What kind of watch does Vladimir Putin wear?

It's always interesting to see what kinds of watches world leaders and other celebrities wear.  In the past, I've checked out celebrity watches worn by lightweight celebrities like Guy Fieri and Justin Bieber.  But, with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin being blamed for all manner of election tampering, I had to check out what kind of watches he wears.

Vladimir Putin - photo by Kremlin.ru [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0) or CC BY 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

As it turns out, I'm not the only one keeping tabs on the Russian leader's watch collection.  A Russian opposition group has made this video linking Putin to a vast collection of very expensive timepieces.  They estimate the value of his watch collection to be around $700,000.  Since this video is in Russian with English subtitles, it can be hard to follow.  However, this ABC News article highlights the most important aspects of the accusations leveled at Putin.

According to the video, Vladimir Putin has given ordinary Russian citizens that watch right off his wrist on two separate occasions.  Both times, the recipient got a Blancpain Aqua Lung watch.

According to the video, Vladimir Putin has been seen wearing even more expensive watches like the Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar watch in white gold.  I would imagine that it looks much like this one below:

Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar watch - photo by Rama (Own work) [CeCILL (http://www.cecill.info/licences/Licence_CeCILL_V2-en.html) or CC BY-SA 2.0 fr (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/fr/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons

I try to stay non-political on this blog.  It is not my place to comment on politics or judge the leader of one of the world's most powerful nations.  I also don't want "little green men" coming to visit my apartment.  It's possible that he may have received this watches as gifts.  A former KGB agent, Vladimir Putin looks after his own interests and the interests of Russia in a very powerful way.  People respect him because he is clearly not a man to be trifled with.  I'll simply say that the man knows his watches.  From the perspective of improved public relations, I would suggest that Putin switch to a humble but rugged Vostok watch for everyday wear.  Perhaps, he'd like to trade?