Is it true that Emmanuel Macron tried to hide the watch for € 80,000 during an interview?

On the Internet, the news dispersed that during an interview with pension reform, the French president quietly shot a very expensive watch under the table. We decided to check the reliability of such messages.

Many large Russian media wrote about this: "Moscow Komsomolets","Moscow 24","Vesti.ru","Arguments and facts","Sight", Etc. Some of them claim: the French were indignant that Macron thus tried to hide the “subject of luxury” (for example, the TV channel “NTV" Lenta.ru, "Komsomolskaya Truth","Gazeta.ru"Et al.). Macron's “imperceptibly” posts appeared in large Telegram channels, such as “Pool N3"(290,000 views at the time of writing of the analysis),"Zlaya Prof"(111 000) and"Old Square"(72 000). TV presenters wrote about this Vladimir Solovyov (244,000 views) and Ruslan Ostashko (101,000), publicist Dmitry Vasilet (192 000), political observer Yakov Kedmi (99,000) and others. Tweets About Macron's watch Get Hundreds of retweets and likes on Twitter, Discuss News users of social networks Facebook And "VKontakte".

The incident occurred on March 22, 2023 during interview Emmanuel Macron on pension reform to journalists of TF1 and France 2 television channels. Essential recorded on the official YouTube channel of Macron. During his speech, the French president is actively gesticulating, and the clock appears many times in the frame. Then he removes his hands under the table, and when he takes them out, there is no longer a clock on his wrist (in the video at 10:10).

One of the first to the gesture of the French president was noted the attention of the deputy of the Opposition Macron party "Unordated France" Clemans Gette. Her tweet With a fragment of an interview, I gained more than 5 million views. Gette accompanied the video with a comment: “Speaking of”Smicard"(People receiving a minimum salary. - approx." Verified "), who" never had such a great purchasing power ", he carefully removes his beautiful luxurious clock under the table." Many media, including Russian ones, later placed its tweet and also repeated the statement that at the time when Macron took off the clock, he spoke about the Smirecades and therefore decided to hide the "luxurious" hours. At the same time. In fact, at this time he discusses various forms of protest against pension reform, including strikes.

Moreover, all interviews are devoted to the extremely unpopular Pension reformpromoted by Emmanuel Macron. Because of it, the age of retirement in France will rise from 62 to 64 years. The initiative caused millions of protests throughout the country, this is a very sensitive topic for French domestic politics and personally Macron, who believes that without this measure, the French pension system will not be able to exist further.

“Verified” failed to set the source of the information that the macron watch costs € 80,000. But some users suggestedthat this is a model Chronomètre Bleu Elite brand F. P. Journe. The price is not indicated on the manufacturer’s website, but on some sites this accessory is really Sold At a price close to € 80,000. Nevertheless, representatives of the Champs Elysees have already contacted the French newspaper L'NDépendant And refuted this information. They claim that the French president is Bell & Ross watch BR V1-92, decorated with the emblem of the republic. Indeed, during close consideration, the watches that Macron shot during the interview are more like Bell & Ross than F. P. Journe (the latter has a recognizable design of arrows that would be noticeable even on the video of not the highest quality).

A model in blue, like a macron, without a coat of arms on the manufacturer’s website, costs € 2400. Bell & Ross company for many years Equipping The elite units of the French army, including the Presidential Security Service. Therefore, it is likely that the watch went to Macron at all for free as part of a partnership with a brand. But even if this is not the case, it is unlikely that the clock for € 2400 can be considered so expensive that he has to hide them. According to data Bloomberg, in 2021, the official salary of Macron as the President was € 196,000 a year, so he could well afford to buy hours for € 2400.

In addition, the same watch can be seen on a macron in Instagram His official photographer Soazig de la Muissoner. Most likely, if the politician did not want to advertise this accessory, he would not allow to post such pictures. And certainly I would not put on a watch for public events.

So why, then, Emmanuel Macron took off the clock during the live broadcast? The Champs Elysees declared: The reason was that literally a few seconds before the moment that scattered on the Internet, the president knocked them on the table greatly - and this sound is really well heard on Records. It is likely that this is no longer repeated (and this was possible, since the politician very actively gestured throughout the video) and in the interview there was no marriage by sound, he took off his watch.

Thus, there is no reason to think that Macron tried to hide his watch. Firstly, the cost of hours was actually 30 times lower than many media and social networks wrote. Secondly, the French president wears them for a long time, they are visible in many pictures of his official photographer, including from public events where it would be more difficult to hide them than during an interview. Thirdly, at the time of the incident, he did not affect any topic that in some special way would have to hide this accessory, even if it was really very expensive.

Photo on the cover: screenshot Interview AU 13H de TF1 et France 2

Not true

What do our verdicts mean?

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