While the Swiss are certainly known for diplomacy, what about Swiss watchmakers and their diplomatic efforts? For a very long time, even going back to the time of the Ottoman Empire, timepieces have been used in diplomacy, given as gifts between different rulers. Some of these stories are even quite unorthodox.
One recent example of a watch being used for diplomatic purposes is Prime Minister David Cameron receiving a Shinola as a gift from President Barack Obama in 2016. This was during a trip to the United Kingdom towards the end of both Obama and Cameron’s terms in office. Obama presented Cameron with a customized Shinola that had the Presidential Seal on the back of the watch and on the watch box. Obama also kept his own Shinola to match.
On the higher-end of things, and further back in history, Harold Berners Walker, a former British diplomat, describes receiving a Rolex Datejust in 1960 from the Emir of Qatar. Many countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman had custom-made timepieces of a variety of brands – most popularly Rolex – with different representative emblems. Some of these watches were made for different organizations like different military branches, although they are most remembered for being given as gifts to different dignitaries that visited the region in the 20th century. Rolex wasn’t the only brand used however; Universal Genève was also popular.
For example, there was the recent case of a Dubai watch collector buying a Universal Genève in auction that was actually made for the founder of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, by King Saud bin Abdulaziz al Saud of Saudi Arabia. The watch is gold-plated and signed ‘Saud’ on the dial in Arabic, it goes back to 1955!
Universal Genève for Sheikh Zayed / Credit: WatchTime Middle East
In the case of Oman, there is the famous ‘Khanjar’ dial watches whose origins are thought to go back to Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman, an avid watch collector. Earlier Khanjar dials go back to Rolex Sea-Dweller ref. 1665s that were given as a gift to SAS members for their support during the Dhofar Rebellion. The Dhofar Rebellion was a conflict that lasted approximately 10 years in the Dhofar region of Oman, whereby tribesmen, supported by Yemen, rebelled against the government’s new policies. When the rebellion resulted in a palace coup, Sultan Qaboos bin Said ousted his father Saʿīd ibn Taymūr, changing course and eventually defeating the rebels in 1975. This was done with the support of the SAS, of course, giving us the highly collectible dial variations we enjoy today. Diplomatically speaking, the British would have supported Oman’s ruler, as they did many others at the time, since Oman was a former British Protectorate. Furthermore, the rebellion was infiltrated by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman, a Marxist organization – meaning that Britain was even more incentivized to crush this group in the context of the ongoing Cold War. Some serious horological diplomacy.
‘Khanjar’ Rolex Daytona ref. 6265 / Credit: Phillips
Now, we get to the unorthodox example. North Korea. Oh yes, the hermit kingdom wasn’t always so hermit-y and when they had the chance they liked to show off with a classic “Kim Il-sung”-signed Omega Constellation. You thought Kanji date was cool? Try reading the day-date in Korean!
While not much is known about these Omegas, from what we’ve been able to piece together they were often sent to North Korea via Yugoslavia due to their cozy relationship. This being before the export ban to North Korea. The practice is supposed to have started in 1972 on the eve of Kim Il-sung’s birthday. His son Kim Jong-il is said to have imported an Omega from Switzerland for him. This then became a custom and Kim Il-sung gifted more watches to some of his top officials and other loyal subjects. While we’re not sure of any actual diplomatic/external gift-giving, it’s certainly a noteworthy bunch of watches to include as they played an important role in North Korean politics.
‘Kim Il-sung’ Omega Constellation Chronometer / Credit: Le Prix
Tissot and Lanco ‘Kim Il-sung’ watches were also made, although Omega was the favourite. These watches were known as ‘Respect Clocks’ or ‘Business Card Clocks’ as they were given to well-regarded citizens of North Korea and were a sign of high status and power. One story is that of a Dr. Joo-kyung Jo, professor at Kim Il-sung University, who in 2000 at a meeting for separated Korean families, boasted about his ‘Business Card Clock’ and received much media attention in Korea. This practice of gift giving has been seen as political in North Korea, used by the rulers to form close-knit factions around them, with gifts used to represent rank or prestige. This professor’s watch, for example, was boast-worthy despite being a gift from his brother, as it still represented his prestige by association. Thus, these gifts were important, both for the status of civil servants and for that of politicians trying to work their way up. An importance that can’t be understated; in the 1980s, after one was stolen in Hyesan, Ryanggang Province, a national investigation was called to retrieve it!
Kim Il-sung 1979 / Credit: Peter Arnett/AP
Interestingly, the political power of these gifts superseded the actual ‘economic power’, and officials in North Korea are said to have scrambled to get a hold of the new Seiko ‘dictator gift watches’ when they became the gift of the day, an upgrade over the old Omegas. So, despite their lower value, Seikos were king. This was, of course, in keeping up with power – the status of having one of the ‘new’ gifts meant being closer to the new ruler, Kim Jong-il.
While this practice may seem strange, it really isn’t in many parts of the world. Gift giving is a normal part of business, and in general any transaction. This can range from a simple coffee to dinner, or of course, a timepiece. Like the blow the watch industry took when the Chinese government banned ads including luxury watches as a cut down on graft almost a decade ago.
So, this is a look at watches being used as diplomatic, or in the North Korean case, political tools. One interesting theme about watches as diplomatic gifts is their provenance. Oftentimes when countries without their own domestic, representative watch manufacturing capabilities wanted to present another dignitary with a horological gift, it was done in the form of a Swiss watch! Swiss was the default – think of the above examples of Oman, Qatar, and others, presenting Rolexes – while North Korea most often did the same with Omega! This does beg an interesting question, however. In what regards Swiss diplomacy, did the Swiss actually benefit from being so highly represented among diplomatic gifts? Or perhaps as Olympic Official Timekeepers? Is there any diplomatic gain at all to being the ‘default’ watch-gift country?
By: Andres Ibarguen
Read more:
Seymour, Andrew. “Obama gifts Cameron a custom Shinola from Detroit.” WatchPro, April 25th, 2016, https://usa.watchpro.com/barack-obama-gifts-david-cameron-a-custom-shinola-from-detroit/.
Youde, Kate. “Watches as diplomatic gifts find their time has come again.” Financial Times, September 2nd, 2016, https://www.ft.com/content/11525cb0-f7fb-11e5-96db-fc683b5e52db.
Nair, Nitin. “Found: A Universal Genève gifted to Sheikh Zayed.” WatchTime Middle East, March 1st, 2018, https://watchtime.me/life-style/vintage/article/1055/found-a-universal-geneve-gifted-to-sheikh-zayed.
“Royal Provenance: Four Exceptional 'Khanjar' Wristwatches.” Phillips, https://www.phillips.com/article/3830721/the-khanjar-wristwatches.
“Dhofar.” Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/place/Dhofar.
Crystal, Jill Ann. “Oman.” Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/place/Oman/Restoration-of-Omani-rule.
Kim, Joo-won. “The hidden truth of the Kim family's political gifts 'business card clocks’.” RFA.org, April 4th, 2017, https://www.rfa.org/korean/weekly_program/ae40c528c77cac00c758-c228aca8c9c4-c9c4c2e4/co-so-04042017094916.html.
“Watchmaker shares hit after China bans ads for expensive gifts.” Reuters, February 7th, 2013, https://www.reuters.com/article/luxury-goods-china-idUSL5N0B79W720130207.