Time, Faith and Technology – religious leaders and wristwatches (Part 3/3)

Text: Andreas Johansson & Anders Ackfeldt

Interest in celebrities' luxury watches has markedly increased in recent years, a trend that can partly be attributed to social media. Specialised accounts have arisen with the stated purpose of showing off which exclusive watch brands and models celebrities wear. These accounts often gather large followings and have become a significant part of the digital watch culture. They have not only made luxury watches more visible but also contributed to creating a new form of celebrity culture around watches. This digital watch culture has not only made us all amateur watchmakers; it has also turned up the interest in wristwatches among the pious and powerful. Suddenly it is not only God who sees everything — now we do too! The watch choices of religious leaders have often led to discussions around ethics, openness and trust.

The article series is written by Andreas Johansson, PhD in history of religions at Karlstad University & Lund University and Anders Ackfeldt, PhD in history of religions, Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul (SFII).

An event from 2009 that illustrates this involves Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. He was seen in a picture together with Alexander Kolarov, who at the time was Russia's justice minister. In the picture Kirill wore no watch, but a mirror image on the table revealed a Breguet Reveil Du Tsar on his arm. A Russian blogger discovered this and it quickly became clear that the church had edited the watch off Kirill's arm but missed removing the mirror image.

When he was interviewed, Kirill at first denied the watch and claimed that all pictures of him with the watch were forgeries. Later the Russian Orthodox Church was forced to issue a statement and admit that they had edited the picture. The watch, which was worth around 250 000 SEK, became a symbol of the church's prosperity and led to massive criticism. Several oppositional Russian bloggers expressed dissatisfaction and held that Kirill could not be a man of the people or its spiritual leader. This criticism became particularly significant considering that the Russian Orthodox Church has a close relationship with president Vladimir Putin, which means that many in the opposition scrutinise the church closely. Further controversy arose a few years later when Metropolitan Varsonofiy, a highly placed leader in the Russian church in St. Petersburg, was photographed with a Rolex Daytona (reference number 116509), worth around 400 000 SEK. The Russian church was this time more tight-lipped and only said that an explanation would come when Varsonofiy returned from holiday.

In India it is not only traditional rituals and spiritual teachings that are in focus, but the world of watches too seems to have captured the interest of the spiritual leaders. This unique habit of wearing luxury watches has at bottom its origin in the generosity of their followers. The devoted often see their spiritual gurus as holy role models, and therefore want to give them gifts that are as exceptional as they consider their teaching to be. There is a general perception that only the very best is good enough for these spiritual icons, which has led to many gurus and spiritual teachers being able to add some very exclusive timekeepers to their collections. It is not unusual to see these spiritual leaders with dials and bracelets adorned with precious stones, diamonds and other luxurious materials, which sometimes raises questions around ethics and material pleasure within spiritual contexts.

To mention a few examples: The religious guru Osho, or Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, owned several luxury watches, including Rolex models with diamonds and precious stones. In 2015 a Rolex Day-Date worn by Osho was sold at auction for 40 000 Swiss francs. The dial and the casing were set with diamonds and rubies. The bracelet alone had around 31 carats in diamonds.

Another guru, Sathya Sai Baba, admittedly did not wear watches but was said to be able to conjure forth luxury items, among them Rolex watches. As a representative of Tibetan Buddhism Tenzin Gyatso, the current Dalai Lama, has become a world celebrity. He is possibly also the most famous watch lover on the Indian subcontinent. The Dalai Lama has an impressive collection of watches, among them a Patek Philippe (reference number 658), which he received as a gift from the then American president Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the Dalai Lama's collection there are also several Rolex watches, including a Day-Date in gold (18038) and a two-tone Datejust. His interest in watches is seems to be genuine, and one of his hobbies seems to be repairing mechanical watches. But like in the case with the Russian patriarchs the watches and collections of the Indian religious leaders have led to debate about whether spiritual leaders really should wear Haute Horologerie. 

Luxurious wristwatches have also become a hot topic of discussion also when it comes to Muslim religious leaders. One example of this is Idris Ahmad, who was the Malaysian government's representative on religious matters. He was accused on social media of being more interested in material luxury than in spiritual insight, because he was suspected of wearing a Rolex. Ahmad quickly came out however and cleared up the misunderstanding by showing off his actual watch, a Buruj model. This watch has special functions related to Islam, including one that indicates prayer times and another that shows the direction towards Mecca (qibla). His detractors were later forced to apologise on social media.

While gurus often receive these timekeepers as gifts from their devoted followers, the leaders within the Catholic Church have a particular relationship to the watch brand Patek Philippe. This is because one of its founders, Antoine Norbert de Patek, was a devoted Catholic. The brand's ties to Catholicism are so strong that you can even see a cross on the crown of their Calatrava model. Patek Philippe has over the years also manufactured specially designed watches for the church's highest leadership, and several of these treasures can be viewed at Patek's museum. In 1971 they went a step further by producing a series of watches with purple dials for the Vatican's cardinals, a colour symbolic both of wealth, the suffering of Jesus and bishops. 

Why is it controversial that religious leaders wear expensive watches? Wealth and prosperity among spiritual leaders can of course create irritation, since the overarching theology in many world religions often focuses on equality and helping the poor. The symbol of greed perhaps reached its culmination with Carlton Funderburke, a pastor in Kansas City. He wished for a luxury watch from Movado from his congregation as proof of their appreciation. Funderburke's message went viral on TikTok and he was heavily criticised.

When the status of watches has developed from having a religious and practical significance to becoming a symbol of economic status, it is not surprising that pope Francis, the current leader of the Catholic Church, chose to wear a watch from the brand Swatch instead of a Patek Philippe or, for that matter, a Rolex Datejust as the earlier pope John Paul II wore. Pope Francis also donated his Swatch to a charity auction, where it was sold for the sum of 56 250 dollars. This makes it the most expensive Swatch watch in history.

If we finally leave luxury, ostentation and religious elitism behind us, there is a watch that has gained a less glamorous reputation within the religious sphere: the Casio F-91W, also known as ”the terrorist watch”. This mass produced and cheap watch has in recent years become a symbol of mainly Muslim terrorism. It has been used in timed bombs and has also been seen on the wrists of well known terrorist leaders. The watch became for a while so intimately associated with bomb makers in the Middle East that CIA agents in Iraq and Syria testified that the watch was one of the things they looked for when they tried to identify bomb makers connected to terrorist organisations such as al-Qaeda and ISIS. It is established that the watch has a role in bomb making. It has been found in undetonated bombs and seized in raids against bomb factories. In addition it has been confirmed that this watch model was used in al-Qaeda's training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan. 

Several representatives of ISIS and al-Qaeda have also been seen wearing the watch, among them the world's perhaps most famous terrorist, Osama bin Laden who was the leader of the terrorist organisation al-Qaeda until his death in 2011. This without doubt reinforces the F-91W's association with terrorism, a connection that will probably be lasting. Bin Laden's choice of watch can easily be interpreted as a deliberate statement against what is perceived as western luxury and extravagance. 

In this article series we have only sniffed at the fascinating connection between time, faith and technology. Despite the fact that we have touched on some central questions, a smaller ocean of unexplored subjects remains — from for example the role of watches in sacred rituals, to their status as spiritual artefacts. It is clear that watches are more than just mechanisms for measuring time; they are complex symbols that can reflect and represent a diversity of human values, from greed and humility to, in certain cases, violence and terrorism.