Joe Biden, Watch Geek

At his inauguration, Joe Biden laid his hand on the family Bible wearing a stainless steel Rolex Datejust watch with a blue dial, a model that retails for more than $7,000 and is a far cry from the Everyman timepieces that every president not named Donald Trump has worn conspicuously in recent decades.

To many, a president wearing a luxury watch might not seem unusual. Shouldn’t the leader of the free world wear a power watch befitting his position? (Never mind that it costs the equivalent of dozen or so stimulus checks.)

That concept was widely accepted once, back when Dwight D. Eisenhower and Lyndon B. Johnson posed guiltlessly for Oval Office portraits wearing gold Rolexes. Not for nothing is Rolex’s storied gold Day-Date model known as the “President.”

Such political power watches, however, had gone out of style in the internet age, when most recent presidents seemed to consider the luxury watch as a signifier of outof-touch elitism.

Bill Clinton seemed to thumb his nose at aristocratic gold timepieces by wearing a Timex Ironman.

His successor, George W. Bush, went even more down market, wearing a Timex Indiglo, the kind once sold at drugstores.

Barack Obama, too, avoided heirloom-level timepieces. During his presidency, he opted for midpriced all-American watches by Shinola, the Detroit-based brand, or a sporty watch by Jorg Gray, based in Southern California, that cost less than $500.

Trump shattered those norms. He remained on-brand during his term, flashing mogul-worthy gold watches by Patek Philippe, Rolex and Vacheron Constantin.

Which brings us to Biden, who seems unafraid to show off his haute Swiss watches, all stainless steel, including his Rolex, an Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional and Omega Seamaster Diver 300M both of which retail for $5,000 to $6,000.

To be fair, none of Biden’s watches scream “luxury.”

His Rolex Datejust, for example, is considered an undisputed classic, but in another sense, almost could be regarded as entry level for a brand with head-turners that quickly climb into the five figures.

So what to make of Biden’s watches? Whether a conscious fashion statement or not, the highend, but macho, watches suggest that, even at 78, this former high school football star of the Kennedy years still wants to be seen as a he-man, rugged and young at heart (see his aviator sunglasses).

They also embody a classic version of the American dream: that anyone, even a kid from Scranton, Pa., can make it to the pinnacle of power.

Then again, he may just wish to make it to White House meetings on time.