Vladimir Putin has become renowned for giving away the odd watch, namely his Blancpain Léman Aqua Lung Grande Date to Russian factory worker Viktor Zagaevsky, and it seems that the habit is spreading across the border to Ukraine.
During a press briefing, reporter Svitlana Horodylova, who writes for an online news site, asked Odessa mayor Oleksiy Kostusev (pictured) whether it was true that the mayor has a Franck Muller watch worth at least Hr 140,000 (17,515.33 USD)
“Are you really interested in this?” Kostusev asked her.
After a brief pause, he took off his watch and gave it to the journalist, saying “Look, all this is nonsense. I have seven watches, and let us not talk about the watches anymore,” the mayor said.
Some media in Odessa estimated the value of the IWC watch presented as a gift to the journalist to be $3,000-5,000. Other media later reported that a jeweller estimated the watch’s value to be $10-20, as it was a fake.
There being no photos of the watch available online, I guess we’ll never find out!
Otherwise known online as ‘aptronym,’ Y.Chan’s first watch was a gift from her grandmother when she was 8 – a blue dialled quartz stainless steel Citizen on a bracelet. A member of various watch fora, and an Australian Paneristi, when not writing for The Watch Lady she can be found blogging about watches and food at The Sydney Tarts.
Meehna Goldsmith's fascination with timepieces began with her parents' antique grandfather clock, whose harmonious ticks and chimes echoed throughout the house during her childhood. 
