There is controversy in France about what happened on Wednesday 22 March during the interview of Emmanuel Macron live tv fromElysium. The French president took off the watch he was wearing, a one-of-a-kind piece as it was personalized with the insignia of the presidency of the republic, fumbling with his hands under the table, just as he was defending the need for a pension reform, widely contested in France, calling it a “necessary” sacrifice to bring the social security system back into balance.
The video quickly went viral: from the images we can see Macron answering a question animatedly and slamming his wrist on the table making noise with his watch. The president then fumbles under the table and his wrist, the left one, reappears in the next shot without a watch. “When it comes to minimum wages – commented on Twitter the deputy of La France Insoumise, Clémence Guetté – here is the president he takes off his nice luxury watch, under the table”. The tweet has been shared several times and according to the president’s opponents, the watch in question is worth 80,000 euros. Sources close to the Elysée, however, on France info radio, however, denied that the gesture was linked to the oxymoron between the luxury shown live and the request for “efforts” from the French: “The president has not removed his watch to hide it, but because he had just hit it hard against the table”. As for the model worn by the French head of state, it is a Bell & Ross BRV192 customized with the insignia of the Presidency of the Republic, his entourage specified. The model is sold on the market for around 2,000 euros and Macron “has been wearing it every day for over a year and a half”, the source specified again. Difficult to understand how much it is worth now, however, with customization.
video Youtube/Emmanuel Macron