The Internet went gaga Monday over what seemed to be the ultimate in wristwear decadence: a new offering called the Skyview Pinnacle from Swiss watchmaker Nico Gerard — so new, in fact, that you have to pay $200 for the privilege of pre-ordering the $9,500 item.
What makes the Skyview Pinnacle so special? The traditional clock-face watch on one side of the watchband is complemented by a 38mm Apple watch that sits opposite, resting against the inside of the wrist.
Really.
The Internet’s general consensus about the new device, or devices, was that the thing would be bulky, hard to use and would likely result in a badly scratched-up Apple watch if it were worn in even the most common everyday settings.
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As it turned out, though, the new timepiece wasn’t the only one making headlines Monday. The British press had a field day with another wristwatch, this one worn by Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov at his wedding to former Olympic Ice Dancer Tatyana Navka last week.
The limited edition Richard Mille 52-01, featuring a golden skull face is worth something just shy of $620,000 — making it roughly 70 times as costly as the watch that had the Internet going slightly nuts.
The value of the watch was highlighted by Alexei Navalny, a well-known Putin opponent, who pointed out that the timepiece was worth four times what Peskov earns in a year via his government job. A press secretary in possession of such an object might just have some outside sources of income, Navalny suggested in a blog post.
“Clearly there are some details of his life that we don’t know about,” Navalny wrote.
For his part, Peskov claimed that his watch had been a gift from his bride.
