Watches of Disinformation: How Timepieces are Weaponized in the Post-Truth Era

When perception becomes reality, a watch can be used to manipulate belief, manufacture outrage, and reshape political narratives.

At Watches of Espionage, we often analyze a domestic or foreign leader's watch to gain insight into that individual or current events. In the modern and politically charged media landscape, a watch can be a small piece of the puzzle as we strive to understand the world as it is. In today’s hyper-political environment, individuals are quick to judge a leader based on their watch, often driven by preconceived notions and confirmation bias. A gold Rolex on a president or foreign leader evokes strong emotions for both supporters and detractors for different reasons.

Watches of Disinformation

Watches have increasingly become subtle tools within the realm of disinformation campaigns, serving as visual cues or props that amplify credibility, seed false narratives, or manipulate perception. In an era where audiences are conditioned to interpret details as symbols of authenticity, the watch on a subject’s wrist can become a strategic piece of information warfare. A leader’s luxury timepiece can be framed to signal elitism, corruption, or aloofness. Disinformation practitioners understand that such small, emotionally charged symbols can shape narratives far more effectively than words or reason.

Today, we explore four recent examples of watches used in misinformation campaigns that stretch from Washington to Moscow and Tehran to Paris.

Misinformation is false or inaccurate information; getting the facts wrong.

Disinformation is false information that is deliberately intended to mislead, intentionally misstating the facts.

French President Macron - Luxury & Hypocrisy

During a March 2023 live television interview defending his government’s deeply unpopular pension reforms, French President Emmanuel Macron removed his watch beneath the table midway through the broadcast. Within hours, clips flooded social media claiming Macron had discreetly taken off a “€80,000 luxury timepiece,” misidentified as a F.P. Journe Chronometre Bleu, to hide his wealth from viewers as he spoke about the economic sacrifices ordinary citizens would need to make to support the new social programs.

An X/Twitter Account with over 700k followers and 2.1 million views at the time of writing.

The narrative spread across Twitter, TikTok, and partisan media outlets before any verification could occur. The video was even picked up by Joe Rogan, who exclaimed, “Macron in France, takes his fucking 80 thousand dollar watch off under the table!” (To be fair, Rogan's producer fact checks it in real time and Rogan acknowledges the mistake.) If Macron were indeed deliberately hiding an expensive timepiece, the audience’s ire would be, for many, deemed appropriate, but there was more to the story.

In reality, the watch was a Bell & Ross BR V1-92 custom presidential model, which appears vaguely similar to the F.P. Journe, but with a more palatable value of €2,000-3,000. The watch was relatively modest,  affordable for just about anyone with basic financial responsibility. The Élysée Palace quickly clarified that Macron had removed the watch because it was clinking against the table and interfering with the microphones, but the truth doesn't matter. 

Screenshots of the moment, stripped of context and paired with captions about elitism and hypocrisy, had already solidified a public perception that fed into existing grievances against the French president. The viral clip became a weapon of emotional manipulation, leveraging the visual language of wealth and timing to reinforce broader political narratives.

What makes the Macron incident so instructive is how effectively it illustrates the anatomy of modern visual disinformation. The watch itself was incidental; the story’s power lay in how audiences interpreted it. In a media environment (and algorithm) that prizes immediacy over accuracy, a few seconds of ambiguous footage became “proof” of detachment and deceit.

Macron’s moment wasn’t unique. Across the globe, other leaders have seen their watches used to question authenticity, legitimacy, and even whether they’re alive or dead.

Putin: The Body Double Watch

In August 2023, speculation about Vladimir Putin’s health issues and possible use of a body double resurfaced after several videos appeared to show inconsistencies in how he wore his watch, most likely a Blancpain Léman Aqua Lung Grande Date. In one clip, he seemed uncomfortable wearing the watch on his right wrist, while in another, he appeared to glance at his left wrist, as if checking where a double might normally wear it. These visual discrepancies fueled rumors online and were amplified by Ukrainian officials, social media accounts, and even Western media, reigniting debate over whether the Kremlin employs stand-ins for Putin’s public appearances.

Ukrainian advisor Anton Gerashchenko asked on X/Twitter: “Putin forgot he wears his watch on his right hand…Or that isn’t Putin?”, a tweet that, as of writing, has 3.9 million views. People eat this stuff up.

As we previously analyzed during Tucker Carlson's interview with President Putin, the Russian leader has a habit of removing his watch, and while it is possible this indicates health issues or something else, it is equally plausible that he does this as a sign of respect or just plain habit.  Again, today, the truth doesn’t matter.

While it’s certainly possible that leaders in Putin’s position use body doubles for security or deception, with Saddam Hussein often cited as an example, there’s little evidence to support this particular claim. More likely, this was an instance of disinformation: a deliberate effort to raise questions about Putin’s health, authenticity, and mental state. Modern conflicts are fought as much through perception as through force, and narratives like this one highlight how watches, mannerisms, and small personal details can become tools in the broader information war.

President Biden, Faking a “Live” Speech 

A graphic circulating online in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election claimed that President Biden’s 24 July 2024, “live” address was pre-recorded, using the time on his Rolex Datejust as supposed proof. However, a quick review of the footage (not just the single image) showed the watch was correctly set to the time of the live broadcast, which began at 8:06 p.m.  

Within days, tweets suggesting the Biden Administration had faked the “live” speech had racked up millions of views and retweets. Simple photo-shopped or edited photos spread like wildfire, quickly retweeted by unwitting amplifiers looking for engagement.

Like most disinformation, it worked because it reinforced what people already wanted to believe and spread quickly within echo chambers. The narrative played on real indications that President Biden’s health had deteriorated, something that has proven true. It was a reasonable leap to believe that the administration would have prerecorded the speech in an effort to protect President Biden. 

This narrative also resonated because there are real examples of leaders pre-recording “live” meetings for various reasons. On the evening of 21 February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Minister of Defence Sergey Shoigu held a "live" National Security meeting. The only problem was that both individuals' watches indicated the time was midday (12:15-12:45).  

Given that the meeting was days before Russia invaded Ukraine, it is reasonable to assess that they may have prerecorded the meeting for security reasons and/or to time the release with the invasion.  This is a type of open source intelligence (OSINT) analysis, and no doubt these videos were scrutinized frame by frame by Western intelligence services.

Iranian General Allegedly Targeted Using a Beacon Embedded on a Gifted Watch 

In late May 2025, a dubious graphic of unverified origin emerged on X, claiming that Iranian Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, the Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, was assassinated using a booby-trapped wristwatch allegedly gifted to him by Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir. The post asserted that the watch contained a hidden beacon used by Israel to conduct a precision strike, eliminating Iran’s top military official.

The claim spread rapidly across social media and regional outlets, feeding into long-standing narratives about Israel’s covert technological reach and internal mistrust among Muslim-majority nations. While Mossad has indeed deployed concealed technology in past operations, including explosives embedded in pagers, the story’s inconsistencies, including the impracticality of embedding a beacon in a modern watch and the amateurish misspellings within the viral graphic, suggest something else is at play.

Field Marshal Asim Munir’s last private meeting with Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri on May 27, 2025, when the watch was allegedly exchanged.

This appears to be another deliberate act of disinformation, potentially designed to erode trust between Pakistan and Iran, or undermine confidence in the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and amplify perceptions of Israeli omnipotence. Some analysts suggest the narrative may have originated in India as part of a regional influence campaign, a plausible move in the ongoing information battles shaping South Asia. A simple triage of retweets would support this theory, though deeper analysis would be required to be conclusive.

The Future - Artificial Intelligence & Disinformation 

At least once a week, my mother sends me a picture or video that the algorithm fed her that supports her political beliefs. My siblings and I immediately recognize them as AI or doctored photos, and each time she is shocked. For non-digital natives (ie, old people), distinguishing between fact and fiction can be difficult. As technology progresses, this will only become more problematic. Today I can tell the difference between real and fake, tomorrow I probably won’t be able to. 

We now live in a “post-truth” world, where objective facts and evidence take a back seat to emotions, beliefs, and narratives that reinforce what people already want to believe. In this environment, feelings often outweigh reason, misinformation spreads easily through social media, and individuals become trapped in echo chambers that filter out opposing perspectives. Truth hasn’t vanished; it’s simply lost its power to persuade in a culture where identity and emotion dominate the conversation.

Final Thoughts - Call to Action

The examples of disinformation are numerous, even in the world of watches, and the risk is real. Perception can be manipulated, and truth is often blurred. Use common sense when consuming information online: pause, consider the source, question motives, and think twice before sharing anything that seems questionable or emotionally charged. 

Disinformation spreads because it often confirms what we already believe, and no one is immune to that bias. In the modern era, media literacy isn’t just an academic concept; it’s a survival skill. Understanding the difference between authentic reporting and digital manipulation is crucial. We are all on the front lines of today’s information battlefield.

This newsletter has been reviewed by the CIA’s Prepublication Classification Review Board to prevent the disclosure of classified information.

All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official positions or views of the US Government. Nothing in the contents should be construed as asserting or implying US Government authentication of information or endorsement of the author’s views.

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