Donald Trump likes to hawk Donald Trump–branded merch, from NFTs to golden sneakers to branded Bibles. Last month, the former president expanded his kitschy portfolio with a new grift: Trump watches made with “premium, Swiss-made materials” that come in a variety of colorways, bear his signature in the clock face, and range from $499 to $100,000 in price.
“The Official Trump Watch Collection is here, and these Watches are truly special — You’re going to love them,” Trump wrote on TruthSocial. “Would make a great Christmas Gift. Don’t wait, they will go fast.”
But a new report suggests that the alleged “Swiss-made” watches may not have originated in Switzerland. A CNN investigation traced TheBestWatchesOnEarth LLC, the company selling the Trump watches, to an office building with a Wyoming mailing address. The same address has been used by several other companies including the LLC behind Trump-licensed sneakers — and one named TheBestHoneyOnEarth, which sells male-enhancement products but doesn’t appear to have a link to the former president. Vladimir Dmitriev, a spokesperson for the honey shop, declined to respond to questions from CNN. “We’ve received direction from our leadership in the U.S. not to engage with any news agencies (specifically CNN) until after November 5,” he told the outlet in a statement. Neither the Trump campaign nor the Trump Organization responded to CNN’s questions regarding the watch company, and the only response from the company itself was an auto-reply.
The Washington Post previously reported that Andrew Pierce, a Wyoming-based attorney, registered the companies behind the Trump sneakers and watches. Pierce operates a company called Wyoming LLC Attorney alongside his father, Mark Pierce. On its website, the business says it specializes in “anonymous LLCs to shield your personal information,” claiming to be able to help potential clients launch an LLC within 24 hours. Disclaimers at the bottom of the website advise that Wyoming LLC Attorney is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
Mark Pierce indicated to CNN that he didn’t know that two of his company clients had ties to Trump and said that potential customers should be “wary” of products sold with such connections. “If Mr. Trump or anyone in his family were on the same side of the street I was on, I would cross the street,” he told the outlet.
CNN was not able to determine where the watches are being made. No one has, at least yet, and just because the company behind them has a Wyoming address doesn’t mean they are being manufactured in the state. Wherever they’re made, watch aficionados seem skeptical Trump’s watches are well made, per CNN:
“Within some corners of the niche luxury watch community, Trump’s entry is already a bit of a punchline. The first purchases will ship in October, the company says, but promotional pictures and videos of it circulated widely online. Oisín O’Malley, a prominent watch reviewer whose YouTube videos regularly exceed 100,000 views, called the gold-plated $800 line ‘cheap stuff’ and said the pricier model appeared ‘basic’ for its cost while asserting it ‘looks like it was designed on a computer.’
In his more earnest attempt to review the product on his YouTube channel, Tim Mosso, a specialist for the online luxury watch marketplace 1916 Project, found it ‘a little bit ominous’ that the $100,000 model can’t go near water while wondering why the website doesn’t list basic information such as the product’s size. He speculated that just a handful of the most expensive models will end up getting made.”
Wired has pointed out that the most expensive Trump watch — the $100,000 Victory Tourbillon — has a window-viewable “TX07 Tourbillion” automatic movement that’s probably half-Swiss-made at best:
“The watch is claimed to use a ‘TX07 Tourbillon’ with 105 hours of power reserve, but finding any record of such a movement online is tricky. Watch commentator Nico Leonard van der Horst said in an Instagram post: ‘This is hilarious … the manufacturer of this movement is Olivier Mory, who ironically is known for making very affordable Tourbillons half made in China, half made in Switzerland.’ Van der Horst added: ‘If you were to buy this movement and put it in your own watch, you would be able to buy it for under $3.5k.’”
And there’s another problem, as Wired reported on Thursday. The “Fight Fight Fight” Trump watch — which apparently has a not-Swiss-at-all $55 Seiko movement — features an engraved image on the back of Trump holding up his fist after he was nearly assassinated at his Butler, Pennsylvania, campaign rally in July. But that image belongs to the Associated Press, which only licenses it for editorial use, and AP confirmed to Wired that it’s pursuing a cease and desist against TheBestWatchesonEarth LLC.
The Trump watch site has a disclaimer indicating that the actual watches shipped to buyers may not look exactly like the ones on the website — so perhaps it will swap out the AP image with some other image of Trump.
Time will tell if the watches will at least tell time.
This post has been updated.
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