Putin’s wristwatch’s

I bought a wristwatch on 5th Avenue yesterday to celebrate a personal milestone and it took overnight to occur to me that Vladimir Putin must have worn the same brand at some point, likely as it is made in East Germany near Dresden, where Putin was stationed as a KBG agent in 1989, while I was working in the Reagan Administration. Putin’s watch collection is expensive and enormous, and I own just a couple watches so the comparison definitely ends there, but I am pretty sure, without evidence, that he owned a Glaschutte sometime. https://somethingaboutrocks.com/article/vladimir-putins-luxury-watch-collection-revealed/

If he did own a Glaschutte, while in the KGB, however, it would have looked different than mine, like the one in this picture, with the moniker “Made in GDR” at the bottom of the watch face. For German Democratic Republic. I think you can still get one of these on EBay for $450.

A communist made watch

Glaschutte was canabilized by the Soviet Union after WW II, who moved all their equipment to Russia, and then reconstituted in the GDR, where it made some watches as a state owned entity until German reunification, when it was privatized again and the company was able to reclaim old roots to return to manufacture of high quality watches. (Putin might have one of the newer watches too). I find it an interesting story, and appreciate my new watch.

In the meantime, there was not much action at Trump Tower during my early morning walk as you can see here:

And I found close by this newer building housing Louis Vuitton surprising and absolutely charming!:

Louis Vuitton building on 5th Avenue.

The weather has cleared up and our airplane hopefully will not be cancelled again today. New York has been fun but we are looking forward to returning to Los Angeles!