Cambodia’s prime minister Hun Sen to hand out custom-made luxury watches to Biden and world leaders

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has reigned for 37 years, is taking swagbags to a new level by presenting visiting world leaders with bejeweled luxury watches custom designed in his country.

The Prime Minister plans to hand over the intricate watches to President Joe Biden and other world leaders who will gather here for the ASEAN Summit of Southeast Asian Nations.

But he doesn’t do that under the table. The powerful ruler even posted detailed images of the watches on his Cambodian Facebook page, which visited DailyMail to get a glimpse of the inner workings of the exotic timepieces.

The watches are stamped with ‘ASEAN Cambodia 2022’ and ‘Made in Cambodia’. They have gold hands, with simple dashes instead of numbers.

Inside the timepieces is a complex assortment of gears – which Hun Sen highlighted in a likely demonstration of his country’s manufacturing capabilities.

The Cambodian leader is considered a luxury watch enthusiast and is depicted wearing a watch valued at $1 million.

Each of the watches comes in a special box, which Hun Sen mentioned in his post.

Among those who will receive them is Biden, who will arrive early on Saturday after a layover in Egypt.

Biden himself wears a high-quality steel Rolex datejust. But under US law, presidents who receive valuable gifts must hand them over to the State Department. If he wants to keep it, he will have to pay out of pocket – a process that will eventually reveal the value of the gift.

Hun Sen has been criticized in recent years after being photographed wearing luxury watches, including by Patek Philippe and Richard Mille, each costing more than $1 million, while much of the country struggles with poverty.

“These watches are prepared and assembled by pure Cambodian technicians, which is part of Cambodia’s science and technology and developments,” Hun Sen wrote of the 25 limited-edition watches.

A video showed the watch’s elaborate inner gears, inscribed with “tourbillon” and “twenty-five (25) jewels” and the name of the Cambodian watchmaker, Prince Horology.

The cost of the timepieces made in Cambodia has not been made public.

An expert said photos and videos of the ASEAN watch appeared to show the sophisticated tourbillon mechanism, which requires a high level of craftsmanship and can carry a six-figure price tag, though he declined to speculate on the value of the Cambodia-made watch. version.

“The mechanism is not essential for accurate timekeeping, but it is marketed as a complicated feature and (part of) a luxury timepiece,” said Jeremiah Chan, editor at Singapore-based Revolution magazine, which specializes in high-quality watches. .

The prime minister’s office did not respond to requests for more information about the watches, and Prince Horology – part of the Prince Group owned by Sino-Cambodian tycoon Chen Zhi – could not be reached for comment.

While some Cambodians criticized the extravagance of the high-end gift, others praised Hun Sen for promoting the country’s young watchmaking aspirations.

The country’s first watchmaking school, staffed by Swiss experts, opened in 2019.

“It really represents our country,” says businessman Ramaneth Heur. “These gifts … show Khmers can do it and are entering the world stage.”

Sok Eysan, a spokesman for Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party, said there was “nothing political or strange” about the watches.

“It is the kindness of the host country to give them to leaders as souvenirs,” he said over the phone.

ASEAN goodie bags feature signature crafts from the host country in the past, including a silver ‘lei’ or miniature flower garland from Thailand in 2019.

Tourbillion watches are so named for their intricate inner mechanism, seen from the outside, and were patented by a Swiss-French watchmaker about 200 years ago.

While modern timepieces have made such designs obsolete, tourbillions are highly desirable to watch limited edition collectors switch hands for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“They are clearly very decorated, very polished,” Prince Horology spokesman Gabriel Tan told AFP.

The watches also contain “synthetic rubies,” he said, which are “used to facilitate timekeeping.”

All 25 were designed and assembled in Cambodia in the past 18 months, Tan said, who declined to comment on their costs.

But in a country with a rich cultural and artistic history, some doubted the gift.

“We are not Switzerland,” said Cambodian human rights activist Ou Virak, founder and chairman of the pro-democracy Future Forum group.

“It seems desperate, at least looking in from the outside,” he told AFP, adding that the gesture was unlikely to be viewed in a “positive” way.

“You really have to wonder who makes the watch,” he said.

“I just hope it’s not another Chinese company with a Cambodian stamp on it.”

According to Radio Free Asia, Prince Horology is part of the Prince Group, one of the fastest growing companies in the country, founded by a real estate developer who has been involved in gambling and other ventures. The company is led by Chen Zhi, a naturalized Cambodian who was born in China and is often seen with Hun Sen at events.