mother-of-pearl inlays. There are a bunch of different variations, and it’s difficult to say which Maduro has. In any case, priced over $30,000, Maduro’s Chopard elicits further questions about the Venezuelan President’s horological habits and high-end taste. 

This watch could be from Bovet 1822, but it’s difficult to be sure.

The last known piece of Maduro’s collection is a bit of a mystery, but it is most likely a pièce unique from Bovet, possibly based on the Amadeo Fleurier 43, with a custom dial. Like Chopard, Bovet 1822 is known for delicate hand crafts, intricate dials, and enameling, with Maduro’s watch showcasing an enameled dial in addition to Bovet’s signature lug architecture. 

Comparables are scarce, but it would be fair to assume a watch like this came with a price point in the hundreds of thousands of US dollars, making it potentially the most expensive, but also the least identifiable piece in his collection.

Celia Flores, Maduro’s wife, who was also captured by US forces, sometimes wears a Rolex Oyster Perpetual with a navy blue dial.

What Happened to the Watches?

According to press reports, Maduro was captured in a safe house in Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela's largest military complex. In the first confirmed pictures post-arrest, he is seen wearing a Nike sweatsuit, a watch notably absent.  While speculation, this grey suit was likely provided by the Delta operators who likely would have stripped him of all belongings while on target, to mitigate concealed beacons or explosives. This would likely include the watch on his wrist.

Maduro in his Nike Tech drip. 

During the Global War on Terror, all personal items and communications would be bagged and brought back to a central location for intelligence processing, a process called Sensitive Site Exploitation (SSE). It is safe to assume at least some of the belongings were retrieved and likely documented by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), including a Huawei phone given to him by China’s Xi Jinping in September 2025 when he claimed, “Huawei, the best phone in the world, the Huawei, and the Americans can't hack it, neither their spy planes, nor their satellites." A comment that did not age well.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro prominently featured a Huawei Mate X6 phone, gifted by China's President Xi Jinping, claiming it was "unhackable" by the US.

So in short, the watches are likely still in Venezuela, although I wouldn’t be surprised if at least one is on display in a team room in North Carolina… 

Final Thoughts

Watches rarely tell the whole story, but they often reveal more than their wearers intend. In Maduro’s case, the duality between a carefully cultivated image of modesty and the reality of repeatedly wearing six-figure Swiss complications mirrors the broader contradictions of his rule. The Citizen on the wrist played well for the cameras. The Hublots, Chopard, and a possible Bovet told a different story to anyone paying attention. As with most authoritarian regimes, optics mattered until they didn’t, and eventually, reality caught up.

Delta Force member wearing an Omega Seamaster Unit Watch in Syria.  The vast majority of Delta operators would have worn Suunto/Garmin digital tool watches.  But I would bet there was at least one Swiss watch on the ground in Caracas.

At W.O.E., this exercise was never about defending a dictator or piling on with lazy internet outrage. It was about accuracy, context, and using watches as a lens to better understand current events and national security.

Watches are tools, symbols, and sometimes props. In this case, they were all three. Whatever ultimately happens to Maduro’s collection, the takeaway is clear. Use objective analysis to criticize leaders for what they actually do, not what social media wants you to believe.

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