What to wear on a visit to one of the world's most infamous prisons?
If you're Christie Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, who visited El Salvador's massive terrorist confinement centre on Wednesday, the answer was a white long-sleeved top, gray slacks and a baseball cap decorated with the immigration and customs enforcement logo.
Ah, and the gold Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, selling for around $50,000.
Noem traveled to the prison where the Trump administration sent hundreds of Venezuelan temporary workers this month. Earlier this week, the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals denied the government's attempt to resume deportation, which a federal judge blocked in early March. On Friday, the Trump administration called on the Supreme Court to allow deportation to resume.
In Secott, Noem shoots a video in front of a line of prisoners, a video that was crushed deep behind the bar, with a glittering clock stretching from his wrist, standing out in the rigorous scene.
The display has brought a lot of criticism of social media from those who questioned the taste of wearing such an expensive watch for their visit. Opened in 2023 and designed to house as many as 40,000 prisoners, CECOT was the signature initiative of Salvadoran president Naive Buquere, who has gained an international reputation for addressing the issues of gangs in his country through mass incarceration.
In a statement on watches, Tricia McLaughlin, Secretary of Public Affairs for Homeland Security, wrote that Noem used the proceeds from the book to “purchase items that can be worn and handed over to the children.” McLaughlin did not address the decision to wear that potential heirloom to CECOT.
It's probably not surprising that Noem, former governor of South Dakota, owns a Rolex. The Swiss brand has been a watch chosen by politicians for decades. Former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., a known watch enthusiast, wore a Rolex date at his inauguration. This is a choice that led to criticism from the right. President Trump, Ford and Reagan were all wearing Rolex. And even former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev made concessions to the achievements of the private industry when he was on a gold date.
Daytona is the most popular Rolexes, according to Watch journalist Brynn Wallner, founder of Dimepiece, a site aimed at female watch enthusiasts. First produced in 1963, the watch became popular when Paul Newman began wearing it. It's hard to get a watch today. Buyers usually have to sit on a long-term waiting list to buy it from an official dealer. As a result, many people resort to paying inflated prices in the secondary market.
“If you're buying it, you're showing off the fact that you can even get it,” Walner said. “And you're probably paying a little more for it than you had to do. It's a work of Flex. It's the meaning of wealth. It's not subtle at all.”
Paul Artieri, founder and CEO of Bob's Watches, agreed to be an online marketplace, an online market for resale and trade of watches.
“Rolex intentionally limits supply to maintain its exclusiveness,” he said. “Most customers will not be offered unless they have a long-standing relationship with the dealer or are high-priority clients.”
It should be expected that Noem's watch was identified soon. WatchSpotting, an internet sport that identifies watches of public figures, has flourished in recent years.
At the Super Bowl in February, enthusiasts quickly came to Jacob & Co on Tom Brady's wrist. We have identified a caviar tourbillon. Jay-Z took last month's Grammy Awards even more extreme, wearing the Patek Philippe Minute Repeater Perpetual Calendar Watch, selling for over $2 million. Trump often wears gorgeous watches that go beyond just Rolex, with his own signature watch each costing $100,000.
WatchSpotters often get a glimpse of getting a watch in prize shows or glass, and quickly report on what you find online.
Well, thanks to Noem, they expanded their scope to prisons.
