--- description: Not exactly what you’d expect title: The World’s Most Powerful Men Love This One, Strange Thing image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55fd23f4fe774ad9/69869efc1eebf7941d372301/167933662-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Executives](/tag/executives/) ## Executives Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The World’s Most Powerful Men Love This One, Strange Thing by [Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 11, 2014 11:30 AM CUT  Lloyd Blankfein, chairman and chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., listens to a question during an interview at the Investment Company Institute (ICI) general membership meeting in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, May 2, 2013\. Blankfein warned that the interest-rate environment has parallels to 1994, when a sudden and sharp increase in rates caught many investors off-guard. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images Lloyd Blankfein, chairman and chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., listens to a question during an interview at the Investment Company Institute (ICI) general membership meeting in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, May 2, 2013\. Blankfein warned that the interest-rate environment has parallels to 1994, when a sudden and sharp increase in rates caught many investors off-guard. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images by [Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 11, 2014 11:30 AM CUT  This post is in partnership with Fortune, which offers the latest business and finance news. Read the article below originally published at [Fortune.com](http://fortune.com/2014/08/10/ceos-swatches/ "undefined"). _By Anne VanderMey_ According to Google auto-fill, one of the most searched terms relating to Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein is, “What watch does Lloyd Blankfein wear?” We have the answer: It’s a Swatch, a simple plastic timepiece that retails in the ballpark of $100\. In fact, the executive has several of them—including a black one for formal events. If you work on Wall Street, you’ve probably seen the look before: good suit, unremarkable shoes, digital watch. Witness Steve Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone. Schwarzman not only owns multiple Swatches, he wears them in funky colors and designs. One particularly bright-colored edition bears the landmarks of his vacation home in [St. Tropez](http://www.swatch.com/en%5Fus/watches/originals/gent/ge135-cite-corsaire "undefined"). Public-facing figures like Schwarzman and Blankfein may be expected to dress without excessive bling. And yet, as Google attests, it’s curious to see a plastic bangle on some of American business’s most powerful men. The list of power players who sport Swatches goes on: Tony Blair has one, as does French president Francois Hollande. U.K. hedge fund trader [Chris Hohn](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB40001424127887324392804578362302501769078 "undefined") has had a black one for years. AllianceBernstein CEO Peter Kraus is a [fan of the brand](http://online.barrons.com/news/articles/SB50001424052970203999004575533581526477568?tesla=y "undefined"). Even the boss of luxury watch maker Patek Phillipe reportedly wears one [while skiing](http://www.forbes.com/global/2002/0218/052.html "undefined"). In a statement to _Fortune_, Switzerland’s Swatch Group didn’t have much to say about why politicians and executives might want to wear the budget accessory. The company’s Swiss roots and artistic designs may play a role, a spokeswoman said. When the Swatch was introduced as an alternative to Asian mass production in the 1980s, it was credited with helping to save the Swiss watchmaking industry. Ultimately, though, the watch brand’s patronage among the high and mighty is a bit of a mystery. “We assume that politicians have their reasons for wearing our watches,” the spokeswoman wrote, “but we don’t know what those reasons are.” For the rest of the story, [please visit Fortune.com](http://fortune.com/2014/08/10/ceos-swatches/ "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3099184/ceo-watches/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3099184/ceo-watches/"},"headline":"The World’s Most Powerful Men Love This One, Strange Thing","datePublished":"2014-08-11T11:30:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:55.888Z","description":"Not exactly what you’d expect","url":"https://time.com/3099184/ceo-watches/","keywords":["Executives","fashion","Business topic","CEOs"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55fd23f4fe774ad9/69869efc1eebf7941d372301/167933662-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Fortune","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/fortune/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55fd23f4fe774ad9/69869efc1eebf7941d372301/167933662-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein Addresses The Investment Company Institute Meeting","caption":"Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein Addresses The Investment Company Institute Meeting","creditText":"Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/executives/","name":"Executives"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3099184/ceo-watches/","name":"The World’s Most Powerful Men Love This One, Strange Thing"}}]}] ```